I have started another blog. This one is for my Dad.

http://dadsalzheimersdiary.blogspot.com/

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+China's Korean balancing act - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

It's such a crazy world. So many things going on at one time. How can this planet keep all the plates spinning so fast? I watched a TV show last night. It was called The Nostradamus Effect. It gave me bad dreams. The episode was quite disturbing...not because of it's content, I'm not a fan of mumbo-jumbo...but because it reminded me of just how fragile everything is. Nostradamus Effect — Episode Guide Episode Guide — History.com and just how much we are not in control of our environment.
When I look at what is going on with BP in the Gulf of Mexico, and when I realize that there are 27 or so recognized conflicts going on at this moment in time and then I read that the G20 and G8 summits that are going to be held in Canada this summer are costing over a billion dollars Demand made to probe costs for G8, G20 my head starts to spin.
I was lucky enough to stumble across a CBC News Now program called Power and Politics with Evan Solomon...one of the topics that caught my eye and then proceeded to kick me in the stomach was completely related to the insane cost of the Global Summits in relation to the Global crises of sustainable development. Ever since I watched that segment CBC - Videos - /News/Politics/ID=1505968718 I have been shell shocked. Please take a moment to watch the CBC segment and then watch the video below. Then get mad, get frustrated and then go hug the person you love.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

This is goodbye for my little guy.

This is it for my little Gibson I’m sorry to say. I have just booked his final Vet visit. Monday afternoon, May 10 at 3 pm I will be holding him for the last time.

Gibson and I have had rocky relationship. We are both head-strong and wilful and neither of us likes being told what to do….not a good combination. Especially when I’m supposed to be the human and he’s supposed to be the dog. For the first 2 years of his life I’m sure Gibson thought his name was "I'm Going To @$##ing Kill You" !! Many times it looked as if we were acting out a scene from the shoot-out at the O.K Corral….eyeballing one another from across the room, waiting to see who would shoot first. At times I’m sure you could hear the theme music from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly playing off in the distance as we stared one another down. Even if I won the show-down I would inevitably loose. Make no mistake about it…Gibson is a vengeful Yorkie. He would rather eat glass than concede. I may have won the battle but he would never let me win the war. Ever. A friend of mine once called Gibson a “quirky little fellow”. No truer words were ever spoken.

Who am I kidding? Gibson was never really mine anyway. He was Cooper’s dog. Cooper was this big beautiful Briard dog that I was lucky enough to have in my life for almost 17 years. Cooper was special. A one in a million dog. He was 6 years old when I got Gibson and instantly Gibson imprinted onto him. Wherever Cooper went, there was Gibson. I soon learned that if I wanted Gibson to come, first I had to call Cooper to me. Cooper would come instantly with Gibson trotting along after him. Cooper would sit Gibson would sit. Cooper would lie down Gibson would lie down. And that’s the way things went until a few years ago, just about this time, I had to put Cooper, the love of my life, down. He had a great life. He almost made it to 17 years and that’s pretty amazing. I was shattered and I still miss him very much. At the time I thought Gibson would miss him terribly too, but that was not the case. Gibson didn’t miss a beat. Moved right into top dog position and loved every minute of it. Cooper who? But it was like trying to get to know a stranger who’s been living under your roof. Take away the only thing Gibson and I had in common and, well, you have two creatures set in their ways. For the past 13 years my relationship with Gibson has been one of concession and resignation. I give Gibson a command and he immediately ignores it and does whatever the hell he wants. Rather than break a blood vessel getting him do be compliant I concede. Rather than try to teach a stubborn, wilful and selfish dog a new trick, I’m resigned to the fact that he has never and will never listen to what I say so I should just never ask anything of him in the first place. In return he lets me feed him and scoop up his poop. Everyone wins.

Having said that, my Gibson is sick. Liver problems. Probably a tumour. It’s an exercise in futility to try to keep him propped up. Maybe because I put Cooper to sleep 2 years ago that now it’s easier for me to see the humane reason behind accepting that Gibson has lived a full life and that it’s time to let him go, I’m not sure. I know that I will not let Gibson be operated on and I will not pump him full of steroids so that he can keep on existing.
I have to let him go. He’s shivering. He’s stopped eating. The exact same symptoms he suffered a month ago when he spent 3 days in the animal hospital. It took him a week to recover and I just can’t do it again. Not to him and not to me.
In some strange way Gibson has taught me how to get over myself…how to let go. There’s no way he would ever stoop to obey any command of mine…not even if it meant imminent death, so I should just let go. Out of habit I will tell him to sit or stay and out of habit he will do the opposite…..somehow we’ve become an old married couple. Even now as I call him to me for a cuddle the shivering, grumpy Yorkie looks at me and walks away. I smile.
For the next two days I will keep him close and keep him comfortable. I will tear up when I look at him and hold him closer and he will look at me with a doggy look akin to “what the f*ck is wrong with you?”.


I can’t figure out why I can’t finish this blog….maybe because I’m not ready to be finished with Gibson. There’s just so much more to say about this complex little dog. Oh sure he’s a selfish, grumpy, wilful, little shit…but, in all honesty, for the past 13 years he has been my selfish, grumpy, wilful, little shit….and I love him for it.

Nature SUCKS.

Yes I know all you granola crunchers will unfriend me after you read this…but right now, while I am in the middle of a squirrel war, I don’t care. Let me explain a bit about myself…I am not a nature girl. I will not go camping with you. I will not cook over an open fire. I will not wash camp dishes in cold soapy water. My idea of “roughing it” consists of calling down to room service and asking for extra cream. I am serious.
Don’t get me wrong…I like nature…from a distance. Nature is wonderful…when it’s not eating my furniture.
So far, since moving into my lovely river front property I have had to contend with 200 geese on my front yard. 200 geeses worth of geese poop…24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Mortifying. Last weekend I woke up to a couple of green headed Mallard Ducks trying to have their way with a little lady duck right on my deck …they were persistent and loud and relentless. Did I mention they were loud? And persistent? And loud? A canard threesome. Oh joy. These guys were shameless…not exactly the thing you want to see while drinking your first cup of morning coffee. Honestly. Get a room. And maybe a website.
Now I am in mortal combat with a squirrel. Little bugger. Earlier in the week I looked out on my wonderful property and I saw a little squirrel on my hammock …looking busy, and guilty. I stopped and looked a little closer…what is that little rodent doing? Is he…no…he can’t be…gasp…yes…yes HE IS. The little f*cker is peeling my hammock apart. Like the kids do with that string cheese stuff. My big huge rope hammock is being systematically disassembled by a 4 pound rat with a bushy tail. I. Will. Kill. Him. I went outside and the little coward took off up a tree. I shook my fist at him….he shook his fist at me…we both chattered at one another, and because I am at the top of the food chain I, naturally, won the fight. Lesson learned little fella…don’t mess with me, I have opposable thumbs. Smug in my own sense of self-importance I went back inside knowing I had conquered nature.
Unfortunately nature was not quite ready to go quietly into that good night. The new bain of my existence is now a squirrel the size of one of my Jimmy Choo shoes. He’s a smart one…only attacks at dusk, when he thinks I’m not looking. But I am on to him. I have positioned myself on the couch so I can watch TV and the hammock simultaneously. I have a bunch of pebbles ready to bean the little bugger with. Have no doubt, I will win. I laid in wait all week. At last my moment arrived…I caught him red handed… looking right at me while peeling my hammock apart. Taunting me. This was the moment I was going to show nature who was really in charge. I ran out, grabbed a handful of pebbles, ran toward my furry ememy to chase him away and immediately slipped on a swath of goose poop...landing right on my ass. I almost killed myself slipping on goose poop trying to get to him. The squirrel, already up a tree and out of my reach, pointed and laughed at me…the fornicating ducks quacked in ridicule and somewhere in the near distance 200 pooping geese gave each other a high-5. Nature sucks. It’s also very slippery.

Mmmmmmm....food.

One of the perks of working on the radio is that restaurants sometimes bring food by for us to try. Since we are up and at ‘em so early in the day food at 8:30 am is normal for us because it is equal to most people’s lunch hour. This morning we were blown away by a little Asian-Fusion restaurant called Champa Bistro. It has been a long long time since we’ve been blown away by simple appetizers….these little babies were a-maz-ing. If you are a Winnipegger take some time to check this place out. Ciao Magazine voted Champa Bistro one of the top 5 new restaurants of 2009…and they’ve only been open for 8 months !! It’s not often I feel compelled to push a restaurant on you…..but you will thank me. Try the Teriyaki Tacos.

I think, last night, I may have fooled around on Bette Davis……

I’m not sure where my love affair of old movies came from or even when it started. I know that, long before movies were rated, I was my Dad’s movie buddy. He took me to see just about every movie under the sun. Airport, Towering Inferno, The Godfather, True Grit, Marathon Man, All the President’s Men, Heaven Can Wait, A Bridge Too Far. All sorts of great 70’s films. I enjoy 70’s movies, lots of them, but my heart lies with Bette Davis and any movie that was made before 1960. These are movies that I always go back to. These are the movies that define a big part of who I am. Casablanca, To Kill a Mockingbird, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Red River, Maltese Falcon, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, On the Waterfront, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Barefoot Contessa, Cool Hand Luke, Sunset Boulevard, Rear Window, Mrs. Miniver, Some Like It Hot, The African Queen, Rio Bravo, The Ladykillers, Night of the Iguana, The Dirty Dozen, Stalag 17, A Place in the Sun, Bonnie and Clyde, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Klute, Kelly’s Heroes, Dr. Zhivago, The Graduate, Lawrence of Arabia…oh and my absolute favourite of all time…All About Eve with the scene stealing Bette Davis. Simply the most fascinating female actor in the history of Hollywood film. I’ve watched lots of her movies. Of Human Bondage, Jezebel, The Little Foxes, but my favourite has to be Bette Davis’ role as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star verbally sparring it out with a sneaky understudy who covets fame. This is a classic story of ambition and betrayal. Bette Davis is a force of nature in this film. But don’t take my word for it…take a look at these stats: All About Eve was nominated for 14 Academy Awards (a feat that was unmatched until Titanic). It won six Oscars, including Best Picture. All About Eve is still the only film in Oscar history to receive 4 female acting nominations. All About Eve was among the first 50 films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Like an old friend, All About Eve is always there for me. Rainy days, quiet Saturday nights, slow Sunday afternoons…whenever I have time to kill and I need a good friend I know I can always Margo Channing and William Wilder’s wonderfully directed All About Eve with a script to die for “We're a breed apart from the rest of humanity, we theatre folk. We are the original displaced personalities.” So. Good.
Anyway…I’ve loved Bette Davis and the legend of Bette Davis for as long as I can remember. Davis was the co-founder of the Hollywood Canteen, and was the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, was the first person to accrue 10 Academy Award nominations for acting, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. She continued acting until shortly before her death from breast cancer, with more than 100 films, television and theatre roles to her credit. In 1999, Davis was placed second, after Katharine Hepburn, on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest female stars of all time. This woman lived life so fearlessly and with such passion and gusto, such an inspiration to me! She was not a beautiful woman, but she was a great actress. With quotes like these …“I'd marry again if I found a man who had fifteen million dollars, would sign over half to me, and guarantee that he'd be dead within a year.”…how could you not love her?
Yes I have a girl crush on a long dead Hollywood actress.
So I found myself getting giddy when I realized, half way through my Friday afternoon that I just may be able to squeeze in a date with Bette and Margo and Addison and Eve. Ooooh. My heart leapt a little at the idea that I would be able to cuddle up with the Porkie Yorkie and watch my favourite movie. All of a sudden I had purpose. All of a sudden my chores were easy. Yes. Tonight it’s me and All About Eve !!
Everything was done. It was the moment I had been working toward all day. Pot of tea and a glass of port on the coffee table. All that was missing was the movie. I went to my DVD collection, strolled through the titles looking for the one….and….well…. this is where things went wrong for me and Bette. Instead of All About Eve I chose Cabaret. Whaaaaa? This was not the plan. All day long I was waiting for one thing and then when it came to the crunch I caved and picked something else. What was going on with me? What would I tell Bette? Would she forgive me for ditching her at the last minute? The guilt was overwhelming. But then, it happened. Cabaret came on…the bass trombone started playing. Joel Grey, the Kit Kat Club master of ceremonies in Weimar Republic era Berlin, introduces Miss Sally Bowles……Liza Minnelli steps through the curtain and starts to sing “Mein Herr” . The Kit Kat dancers….ooooh…the Kit Kat dancers. Sigh. Bob Fosse was truly inspired. I am hooked. For the next 124 minutes I hang on every movement Liza Minnelli makes….every smile, every eyelash batting, every gesture when she sings. Every feeling that flashes in her eyes. It’s as if this was the last movie she was ever going to do and she wanted every second to be amazing. (Well she did win an Oscar for her role) The frenetic, fascinating, vulnerable, bohemian Sally Bowles with the big doe eyes and even bigger voice. I was in love. Then the movie was over and I had to come back down to reality. I had left Bette for Liza. Liza. Bohemian Liza. Liza with the teal blue finger nail polish. Liza. Belting out the tunes. Tender and tough Liza whose quotes just make the movie. Quotes like “I'm going to be a great film star ! That is, if booze and sex don't get me first.” and ”Oh God, how depressing! You're meant to think I'm an international woman of mystery. I'm working on it like mad.” I fell madly in love with Sally Bowles. Somehow I think that Bette wouldn’t mind me fooling with another woman. Especially a woman who’s not afraid to say “That's me, darling. Unusual places, unusual love affairs. I am a most strange and extraordinary person.” I think Bette would be proud.

25 Things About Me

I was a latecomer(is that a word?) to Facebook....since then many changes have happined to the site....lately I have been finding myself falling out of love with Facebook. Today I was strolling through all the tabs that have replaced the side bars that used to be on Facebook. I found a tab called "Notes" and I found this....It's called 25 Things About Me. Facebook may have changed 25 times since I wrote this little thing but, reading it back, it's nice to see I haven't changed one bit.

25 things about me

1. I grew up as an Air Force brat.....my sister went to 12 schools in 12 years. It totally screwed her up....but I loved moving around. Every time I move to a new city, I tell myself I'm NEVER going to move again...Ya, right. I've been saying that for 100 years.

2. I love windows. I love houses with lots of windows, I love log house windows....stained glass windows, round windows, long windows.....the first thing I notice is always the windows.

3. I was a track star. I ran the 60, 100 and 400 meter relay in high school and I was damn good. Funny thing is...I never trained. All the jocks hated the fact that I would show up the day of the meet and beat their ass......ha!

4. I love classical music. Bach's violin concertos is my uber uber favorite....I force people to appreciate classical music when they come over....Bach on a Bose stereo is insane.

5. I am a history freak. Seriously. I bore the hell out of everyone with my geek-like knowledge of french, italian, and english history. My favorite book is The Time Tables of History and the Histroy of the Kings and Queens of England....you're thrilled, I can tell.

6. I cry easily....but I'm trying to toughen up.

7. I am a classic movie addict. Bette Davis, John Wayne, Ava Gardner, Montgomery Clift, Lawrence Olivier....almost any movie made before 1960 is great....except if it is a foriegn film....which leads me to #8

8. Foriegn films....where do I start....Babettes Feast, Monsoon Wedding, Laagan, Tate Danielle, Jesus of Montreal, Jean deFlourette, Mannon of the Spring, Cinema Paradiso, El Postino....on and on and on.

9. I hate house cleaning. Period.

10. Mid-century modern architecture is fantastic.

11. I have a Lava Lamp and I love it.

12. I have 7 tattoos.....they keep getting bigger every time.

13. When I was little, my Dad threw me in the lake to teach me how to swim...I sank like a rock and had to be hauled out. I remember my Dad getting major sh*t from my Mom over that one. Since then the only time I go in the water is when I take a shower.

14. I would spend every day working in the garden if I could.

15. I won't change a baby's diaper, but I have no problem pulling something foriegn out of my dog's ass.

16. If I could sell my soul to Satan to live forever, I would. I love life....good stuff and bad...and I'm terrified of dying. My people and Satan's people are currently in negotiations.

17. I love to eat.....food, food, food......bring it on! I AM the buffet queen.

18. If I could live anywhere in the world I would want to live in Europe....eastern Italy or southern France. I hope to purchase property there in the next few years.

19. When I go visit my parents I sleep in the same bed I had when I was a child....and I love it. My mom makes me tea and I love it. My dad tells me to listen to my mom and I love it. My mom tells me not to stay out too late and I love it.

20. I have never married. Sometimes I wish I had....sometimes I'm glad I didn't.

21. My favorite treat is dipping Aero chocolate bars (the big ones....not those wimpy little ones) into a cup of tea....yum yum. I will eat that crap until I get sick.

22. The older I get, the simpler/ less complicated I think I am becoming. Politics mean less, the economy, global recession, war. I would rather be a good person with a good heart. I can't control the world, I can only control how I act while I am living on it. When I die I would like to have people say..."She was a good person" rather than "She sure was smart...." but I plan on living for ever....see #16

23. 4 years ago I went to Torquay, the south coast of England, and stalked Van Morrison. It was awesome. I ate Devonshire cream and scones during "Tea Time" every day and didn't care that one little bite had 3 hundred-thousand calories.

24. My parents are the two most important people in my life. I would walk across broken glass for them.

25. I hate cell phones and only carry one with me if I'm travelling....but even then I won't turn the cell phone on.

26....I'm serious about wanting to live forever.