Sorry had a busy week so will leave you with videos instead of my normal ramblings (please hold your applause)…I think both of these videos will leave you with a WTF? feeling (the bandsaw one is a bit long just watch a few mins then zip to the end…yes patience isn’t one of my strengths)
From the Canadian Open earlier this week….
From a bandsaw exhibition…yes, apparently such thing exists
So we stopped by Harrods the other day as they had their annual sale on with lots of things 70%off and let’s face it, normal people can only afford Harrods stuff at 70-99%off. We didn’t’ find anything exciting (read: cheap enough) but as we were about to leave I saw a sign for ‘Pet Kingdom’ and, like a kid in a toy store, I was off.
It was absolutely unbelievable (okay to be fair it should have been believable as Harrods sells a real life monopoly game with real British pounds as cash so a few fancy pet beds should be believable). They had everything from dog beer to beds to fancy dress costumes to jewel studded leashes because seriously, if your owners are shopping in Harrods they obviously have some extra cash to quench your thirst for a brewski and understand your need for a little bling when out in the dog park. Observe:
I did almost have one of those moments when you lie on the floor and kick your hands and feet and cry until your parents hubby buys you what you want because when I walked up to the live puppy area I saw that they had a Border Terrier for sale. I immediately ran at the glass and pressed my nose up against it looking for my new bundle of cuteness only to find out it had been sold and that the area only contained hyper active daschunds..the hubby was lucky this time. Although, after seeing what Harrods was charging for them I think we might have to look for a second hand or irregular Border Terrier to fit within our budget.
I am sure if you have read more than one of my posts you know that it doesn’t take much to amuse me so my most recent finding wont surprise most of you. The Yahoo Mail subject generator….I found it by accident when I clicked on the word subject instead of ‘cc’ and saw that each time I clicked on it a new random topic was generated.
I now spend copious amounts of time chuckling to myself before selecting the best stupid subject line for my emails….I equally enjoy it when my friends reply to my emails without changing the subject and I receive emails like:
Re: please don’t call me a chinchilla
Re: Pandora didn’t think outside the box
Re: Shortcut for next week’s marathon
Re: There’s a great juggler on the radio tonight!
Re: Eating pasta with chopsticks
Awww the little things…
One of the questions I get when people find out I am Canadian is whether or not I speak French. I am not sure where the assumption that we are bilingual comes from (other than the fact that every package and sign in Canada has to legally be printed in both languages) but most people do assume we are fluent in both languages. I for one, am not. I can tell you the French translation for ‘Fat Free’ or ‘You could win’ but that doesn’t come up much.
We were taught French in school up to grade 8 but the only thing I can remember from those lessons was watching a show called Telefrancais (French for ‘French Television’). If you are in your late 20’s or early 30’s you will probably have watched it as part of the Canadian French language curriculum. Most of us can sing the theme song and some are even gifted enough to remember the French translation for pineapple (anana). Sadly, I have never once had to use the word pineapple in French in a real life scenario.
Stick with it until the 1:30 mark to hear the amazing theme song, you will be thanking me later when it is stuck in your head.
Loved this novelty item. You would figure you would get a few strange looks due to the size of the bags and the appearance of giant goldfish…you might also attract a few of the stray cats in the neighbourhood.
They are a wee bit pricey ($15.99) for something you literally throw away but they are biodegradable so what damage they do to your wallet they wont do to the earth.
They might lift the spirits of the Torontonians whom are in the midst of a month long garbage strike and are having to use local parks as temporary dump sites…yum.
The other day I was reading a book about a pastry chef (move over Shakespeare, chick lit is where it’s at) as such it had a recipe between each new chapter (more value for your money, a novel AND a cookbook). I normally ignore recipes of any kind however one of them, Divinity Fudge, reminded me of my as my Grandfather used to make it for me a lot as a kid. He would also let me eat as much as I wanted and due to the sugar content I was usually physically vibrating from a sugar high when my parents came to pick me up.
Divinity fudge isn’t like traditional fudge that you would normally cut a chunk off of and eat, it is more like mini soft meringues. After seeing the recipe I had an instant craving to make it. The recipe is fairly simple but I am impatient and usually don’t wait for the sugar to get to hard ball stage (not owning a candy thermometer means I guess and always get it wrong) but they turned out okay.
The key (other than getting the hard ball stage bit right) as my grandfather used to say, was to ‘beat air in it’s pants’ (American pants aka trousers, not British pants aka undies) once you mixed it all together by taking a wooden spoon and beating it to death…I did this then plugged in the electric mixer for some added oomph – I ended up spraying the wall and floor with the wonderfully sticky and sugary goo.
Beating the air in it's pants
The recipe is below (bear in mind my Grandfather was diabetic – I don’t recommend any diabetics attempting this recipe). Just in case you are wondering, I made these Friday and I only have 5 left and the hubby has only had 2 – they are a bit too sweet for his liking….which is fine by me!
Divinity Fudge recipe
2.5 cups of sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup (aka Golden Syrup in the UK)
1/2 cup water
pinch of salt
3 large egg whites
1tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried cherries, blueberries or cranberries (optional – I tend to leave these out as they are too healthy)
1/2 chopped pecans (optional - I also leave these out as I am a purist when it comes to sugary treats)
In a 2 quart saucepan mix the sugar corn syrup water and salt. Using a candy thermometer heat to hardball stage (250 to 266 degrees) stirring only until sugar is dissolved. Meanwhile beat the eggs to stiff peaks. When the syrup reaches 260 degrees F add it gradually to the egg whites while beating at high speed in a mixer. Continue to beat until the candy takes shape (about 5 minutes) Stir in vanilla, nuts and dries fruit. Quickly drop the candy from a teaspoon on to waxed paper finishing each piece with a swirl and cool to room temperature.
For as long as I remember I have been afraid of sharks…I remember having a panic attack at the thought of going through the glass shark tunnel at Disney World for fear that a shark would break the glass and eat me. I even could freak myself out into thinking that there was a shark in my backyard pool and would hop out so I could check that there wasn’t. That is why I think this site – www.frenziedwaters.com is brilliant in its creepyness – the sounds and camera movements made my stomach churn. It also integrates with facebook for added personalised creepyness (click on the last jar labelled ‘My Story’ if you have a facebook account).
From what I have read, it is a teaser campaign for Discovery Channel’s Shark Week which I used to love watching in complete terror. Beyond the website, certain journalists were sent unlabeled jars which contained half eaten swim trunks, a warning sign and a key with the URL on it….oh yeah and an obituary specific to the person whom received it….love it…unfortunately, my blogging hasn’t yet garnered me journalist status so I didn’t get one of these myself, maybe next year.
Recently, the government changed their policy on swine flu from containment to treatment – basically they have stopped physically testing for swine flu so if you think you have it, you stay home and call the NHS (National Health Service) versus going in to see someone. Once you describe your symptoms, the advisor will decide whether or not it sounds like you have swine flu (or if you are just a massive hypochondriac) and will arrange for a prescription of Tamiflu be sent to a ‘pre-determined pickup area’ (sounds so technical) and recommend you stay within your flat for 7-10 days.
The government is also advising that you appoint a ‘flu friend’ aka personal biatch who can go and pick up the prescriptions for you and do errands so you aren’t out infecting the rest of the nation.
So far, we have had relatively small interaction with the disease (mainly cause we have had relatively small interaction with the outside world as a whole lately) with only one friend coming down with it (thankfully). That was until this afternoon when I heard someone talking very loudly in our hallway….when I got close to the door to eavesdrop investigate, I found out that our next door neighbour has indeed come down with swine flu. His flu buddy was in the hallway talking to him on her mobile whilst he stood inside his flat on the other side of the door. She dropped off some Tortellini for him but apparently couldn’t find the ‘yoghurt thingies’ he had also requested. He is apparently confined to his flat for 2 weeks! Thankfully, we are very anti-social in our block of flats and basically have no interaction with our neighbours – I will however be sure to bathe in anti bacterial hand gel after touching anything in the hall area.
As the terribly named disease moves closer to home, I am going to draw up a shortlist of my possible ‘flu friends’ and might start stockpiling food in the flat just in case. Hey, maybe I can piggyback (pardon the swine reference) on the neighbours flu buddy and get her to do shopping for me…or better still, I could get a job as a professional ‘flu friend’ and go find those ‘yogart thingies that his incompetent ‘flu buddy’ couldn’t find and get paid for it.
PS How great (read gross) is the NHS sneezing flu man, if that doesn’t convince you to have a full body shower in bleach every time you return from the outside world, I don’t know what will.
Suffering from a severe form of the heebie jeebies…was talking to my parents on skype then turned around and saw this crawling up the wall. Unfortunately I didn’t have the chance to stick something up beside this beast to show you how bit it was like last time but it was big and chunky and gross and now I think we need to move out of our flat for fear that it may have friends near by (this particular spider fortunately unfortunately got in the way of the hubby waving a flip flop so no fear of him coming back).
Between the pigeons and spiders I feel like I am running a petting zoo….Okay, now I need some vodka and tylenol PM to get rid of my heebie jeebies so I can sleep.
Was at a comedy show the other day and the guy was talking about a drawing pin….wont even let you know what I thought he was talking about but it might have included a dual function pencil and pin which I thought was a great idea until I realised that if the pencil bit got dull it probably wouldn’t hold much up…anyway I googled it and the internet saved me again.
Just to clarify, it means thumbtack, not 'Chiefly British'
Just when I thought I was getting a hang of the English vocabulary….
I am beginning to think that on job applications, when I say I am fluent in English that I should actually point out that it is Canadian English and put quotation marks around it so they don’t have their expectations up too high when they meet me.
Fluent in ‘Canadian English’.
