A tsunami warning, some explosions and a fire.

A busy day in my neighbourhood.

There's a tsunami advisory issued for the coastal area because of the earthquake earlier today in Chile. Not a huge deal for us locally as it's just an advisory, those happen often enough and as Steve Bachop of the PEP - Provincial Emergency Program - stated, "people should definitely not be freaking out!" ... lol, you tell 'em, dude!

Then...

At about 2pm, after a morning of sweaty chores and a 'run,' I'm about to jump into the shower and I hear a big bang. A really big bang... but with my wonky hearing and the noise from the shower, I just shrug and 'whadever.'

Then, BANG! Hmmm....

Again, BANG!!! BANG!!!

Ok... this is not normal.

And then I hear sirens.

I grab a towel and go look out a window and OMFG! A huge wall of flames across the street! Lots of fire engines and cop cars show up very quickly and get on with doing what they do... in the mean time more explosions, more flames and very thick black smoke.

I took these shots... they're not very good... a darkish day, through a window, through pine trees... trying not to use the flash cos of the reflection.





It was not a massive of fire but when you're in a structure containing all your worldly possessions and that structure is made of wood, and it's surrounded by trees and you're butt fuckin' naked and you're hard of hearing yet can still hear the crackling flames... it's a big enough fire.

Scary how fast the flames spread yet amazing how fast the fire dudes got here and put it out.

From what I can gather the area that burned is a parking area for a condo building - a big long carport of covered parking. I'm guessing the explosions were various cars or car parts exploding. It's all roped off so I'll have to wait for the gossip or news to get the scoop.

I'm pretty sure no one got hurt, so that's good.

And, on the plus side, sitting here at my laptop for the last while I've noticed how peaceful it is with the road closed off...

Best wildlife video ever.

;-)

Scenic Sunday - Can Cows Swim?

Today I spent a glorious few hours at Cattle Point. It's probably one of my favourite local haunts. It's beautiful and, for a city park, very peaceful ... in terms of human noise, I mean. Crows, ravens and seagulls bark at each other constantly but when you're by the ocean, and not in bed trying to sleep, they sound great.



So, Cattle Point... yep, cows. In previous times, cows were shoved off barges from the mainland to swim to the then farm on the shore.




(I didn't know cows could swim... actually I'm still not convinced. Does anyone know?)



That's Koma Kulshan (aka Mount Baker)... gorgeous eh? Although I'm in Canada, Mount Baker is in the US state of Washington and like many mountains in the area, it's an active volcano. It's the most active volcano in the Cascade Mountain Range after Mount St Helens - remember her?

Koma Kulshan is to the east of Cattle Point. Here's a view to the south.



The Olympic Mountains, also in Washington State. The bit of land with the buildings on it is still Victoria (Oak Bay), Vancouver Island, Canada and then the mountains behind are in the US across the Juan de Fuca Straight.

From Cattle Point, I walked down to Willows Beach... driftwood fun, dog walking and people chillin'. Nice.





Anyways... (Hi Neil), to conclude, it was a beautiful day. Warm sun, crisp fresh air and signs of spring everywhere:

Naked Ladies

Yesterday I went to a local art gallery (The Avenue Gallery) to see 'Leonard Cohen: Art Work' - a "collection of his Jean Cocteau-like sketches, features multiple self-portraits, as well as images of Leonard Cohen's homes in Montreal and on the Greek island of Hydra..."

Her Hand in the Sand

While I was meandering print by print, I crossed paths with a man and a little boy. We all stopped in front of the same print above and the boy said, 'he sure liked drawing naked ladies' as nonchalantly as if he could have meant drawing apples. Priceless.

I enjoyed the exhibit very much and was drawn to this piece in particular.

Deeply Familiar

But the $2,600 price tag is beyond what I'm willing to pay, especially for a print. Still, I do like it!

You can see all the entire collection here, though they look a bit different all framed up hanging on the gallery wall.

Sweaty Sunday: Knee Needs

It's Sunday!

This week has been a bit frustrating.



Monday's 'run' was good!

Wednesday's was sore. A few strides into the running bit of my run and both knees starting feeling odd. Not really painful but a sensation that felt like a warning. I listened to it and stopped running. After a few more minutes of walking, I tried running again. Knees said, 'no.' So, I walked the rest of the way, went home and pouted. (violins)

Friday, I tried again. Still, my knees did not feel right.

On my way home, I detoured into a running shop 'just to look' and had a nice surprise. The woman working there was a runner and also a physiotherapist. We chatted informally about my knees and she gave me a bit of advice which was essentially: let my knees catch up with my enthusiasm and some other tidbits.

It's very difficult to finally feel like wanting to get fit again and finding the holy grail of sports bras and finding great shoes and having excellent support and feeling very excited about trying something new... even the weather's been great! ... and having to take it slow. ARGH!!!! ;-)

But, it's just what I need to do. Simple as that.

I'm still sweating though; walking and doing some strength building and 'prehab knees' exercises but... so frustrating! lol. And I should be back to running very soon!

Virtual Hairdoo

I need a haircut and a dye job and I want to have some fun.

My natural hair colour is dirty blond with a sprinkling of silver. I normally get highlights to make the silver less obvious. But, once in a while I like to play. Usually that means home dye jobs and self-cuts... and eventually to the hairdresser to get it all fixed!

I don't mind, it's part of the fun but thanks to the internet, I've found a whole new level of hilarity. For about 20 bucks, Canadian, I registered with 'TheHairStyler' - a website where you can upload your pic and get virtual hairdoos!

OMG... I nearly peed myself so many times. In terms of sheer entertainment value, I think the cost is well worth it! I ache from laughing.

To do the virtual hair styling thing you need to upload a photo of yourself, taken fairly straight on, with your hair out of you face. Here's me with a temp darkish blond dye-job, a stupid expression and a t-shirt wrapped around my head; the before.



And then let the fun begin! Here I am in some female celebrity doos!

As Lady GaGa Green.



Me as a post sammich pig-out Amy Winehouse:



Whoopi Goldberg-locks.



Anna-Nicole Marnie.



Rock Lobster!



I think Ivana Trump's doo suits me. Her bank account would suit me even better!



As Rihanna. Words fail me.




Not being one to confine myself in terms of gender, here is me with some famous men's hairdos...

Me showing off my X Factor as Simon Cowell.




Dishing out soothing sounds as Kenny G:



Stylin' it like Beckham. I actually have had my hair almost exactly like this before... and before Beckham did! I'm that cool!



Are you gonna go my way, Lenny Kravitz?:



Elvis has left the building... but he left behind his hair!



Some rap dude (I forget!).



Other doos...

Here I am with Hurricane Katrina perched on my head:



Me as Princess Leia... after shagging Hans Solo:



Probably the most unflattering doo I came across!




But, I sort of actually like this!



I have no idea...



Again, not a fucking clue... lol!



Sooooo, do you have a favourite? Which doo should I go for? Which one suits me best? ;-)