Sunday, October 31, 2010

Desert Island Discs

Ok, a bit embarrassing but I've just, yes just, found out about the BBC Radio 4 program 'Desert Island Discs' during which a guest chooses eight records they would take with them to a desert island.

I had heard of the concept eons ago but it wasn't until I was talking with my friend Simon that it really registered that is was a radio program... on a popular station in a country I lived in for five years. :-/ Simon has the patience of a saint.

Anyways... I've decided to make my own desert island selections. I practically live on one already.

Difficult, ain't it? I've done it with albums... but with just pieces of music, that's very difficult. But here's my list (for now) (subject to change) (many times).




Sooooooooooooooooo....

What are YOUR desert island discs?

BTW - if you haven't already found Grooveshark, it's great.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Happy Halloween



Scary, eh? What's scarier is that I look better as a zombie. =:-o

Hey! Crank the volume, click 'play,' and get up and shake your groovy goolies!




I love the dancing pot lid. :-)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Pumpkin Post

Last week, when I went to Island View Beach, I drove through an area where there are a lot of farms. That large building in the centre of the photo is a country market, selling all sorts of local produce, bales of hay, fresh eggs and, of course, pumpkins!

At this time of year, pumpkin patches are very eye-catching and are visited by families so that the kids can select pumpkins to take home and carve into jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. Brings back a lot of fond memories!




The customary blog drive-by shot:




Other people just go the grocery stores to get their pumpkins. Along the way I passed a tractor hauling a load from the field to the barn. I suspect from there they are trucked to local shops.




And yesterday, I was at a local grocery store and the pumpkin bins were out and full up! I just love that (small things, small minds...). Aren't they gorgeous?




This hefty pumpkin is the subject of a contest:




'Guess the weight and win!' said the contest dude.

'Win what?' I asked.

'Why, you win the pumpkin!'

'Ha! What would I do with a 300lb pumpkin!?'

But really, I already knew... I'd do this:



;-)

What would you do with a 300lb pumpkin?

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Shoes, Views and Lepers

The other day, I had to take Rusty to his doctor. His 'engine fault' light was lit up and he was due for an oil change, some brake fluid check and a prostate exam... so, off to the clinic. After I picked him up, I decided to go for a buzz up the highway. Weee...! And ended up at Island View Beach.

There, I saw lots of driftwood:




dried seaweed:




wet seaweed:




pretty seashells:




nice sand:




and a salmon that's seen better days:




I did look up at times! And here's the view to the right:




The view to the left:




And straight ahead:




Straight ahead but zoomed so that Mt. Baker can be seen better:




Grim historical fact: One of the islands seen out there is D'Arcy Island and it was once the Chinese leper colony for Victoria and Chinese lepers from the rest of Canada (ie; the railway workers). They were sent there to essentially die... while Joe Whitey lepers were sent to other leper colonies where they received care.

On the plus side D'Arcy Island is now a national park. Part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Disappointed With My British Friends

You all know who you are!

For a whole month you've all known about it. It must have been on the news. It must have been in the papers. It must have been talked about. And you never, never, never told me!

You all knew that I'd love it. That I would howl with laughter.

Yet you held it back. You kept it from me. No URLs sent. Nothing... sniffles...

You thought you could keep it from me. You selfish, uncharitable, tightfisted meanies!

But I found it! Mwhahahahahaha!

;-)

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Thanksgiving

This weekend is that annual harvest celebration in Canada; Thanksgiving. Giving thanks to the good earth for the food and taking stock of what one might be personally thankful for.

This video sums up the occasion perfectly:



(Although I will have some pumpkin pie, yum!)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Otters

A while back, while walking along the water, I saw the otter that I usually see. Then I saw him again and again and again - popping up here and then there and then back over there. WTF?! It wasn't the otter... it was him, his beloved and their sprogs! I was seeing a family of otters; six of the wee weasels!



There's been an otter living here for a few years but this is the first year I've seen a whole family. Sweet, eh?



Sorry about the crap photos. Not the right camera for the job. Here's a crap video of them (same crap camera!). The otters are on the big rocks:

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A bit of light entertainment.

I'm not that much into dance and I don't really like the Kenny Loggins song 'Footloose' but together all edited up with clips from various films over the years... the end result is, imo, entertaining:

Monday, October 4, 2010

Hypnopompic Jesus.

That's what I woke up to this morning.

I opened my sleepy eyes and there's Jesus, yeah the Jesus Christ Jesus, propped up with a pillow, beside me, in my bed, reading a book. I immediately kicked out my feet towards his, 'Get your dirty sandals out of my bed, dude!' and then he evapourated.

I fell back to sleep.

For several months, I've been having hypnopompic hallucinations: vivid hallucinations that occur when I'm waking up.

The first one was waking up and seeing my late cat sitting on my bedside table. She was so real looking. I reached out my hand, 'hey there Buzz' but my hand went right through.

Since then, I've woken up many more times to Buzz and to other cats, a big beautiful chocolate lab, a goat, a tray of curries in little silver dishes and other mundane things. I've woken up, cuddled up to a mountain lion, a grizzly bear walking past my bed and a woman with silver hair looking down at me. Most excitingly, I awoke to a bull charging at me causing me to scuttle across my bed to avoid getting pwned!

These hallucinations also take the form of sensations. I've felt a hand on my shoulder, being covered by a blanket but the weirdest so far has been the feeling of my mattress moving as if someone had just sat on the edge of my bed. That one freaked me out a bit!

I can imagine how these hypnopompic hallucinations could be very disturbing to some people, or lead people to believe in ghosts, visitations from other worlds or the afterlife, or other paranormal weirdness and perhaps even convince people they have found God... after all, I woke up with his son in my bed. ;-)

From what I gather, not too much is known about hypnopompic hallucinations, except that about 12% of people have them and that they are more common in people who have sleep disorders (which I don't think I have). I suspect it's just a side effect of the citalopram (antidepressant/ssri) that I'm on.

Whatever the cause, I think this phenomenon is very interesting and I welcome it, ie, I don't suffer from hypnopompic hallucinations, I enjoy them.