Girls, they wanna have fun!

Last night I went to see Cyndi Lauper and Rosie O'Donnell in concert. I was trying to get tickets forever, but they were sold out. Then, randomly, one of my friends ended up having an extra ticket, and all of a sudden I got to go. It was freaking amazing. Cyndi Lauper is epic!! I used to listen to her all the time when I was younger, like that cd was on some serious rotation, but I haven't broken it out in a while. After last night, I am such a huge fan again, and I'm pretty sure I will be going out after work to purchase more Cyndi Lauper cds.

The women is 56(ish) years old and she can move. Please Lord, let me be able to dance like Cyndi Lauper when I'm nearing 60. Actually, please let me be able to dance like Cyndi Lauper now. Anyway, she has a killer voice, killer dance moves, and she's still rocking the corset. Loved every moment of it. At one point Rosie was playing the drums, then Cyndi starts playing this washboard thing, but she was wearing it over her head, vest like, and they sang "Iko, Iko". You know, my grandma and your grandma, sitting by the fire, my grandma said to your grandma, i'm gonna set your flag on fire, talking about hey now, hey now, aka, one of the catchiest songs in existence?

I was dying for a good concert too, so it was perfect timing.

Rosie was pretty funny too. I loved Rosie back in the day, I watched her show every single day after school. I was very excited to see her live...and as much as people seem to continually bash her (for no apparent reason...I mean, does anybody actually like Elisabeth Hasselbeck? Why is she still on television? That girl really needs to shut up and become informed about things before she spews off.) Anyway, Rosie was pretty damn funny.

Going to see a concert at the Fallsview Casino is a little annoying because they ummm, don't let you stand. It's kind of ridiculous. You are sitting there wanting to get up and dance, so you decide, I'm standing up!, and then the security people come and shine a light on you. They seriously have these little flashlights, and they come up to your row and shine it in your face so that everybody in the surrounding area is all, ohhhhhh, she's in trouble. It's silly.

You know it's bad when Cyndi Lauper is all, "why aren't you guys standing and dancing?", and then some random person calls out, "ummm they won't let us stand". And the look on her face is just like, goooood lord. Then she runs down into the audience, grabs a man out of his seat, and jumps up on the chair and starts rocking out. Take that Fallsview Casino management! We will dance if we wanna dance! So we got to dance from that point forward. But the guys with the flashlights? So dumb. I absolutely love feeling like I'm getting called out by the principal in the middle of a crowded theatre for simply wanting to bust a move. Whatever. Here's another stick!

I"m seriously considering dressing like Cyndi for Halloween.

Tomorrow will be Furry Saturday, because I haven't forgotten about my loves at the shelter.

Broadway Baby

I've been a big fan of musicals ever since I can remember...a big fan. I know the words to a disturbing number of showtunes and I have been lucky enough to see my fair share of musical productions. I think perhaps I love them so much is because really, what's not to love about a world where people sing all the time? I wish!

Growing up, various musical soundtracks were on constant rotation in my house. Andrew Lloyd Webber's Greatest Hits, Les Mis, Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat...basically, the soundtrack of my youth is the soundtracks of these musicals (with a little Elton John, Bette Midler, Jive Bunny and Celine Dion thrown in). My love of musicals basically started in womb and just grew from there.

The very first real musical I remember seeing was Phantom of the Opera when it was playing in Toronto. Talk about magical! I'm pretty sure I was frightening during the whole thing, but still, magical. And oh, the first time I got to go to New York City (a place that continues to hold my heart), and go see a musical on Broadway? Complete dream come true. And not only was it a Broadway play, but it was this Broadway play:



New York City + Broadway + actually getting to meet Bernadette Peters? I could have died right then and there. I bought the Annie Get Your Gun soundtrack, and I tortured my parents with it for months afterwards. "I wanna wedding in a big church, with bridesmaids and flower girls...". LOVE.

Since that initial trip, I've been back to New York a couple of times, and seen several more Broadway plays. It never gets less exciting, and I don't think it ever will. Toronto also has tons of good musicals, and I go whenever I possibly can. Something about seeing a musical in New York though, it just makes it that much more special. It's New York! It's where it all started!

I've seen so many musicals in my life now, that I seriously probably could not even remember them all if I tried. Favourites include: Wicked, Rent, Les Mis, The Colour Purple and Annie Get Your Gun. We are going back to NYC in December and I am already ridiculously excited. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE New York? I want to marry New York City.

The other day, the fam and I went to see:



It was really good. Funnily enough, I had no idea what any of the characters were saying throughout the entire play, but I still really enjoyed it. They all had really thick Caribbean accents and there was lots of Jamaican slang happening. I spent a lot of time being confused. Entertained, but confused.

I know a lot of people think musicals are cheesy, and I wouldn't disagree with that. A lot of them are pure cheese, but that what makes them so great. It's a happy, singing world, and I like to live there sometimes. Okay, I wouldn't want to live in Les Mis cause I would probably get shot, but I would love to live in a world where people sing what they are feeling, because not only would it be hilarious, it would be amazing. Let's face it, the world would be a MUCH happier place if people randomly sang and danced in unison more often.

See exhibits
a: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k
b: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM
c: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je1KOcBYGjM&feature=related

Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Part Two

I am happy to report that our softball team won our game last night! I hereby take back all comparisons to the Bad News Bears. I mean, we aren't super great by any means, but at least we didn't suck completely. And we won! Yay. I also found myself playing a little better, there was less running from the ball, and more catching of the ball. I'm not quite here yet:



But I"m working on it. All the way May! How great was the movie A League of Their Own? Definitely one of my favourite movies ever.

Remember when the other week I asked the question, who injures themselves playing softball? I now have additional things to add to my things to worry about while playing softball list. At the very top? Pulling a quad muscle. I can now say, this is an extremely painful injury, and why the hell didn't I stretch properly beforehand? I think it's because in my mind it's like, hey, it's softball, barely any effort is required. Except! Except when you are at bat, and have to suddenly sprint like there is no tomorrow for first base. So, once again, lesson learned. The lesson being: stretch properly, because sprinting will be happening. I can now not bend my left leg properly and am gimpy, but there is no game next week, so hopefully in two weeks time I'll be back to normal. Another random injury to add to list: slicing your inner arm open with your glove (or something). I was standing there playing catcher, and I looked at my arm and it was bleeding. Seriously, I have no idea what I did, but it proves to me that if there is a way to injure myself doing something seemingly benign, then I will. OY! I never cease to amaze myself with my complete spaziness.

Last night's game was great. Everybody was much more talkative. AND! There was beer, which really only makes things better. We stayed and watched a bit of the next game, and I think we are finding our groove. That groove may not be greatness, but it is a vast improvement on the obliteration that was last week. I'm not an overly competitive person (except maybe when playing board games...), but it's nice to win every once in a while. Keeps the moral high.

Rain, Rain

There has been so much rain here lately, it's ridiculous. Every day, it rains! Like, you'll be driving down the road, then all of a sudden it's like, "nope, can't take the scenic route, it's flooded!". Oy with the rain already.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good thunderstorm. I am all about pretty lightening that illuminates the entire sky and booming thunder that scares the crap out of dogs everywhere. Summer storms are great. It gives one a great excuse to cuddle on the couch and read. Or whatever. Regardless, ENOUGH with the rain! As I write this, a big black cloud is slowly approaching, and I'm pretty sure in about a half hour or so, the downpour will commence. Where are we, Ireland? I'm also mad at the rain because it ruined my pedicure. Screw you random foot deep puddles everywhere! If I have to play softball in the rain tonight, I"m gonna be pissed! Like I need to add "slipping in a puddle" to my list of possible softball related calamities. Geez weather, I'm spazzy enough as it is thank you.

That being said, there is always this:




DOUBLE RAINBOW!!!

There the Earth goes, randomly impressing me with it's beauty again. I guess that makes the rain kind of worth it, cause how cool are rainbows? I'm a person that likes to know things, especially random things, so I just googled "what makes a rainbow" and I started reading, but you know what? I don't really care. Some things are just more fun to wonder about. Some times when you know the truth, you become a lot less filled with wonder. Like with Santa. Or Unicorns. How depressing was that day as a child when you realized there are no such creatures as unicorns? "Sooooooo, you're telling me I'll never be able to find a unicorn in the forest, no matter how long and hard I look?" It's a little sad. At least it was for me, a child for whom adventures and mysteries and treks and trees were a huge part of life (okay they still are..)

Anyway, I have no idea where I'm going with this, but now I've just googled "unicorns", and I can see this becoming a never ending cycle, so I"m just going to stop writing now.

Furry Friday: Feline Edition

Since this weekend is going to be filled with lots and lots of dogs, as it is Niagara's Annual Dogfest (annual, you say? yes, I never heard of it either), I thought I would make today's Furry Friday all about Felines. I give you Bella, Gracie and Linx:





I"m just going to say it, I'm not a cat person. See here. I've discovered however, that my fear is basically of unknown cats. Some of my friends have cats, and the more I am around these cats, the less I feel like running in terror. Perhaps it is just that I am now able to read cat behaviour a little better, and I know when they are going to pounce (not always though). Anyway, what I"m saying is, I'm slightly less scared of cats, but still slightly afraid. ANYHOO.

There are so many cats at the shelter during this time of year; they come in droves. Every week there is a new batch of kittens, who thankfully get adopted pretty quickly, because they are so EFFIN CUTE. I like when I stand at the desk by their cage, and all of a sudden I feel a sharp pain in my thigh/back, and try to turn around, only to discover that a kitten has attached a claw to me through the cage. Crafty devils. None the less, they are freakin cute.

Why don't a lot of people spay or neuter their cats? Seriously! A lot of people let their cats roam about at night, and did you know a female cat can have up to 3 litters a year? THAT's A LOTTA CATS. You can easily imagine how this could quickly turn into thousands of cats. It is so irresponsible as a pet owner to have an unfixed cat roaming the neighbourhood. This results in stray cats, feral cats! I mean, half the cats that come into the shelter, let's face it, more than half, cannot be adopted out, because a) there is no room, and b) they are FERAL. You think regular cat claws are scary? Wait till you meet, Old Feral Sammy, who has been living in a field with no human contact for two years. He will claw your face off, because dammit, he liked that field!

This irresponsibilty on the part of humans, the species who are able to logically connect the dots in this situation, is astounding. I'm just going to say it: do you know how many cats are euthanized at shelters each year around this time? SO MANY. And people want to get all up on their soap box and starting blaming the shelters, but the fact of the matter is, there is no room for the thousands of cats that come in every summer. People need to take responsibility for their own pets. If you don't want to spay or neuter, then don't let the cat out to roam.

Stuff like this makes me so angry, because why? Why it is even a situation? If people can't afford to responsibly care for their pet, perhaps they shouldn't have one.

I read about this really amazing local animal group who are implementing a program where they catch feral cats, spay/neuter them, then release them back into the wild. Awesome! I love when people step it up. So kudos to that group (I can't find the article now!).

Definitely stop by a shelter if you are thinking of getting a cat. There are so many, the shelter is literally filled to the brink.

Construction in the City

I experienced a very Carrie (of Sex and the City) moment this morning. My city has been full of construction since…well, the entire summer so far, and the newest addition has been sparkly new curbs. I was trying to cross the street to get to the office, and I guess I stepped on the wrong part of the curb, because all of a sudden all these construction guys were yelling at me, “heyyyyy, heyyyy, get off the curb! Get off the curb!!! Off the curb lady!!! Ohhhhhh, ohhhhhh off the curb!!” Geez, I thought construction workers only behaved like that in movies and/or TV shows! It’s not like the curb was roped off or anything! How am I possibly supposed to know that I am not to be stepping on it?

A similar thing happened to Carrie in one episode of Sex and the City where she stepped on some freshly paved sidewalk, and the construction workers had about the same reaction as I experienced this morning, except there might have been swearing. The whole thing would have seemed much more charming had it happened in NYC, because you almost expect it, but in St. Catharines, it was just…rude. How about starting with, “excuse me, but could you not step on that curb”, instead of ramping it up to full on yelling right away. Plus, it’s 8 o’clock in the morning, I’m not fully awake yet! Anyway, lesson learned: avoid the curbs in construction zones.

While I am on the topic of construction, I think I will rant a little bit longer. I enjoy watching large machines operate as much as the next person, okay, not as much as the guy who sits outside EVERY morning for hours to watch the big machines do their thang, but holy crap, when giant, metal, spiky things on wheels (wow, don’t you love my knowledge of proper machinery names?) are swinging 10 feet above your head, it becomes slightly scary. I’m not sure what the safety protocols are in this city, but you can be driving your car down the street, la de da, then all of a sudden, a huge backhoe (there it is!) shovel is hovering just mere feet above your car. Why allow people to drive down the road? My car is small, and I’m pretty sure it would be crushed instantly by a backhoe. The same thing happens when you are walking down the sidewalk. I’ve found that the best way to avoid getting hit with a random bit of machinery as you round a corner, is to first make eye contact with whatever construction worker is running said machinery, and wait until he waves you by. If you don’t do this, walking the downtown streets can be a leeetle dangerous. I suppose it is a good lesson in learning to watch out for your surroundings, but as a person who is easily distracted by life, I could be walking along minding my own business, when randomly, the song Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys pops into my head, and I’m suddenly lost in my own little world of wondering if The Beach Boys just improvised that entire song as they went along, because it is so haphazard and who was Barbara Ann anyway, and the next thing you know I’ve fallen into a large pit or something. Danger!

I’ll be excited when the construction is over with…I will not miss the constant noise or the mini earthquakes that happen in our office. It’ll be nice to have our downtown back to normal, and it’ll be nice to be able to return to my daydreaming state without having to worry about potential calamities.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I started playing softball last night...it's a rec league, and I basically made my friend K sign up with me, because what the hell else are we going to do in this city during the summer? (besides lots of things). I used to play softball back in the day, and I was pretty good, but I was a little scared that all my old skills wouldn't come back to me. I wasn't wrong about this fear, in fact, softball is a little bit scary when you haven't played it in about oh, ten years. When I was little, I didn't worry about getting beamed in the head by a ball while running around the bases, but last night, it was all I could think about while I was out there, running from base to base. When I was 11, I didn't think that while going to catch that grounder, the ball might just keep on rolling up my glove and smack me in the face...last night I thought about it several times, once while moving AWAY from the ball heading in my direction. I fear the lack of helmets in this league. Would it look silly if I was the only one in the entire game wearing a helmet?

We got there a little late because we couldn't find the park, (I am quite possibly the most directionally challenged person I know...oh, you mean the park I've only been to about 18000 times in my life? I have NO idea where that is...). Anyway, we were late, so by the time we got there, we didn't have a chance to warm up, throw a ball, meet our teammates...it was basically like, "what position do you play?", and then we were out in the field.

When presented with the "what position do you play question", I immediately responded "somewhere in the field to start", because we all know that not much happens in the field, except in this league where apparently MOST THINGS happen in the field.

Our team may or may not have reminded me a little bit of this (minus the super awesome girl)


There was a lot of running after balls, and horrible girl throws, but I"m chalking that up to first game jitters, and the fact that we badly need to practice. I got to bat twice, and I found that I am still fairly good at hitting the ball....I managed to make it to first base twice. I also managed to hurt my wrist, which is kind of embarrassing because who injures themselves playing softball?

I"m pretty sure the final score was 40 to 2 for the other team, and the only reason they didn't beat us by more was because there is a six run mercy rule per inning. Also, our team is called The Backstabbers, because there were two unfortunate incidents in which a member of our team threw the ball and pegged someone in the back. The one time I was way out in right field and the person was running from second to third and I HEARD the thunk as the ball hit their back. Ouchy.

None the less, I had a great time. I forgot how much I really love softball, and how much I enjoy team sports. I was so excited to break out my baseball mitt again...my hand still fits perfectly. Love it.

I think our team will improve, I mean, we had JUST met each other, so I think we did pretty good considering. I guess all that matters is that it is fun, although, it would be nice to win at least one game this season! Goooooo Backstabbers!

Furry Friday

Last night's models were:
-the cutest Beagle you will ever see in your life
-and Angel, the German Shepherd cross who is a absolute dollface.

Next week I will have better pictures, as last night was a little busy.

The cutest Beagle you will ever see in your life (TCBYWESIYL) is a lovely dog, and I hope she gets adopted soon. Beagles just have that look about them that make them look sad allll the time. I don't know that dogs can actually feel "sad" though, so it's probably just the perception of the human.

Last night I was standing in the kennel when a girl walked in to look at the dogs, and as soon as she saw TCBYWEVIYL, so started to bawl. Which is awkward, I mean, I was RIGHT next to her. Do I pat her on the back? Give her a hug and tell her she doesn't need to be sad for these dogs, because they get a lot of love? I went with saying, "you okay?", to which she replied "it's just hard for me to see them in here". I get that, I do, but really...better in the shelter being fed and sheltered and loved, then say, out in the street as a stray, or being in a situation that is abusive or neglectful. I just don't find it sad. Yes, oftentimes the situation that the dog came from is sad, but it's not anymore. Being a shelter dog is not an ideal life for them I'll give you that, but it is a step above many other situations. There are a lot of great volunteers that work with the dogs at the shelter, and those dogs are loved, they are absolutely loved.

I'm sure there are some shelters that are way worse, and have many more dogs that don't get nearly enough attention, but from where I'm standing, most of the dogs in our local shelter have it pretty good. I'll admit it irritates me a bit when people think that the dogs lead this dreadful life in there. They don't know half of it. Some of the stories I've heard break my heart, but the shelter itself, specifically the adoption room in the shelter is more about hope than sadness...to me at least. When I'm there, I"m doing everything I possibly can to make the lives of these dogs better, so DO NOT come in there and cry to me about how awful the dogs have it. Just don't. I get that it is an emotional situation, I do, but please.

A note on Lucy the elephant, and why I LOVE Bob Barker:

Lucy is a female Asian elephant living alone in a small enclosure in the Edmonton Valley Zoo. Zoocheck has been working with Bob Barker to try to get Lucy moved to a sanctuary in the USA. Lucy suffers from arthritis and has had chronic foot infections, the leading cause of death in zoo elephants. On top of all of that, Lucy is alone, which is akin to torture for a highly social animal.

In addition to the letters that have been sent to council, a petition has been set up to ask the Edmonton City Council to move Lucy to a sanctuary.
Please take a moment and sign the petition and send it to everyone on your
list. Lucy will appreciate your support.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/FreeLucy/index.html

Thanks for your continued support of the campaign to get Lucy moved to a
sanctuary.

That's it for today! I'm leaving for the cottage in t minus 6 hours, and I cannot wait.

Harry Potter!

I swear, this is the last Harry Potter post for..a while, I mean, how much can I possibly talk about Harry Potter? The answer to that question is...a lot, but I"ll refrain.

I thought the movie was great, especially if you are a fan of the books. I can see however, how someone who has never read any of the books might be a leeetle bit confused as to what the hell is going on. Nonetheless...great movie. The person who does the casting for this moving is absolutely brilliant I must say, because they get the characters dead on every time. Jim Broadbent as Professor Slughorn? Perfection! I guess this can also be credited to JK Rowling's skill as a writer that she can describe her characters so completely.

The theatre was basically full, and it was pretty amazing how quiet it was. I mean, during Dumbledore's death scene, you couldn't even hear people breathing. I was pretty amazed, because usually you get at least one annoying group of people who don't shut up, but not at this movie!

I've recently decided that if anyone asks me the "who are the three living people you would have lunch with if you could?" question in the near future, JK Rowling would for sure be on my list. I can't imagine how cool it would be to have lunch with her.

As for the other two people, I used to think one would always be Madonna, because I have been a huge fan of hers since I can remember (one day I'll do a post on how exactly this came about)...but I would be really worried she would actually turn out to be a huge biatch. And I think that would crush me just a little bit. So I"m unsure if Madonna would make the list. As for the third person, that remains a toss up. Bill Bryson? Rick Steves? Amy Sedaris? (how funny would that lunch be?) Anyway, this has gone off topic.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a grrrreat movie, and as always, it is nice to see that magical world come to life.

Off to the shelter soon to see my puppies...I'm excited!

This is where I go...

when I'm feeling a bit stressed, when I'm worrying about this and that, or I'm sad about this and that, I remember this place and its perfect silence, and everything is alright in the world. This place, I mean, it's so beautiful, it is hard to believe it exists, yet it does. Hiking up a rocky path and having this view as my reward? Amazing. This world never fails to blow my mind.