"usually the crazy ones play defense..." - Tiki Barber

Tiki was on Letterman last night. Letterman asked Tiki, "you know what the problem is with Eli Manning?"
"What?" Tiki says hesitantly, and then cringes awaiting the answer.
Letterman says, "He's only 14 years old..."

Holly Robinson Peete was on Martha yesterday talking about the Superbowl and Martha was all, "oh yeah I think I'll go to the Superbowl...*I* have friends in Seattle and it is so nice there this time of year."
Martha blathered on (and on) about the rain in Seattle, etc... until Peete leveled her with, "uuuhhhh, but the Superbowl is being played in Detroit ya dumb ass."
Priceless.
But that's not why I came to post originally(...although I am getting excited for, as Martha calls it, Superbowl Day!)

The Oscar Nominations are out today!!
Who do *you* think will win?

Here are the nominations:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Junebug"
Catherine Keener, "Capote"
Frances McDormand, "North Country"
Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener"
Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
George Clooney, "Syriana"
Matt Dillon, "Crash"
Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt, "A History of Violence"

BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench, "Mrs. Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman, "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley, "Pride & Prejudice"
Charlize Theron, "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line"

BEST ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"
Terrence Howard, "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix, "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn, "Good Night, and Good Luck"

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Bennett Miller, "Capote"
Paul Haggis, "Crash"
George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Steven Spielberg, "Munich"

BEST SCREENPLAY
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, "Crash"
George Clooney and Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"
Woody Allen, "Match Point"
Noah Baumbach, "The Squid and the Whale"
Steven Gaghan, "Syriana"

BEST PICTURE
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Crash"
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Munich"

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Larry McMutry and Diana Ossana, "Brokeback Mountain"
Dan Futterman, "Capote"
Jeffrey Caine, "The Constant Gardener"
Josh Olson, "A History of Violence"
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, "Munich"

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Howl's Moving Castle," Hayao Miyazake
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," Tim Burton
"Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit," Nick Park

BEST FOREIGN FILM
"Don't Tell" (Italy)
"Joyeux Noël" (France)
"Paradise Now" (Palestine)
"Sophie Scholl - The Final Days" (Germany)
"Tsotsi" (South Africa)

Song Du Jour: Better Man ~ Pearl Jam
"She dreams in color, she dreams in red..."

"Tag, you're it"

Four jobs you've had in your life:
Cashier at Canadian Tire
Server at The Olive Garden
‘Information Technician’ for ETS.
Announcer for the U of A Pandas

Four movies you could watch over and over:
Braveheart, Good Will Hunting, Finding Nemo, Rattle and Hum

Four places you've lived:
Rio Terrace
Callingwood
Residence at The Faculty St. Jean
Old Strathcona

Four TV shows you love to watch:
The Simpsons
Law and Order
Coronation Street
The Gilmore Girls

Four places you've been on vacation:
Maui
San Fransisco
New York
Bellville, Ontario (also happens to be the farthest east in Canada I have been, so far)

Four websites you visit daily:
www.ualberta.ca, www.un.org/News, www.nhl.com, www.worldsocialforumlive.org

Four of your favourite foods:
Chocolate, Fresh Raspberries from the garden, Fresh Vegetables from the garden, Roasted Chicken.

Four places you'd rather be right now:
The Cayman Islands, Dublin, New York, Maui

Four albums you can't live without:
Actung Baby ~ U2
The Bends ~ Radiohead
Paul’s Boutique ~ Beastie Boys
All That You Can’t Leave Behind ~ U2

Four vehicles I've owned:
None

"A single day is enough to make us a little larger." - Paul Klee (1879 - 1940)

At my Cousins hockey game on Sunday the timekeeper, father of one of the players, stumbled and fell down the stairs at the arena and hit his head on the boards.
One minute he was holding his granddaughter, watching his daughter play, and generously donating his time, and the next minute his life changed forever.

He passed away last night in hospital after they took him off life support. I feel incredible sympathy for his family and all those who knew him. I'd like to extend my sympathy to them today.

Sometimes it is so easy to forget how precious life is.

Song Du Jour: In God's Country ~ U2

"Wave of The Future"

Have you seen "The Island?"

I don't find myself recommending action movies very often but this one is set in the not too distant future and is rather smart about it. Oh and if you are in it for just plain old pure spectacle then rent this one. The discussion about the word 'Dood' and the fact that Steve Buscemi is in it is enough for this lady.

McCord: Well, excuse me, Miss "I'm-so-smart-I-can't-wait-to-go-to-the-Island!"

oh, and did I mention sexy Ewan McGregor is in it? Double the fun. Literally.

Song Du Jour : Finding Me ~Vertical Horizon

The Twins are almost six months old! We finally get to meet them next month...

"The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool" - Jane Wagner

When I started University I found myself fighting my thoughts of how things "ought" to be as opposed to how they are. After 3.5 years of studying international relations I have become somewhat cynical and a lot more realist than even I care to admit. Yesterday, in my seminar on ethics, there was a young gentleman who reminded me of myself 3 years ago. To the delight of some of my classmates he made comments like, "all humans are rational". It was great. I miss being the idealistic one in the class...and although that bright and shiny idealism resonates as pure naivete, there are days I wish I could forget some of the really harsh reality crap I have learned and go back to being happy in my wee little cave watching the puppets on the wall...damn you Plato.

This weekend is shaping up as a busy, busy one. I am working the election on Monday so I have to go fetch my poll with my poll clerk tomorrow, I work all weekend (go pandas!) and it is the most exciting weekend, IMHO, in the NFL because Sunday brings us the AFC/NFC Championships. Dinner with the family will cut into the Carolina V. Seattle game so I will have to miss Carolina lose their panties Sunday night (I hope). It "ought" to be Denver and Seattle in the Superbowl, but the reality might be a win for the Steelers. gross.

Speaking of how things ought to be, why is this election not about electoral reform? hmm?
If I don't get a chance to say it later, this is a reminder to go out and vote all you Canadians. And no matter what Anne McLellan says as she tries to save her jobity-job, when you cast a vote in this country it is *NOT* the person you are voting for it is the party. And if you don't like that well then just jump on board my cozy "how it ought to be" wagon and grab yourself a beer. Even with electoral reform, like say PR, party discipline will still be the name of the game.

booooo, I say, Boooo.

Song Du Jour: Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) ~ The Arcade Fire

"Who could give the looby such airs?" -Jonathan Swift

looby (LOO-bee) noun

An awkward, clumsy, lazy fellow. [From Middle English loby, from lob (bumpkin).]

A fellow? Can't a looby be a lady? What a fun word...

Anyhoo...Today in class while I was supposed to be learning about violent weather I found myself pre-occupied by the stench of the Looby beside me. His clothes reeked of cigarette smoke and since the smoking ban here I find I have become much more sensitive to that particular stench. Combine that with his body odour, that greasy hair smell, and the fact that it was 9 a.m....well, lets just say if the class didn't have 440 people taking up all the chairs I would have moved. Did I mention his breath? ugh, I turned away from him and whilst the rest of the diligent students wrote notes about cumulus clouds I thought about how to politely tell someone to take a bath. Not that I would do that to a complete stranger, but one of my friends happens to be dating a man who is awesome except, sadly, he's a bit neglectful with the personal hygiene. We'll call him 'Stinky Daggers' because apparently he needs to trim his nails too. How does she tell him to clean up his act? She's even gone so far as to ask him to take a bath with her just to get him smelling fresh to no avail, his response was, "a bath? no, I'm good."
Uhhhh, no yer not.

Should she dump Stinky Daggers? That's a deal breaker I think. I would call it quits but not before I told him in the nicest way possible exactly what the reason is..."It's not you, it's me..." (and my olfactory system)

Well the wee pups got new duds and I has to post photos because they are just so damned cute.
That's Riley in the Purple and Murphy in Green. Or as Danny calls the colour of the leashes; gay and gayer. The best part was when we were in Petsmart, looking for the least expensive leashes, a certain Deputy Prime Minister seeking re-election was also buying a (much more expensive) leash. I wanted to launch into a big Q and A with her but my Aunt shot me a look that said, don't start all your politics talk in here for God's sake. On that note, I voted today. Yay democracy.

Song Du Jour: Waiting in Vain ~ Annie Lennox

You should see the other guy...

Our little buddy cranked his head on his new "big boy" bed on Christmas morning. It was some Christmas goose egg...ouch.

"An Emotional Mess..."

That's the headline in the Sports Section of the Journal today. It made me laugh so hard I choked on my Green Tea. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mark Messier has retired and he cried and cried and messed up his mascara yesterday. Tonight they will raise The #11 to the rafters and he can start looking for a coaching job. It's like he's the last to Graduate or something. In my mind he is the last Oiler from the winning era (Circa 1984-1990) to retire and that makes it all the more emotional. I'll try to keep it together and not get all veklempt...Let's just hope the Oil can put one in the Win column against the Rangers tonight. Go Oilers Go!

Over the Holidays I had a chance to see the movie "Capote" which I would recommend, you just have to make sure you are not slightly drunk when you see it, or the heat in the garneau theatre will make you all drowsy. Oh and understanding Capote can be difficult at times, but that is the only complaint I have. Nell Harper Lee is also featured in the movie and I had to rent "To Kill a Mockingbird" and watch it again. It is such a great story but, the book is better...but as if you don't know that the book is always better....
I saw "Cinderella Man" and I cried like Mark Messier...It is a really great movie and doesn't veer off the main plot line like that other "overcoming the odds/boxing movie" Clint Eastwood made last year.

Song Du Jour: Gravity ~ Embrace