RrrimRrrrollerrrr to the Rrrescue!

Big news here in the Land of the Strong and Free : 

Now you don't need to lose your teeth to find out if 

you've won a bagel or a Toyota Hybrid!

A man from Ottawa—with the true Canadian spirit of giving—has created a tool to help coffee addicted Canadians have an easier go at rolling up the rims of their paper coffee cups.

I was at a Timmy's establishment the other day while on a lunchbreak with my co-worker Steve. I noted that Steve has roller-thumbs, which implies he has the ability to unroll the rim of his cup with great ease. If you look carefully as you go about your daily errands in public, you can witness Canucks fighting their coffee cups to unlock the prize that is hidden in the rolled rim. Various methods are employed for this task: pearly-whites (or coffee-stained, depending on how determined one is on winning the prize), car keys, nailclippers (did anyone else just throw up in their mouth a little?) and the fingernails of nearby seated Timmy patrons (hey, we're Canadian, we help eachother out). I can tell you, that I was not born lucky enough to possess roller-thumbs. My teeth no doubt, will come back in another life to eat me as I have been left with no choice but to bite into the rim in order to learn if I am a lucky cash prize winner, or the recipient of one of millions of Honey Crueller and Boston Cream doughnuts to be awarded.

Because it is such a time-consuming and stressing task (and we Canadians are too laid back to be bothered with this sort of thing), the Timmy Ho's corporation has actually posted how-to instructions on their site to keep us double-double drinkin',maple syrup eatin', salmon fishin', hockey-playin' freaks, happy. 

And they are as follows :

Like the professional curlers we watch on TV, they make it look so damn easy; but the truth is when we try it, it's embarassing and humbling, and it's not so easy getting out of the hack when you are gliding on the ice with only a broom to support you and the skip is hollering at you keep the rock steady. No, it's not easy for us amateurs —we need to eat wax still, because like Steve we were not all born lucky with roll-up-the-rim-to-win thumbs.

Enter Paul Kind, from Ottawa. He has created the RimRoller , a small apparatus you carry with you on your keychain, guaranteed to be with you any time you might feel a pang for a double-double coffee, or suddenly feel really, really lucky. 

So I'm thinking... shouldn't we nominate Paul Kind for The Greatest Canadian?

The Way They Operate

gomez

Friday saw Courtenay and I once again, at the old but beautifully revamped Commodore Ballroom to see one of our most favourite bands, Gomez.

This would have been the fourth time we have seen these English boys perform since we first discovered their music eight years ago in our Welsh friend's small Peugeot car, during a visit to Swansea, Wales  

Now, it's a rare thing for the Welsh to speak highly of anyone or anything that is remotely related to the English, however Gomez seemed to have struck a different chord with Dan and Parker. It was the song Whipping Piccadilly that started our love affair with Gomez who seemed to use every oddball instrument under the sun to make their songs.

That trip to the UK was a memorable one for us, particularly in the end when our other friend Danielle, had decided to go to Amsterdam to stay with family, while Court and I had run out of money and were left without a place to kill time and rest our heads. We both shared my Discman and earbud headphones, as we sat out on the sidewalks of London and lay around on lawns of rowhouses with our all of our possessions beside us like a couple of hobos. We listened and sang along out loud to Weezer, Dixie Chicks and Natalie Merchant and vowed that the moment we landed back at home and got our hands on some money (with newly found jobs) we would both buy the Gomez album.

We've collected every album since and have seen them every time they've come to Vancouver, so in a sense they've become like old friends, and our little secret. With each show, their audience gets larger and larger and this time was no exception, but it's so hard to keep your mouth shut about something you love so much!

It's not often that the opener for the show is someone heard of en masse, but sometimes we get lucky. It was the second time we had seen Gomez perform that Jason Mraz had opened the night. At the time he was unheard of - but he was great and Court and I both went home with his album. This time around it was Ben Kweller. Court had never heard his music but I am a fan of his anyway and he deserves his own tour because he's so cool in his own right. He's an unlikely sex-god with his retro stylings and hair longer than my own, but he can play! And there's nothing sexier than watching a man on stage belting out tunes and jamming away. Ben has great charisma and it felt like a massive house party.

If they ever come your way, I'd suggest you go check them out - you're in for a good time.

God Speed My Friend (and don't drop the soap)

Somebody has to go to Afghanistan and give the Taliban a 'dick-in-a-box' and who better than my friend Stepan?

And here is Sean with his Big Gun *ahem*, ready and waiting.

Waiting for the Taliban you pervs.

geez.

Those of us (whether or not we say we support the mission) still here in the comforts of our home, pray that Sean makes it home safely. He's got the spirits, the will and the determination to make it out there in Afghanistan. Better yet, he believes in what he is doing so this will all be worth it in the end for him. I hope that someday the kids in Afghanistan can be carefree once again with their kite-flying competitions.

We will hopefully meet up again when you return home Sean, and Eric will greet you with his beer goggle eyes and Mark can dump his beer libations all over you in sheer joy. And Darren.... well I try to keep my blog as PG as possible so we will leave him out of this.

I will continue to sexually harass you, as per the norm, and life will continue as you once knew it Sean.

Be safe out there.

Tag, yer it!

I was tagged by Joy back in December when I was on my Blogger hiatus (which actually means I was so stumped by the Blogger-Beta crap I just couldn't be bothered to post or comment anymore!) so I'm a little behind on it. 

So here goes : 6 Weird Things You May or May Not Have Known About Me (or were afraid to know)

1. I always manage to fog up the windows of a car, and I don't even have to be involved in a heavy make-out session, or even a little one for that matter. Windows get foggy, you can almost always blame it on me. 

2. If you are talking to me and I am not looking at you, I will still need you to repeat yourself even if I heard every word clearly because for some reason I need to lipread in order to comprehend. Yes you can even mouth the words without using your voice and I will understand you. 

3. I LOVE Q-Tips! The moment I stick those bad boys in my ears I melt! It feels so good :) 

Even though it's clearly warned on every side of the box that one should never jam the cotton swabs into the ear canal, I get in there! Maybe this is why I never have to get my ears flushed out which I absolutely dread (unlike some other weirdos I know), or maybe this is why I don't have half my hearing.... hmm. I <3 Q-Tips!

4. My friends have dubbed me the Lady of Indecision. I can never seem to make a choice and commit to it, which explains why I have spent a good chuck of change on application fees for colleges and abandoned programs I bailed on before I even started. Hopefully this fall I can follow through with the newest endeavour I have. Fingers crossed *

5. One nostril is smaller than my other one - or rather it appears to have shifted at some point in my life. Maybe this is why I'm a window-fogger? 

6. I have never met my real father. Honestly I'm afraid to - the only photo I have of him is one taken at Christmas time in '79 and he looks oh so suave with his smarmy moustache and tightly curled hair and he's a bit hooped in this photo as he holds a candy cane in one hand, a hi-ball beverage of some sort in another and appears unable to keep his eyes open as he sports a goofy grin. He was a hockey player, something I only jump on the bandwagon to enjoy once in a while, otherwise aside from the same facial features and hair, I'm not sure what we'd have in common. Certainly not candy-canes and hi-balls. 

OK so the rules go as follows once you're tagged you have to tag 6 more friends so my victims are going to be :

Erica 

Trish

Dara

Lindsay 

Nicole

Sarah

The Devil wears a Candy Shell

These bad boys right here are what cause me to whine about the added 30 lbs I gain starting from February right clear through to May. Forget the Christmas weight everyone's sporting once January rolls around, I usually hold off all Christmas treats so I can go bok-choy on Mini-Eggs! The Easter Bunny is always welcome at my house, Santa on the other hand can take a flying leap off the rooftop of my house unless he can convince Cadbury to make these year-round. I know that sounds harsh, but I'm an addict.

Be warned, they are so good and yet so very, very bad.

The Two LoveBirds

Now please don't get me wrong, I'm happy that the two young kids seated behind me on the train have decided they are going to be eachothers next suitors to swap lovespit. New love is exciting, I've been there (I hope to go there again... Cupid, I'm waiting ). And I can remember the silly antics of being a teenager as she squeals and turns away from him at his teasing remarks, only to bring her back in for a suckface session. I don't mind this.
But the meeting of their lips, the tossing of the puck in their mouths, the crackle and pop of spit, the licking, the slurping, the smooching, smacking, and short gasps....are really starting to drive me crazy.

xoxo