क्या?!!

Why oh why was I being translated into Hindi? No matter. This is a brief entry to say farewell to 2009 and to Fridandme.
2009 saw me in the best physical shape I been in in years (although, the holidays have taken it's toll) and fortune allowed me to travel to my beloved Bharat twice. I can only hope that trend towards bliss continues.

As for Fridandme, it never had a focus or purpose. I just don't feel the need to stand on a soapbox and rant about the things that make me sad, glad or angry. That's what I keep a journal for and the day to day whimsies, that's what Facebook is for ( you may hit your virtual "like" button now).

Ciao and best wishes for a Happy Twenty-Ten or Two Thousand and Ten whichever you prefer.

Sherri
P.S. I expect that I will soon starting writing my other blog Biwi No3

Garbage Strike Day 6

Here's a couple of pics taken on Queen Street.  I find it amusing that Torontonians in a bid to not litter,  removed the seal put on the public trash cans to prevent people from filling the cans the city knew were not going to be emptied, and filled the trash can.  And the when the trash can was full, they placed it close to where they know it should go.  " Look Mommy! I tried."

Why it didn't occur to any of these citizens that answer to their waste was to take a travel mug, bring a refillable water bottle, bring their own bag and take the garbage home with them.  Oh well, Queen St is the only neighbourhood I've seen like this.  Kensington, Yorkville, St. Lawrence, Chinatown are immaculate.  I'm making a generalization here but it is predominately youth that populate Queen Street and they are at a stage of life too self-centered to contemplate what impact their grande skinny caramel machiatto frappaccino has to their fellow humans.   Like all mothers say, " That mess isn't going to tidy itself.  Clean your room!"

Short days, Hot Days

Time seems to follow the laws of physics and moves faster the hotter it gets.  It feels like just yesterday June began and this weekend it will be all over.  Solstice has past and the nights are getting longer; the days more humid. And the humidity has gone to people's heads as the city workers have gone on strike-no garbage pick up, no recycling, no pools, no community centres, no ferry for island residents, no childcare,  no public works.  The LCBO ( liquor store for those not from Ontario) threatened to strike leading to panicked shoppers emptying out stores.

The Worldwide Short Film festival wrapped up last weekend.  Pride is in full swing and Canada Day is just around the corner.  July is another cornucopia of festivals.

Many people ask me if they will ever have another chance to see films from the Short Film Festival.  There are many resources for short film.  There is Movieola the short film channel and if you are unable to subscribe, they post online.  If you live in Toronto or Montreal, the National Film board has Mediateque where you can sit a comfortable viewing station and access hundred's of the NFB's back catalogue.  They also have a number of films available on line.  And with a little research, I was able to locate a few films from this year's festival online ( I am in no way promoting them or rating them as favourites, they're just the ones I could locate):

Post-It Love  An endearingly sweet office romance.

Pencil Face   Lives up to the title

The Herd A little bit of documentary about an unusual member of the herd

Between  An experimental film exploring dark areas of human psyche

King of Laughter A documentary about the Guinness Book of World Records title-holder for longest laugh.

Lost Tribes of New York Funny animated film featuring voices of New Yorkers.

Everyday is Fish Day  A day in the life of an ordinary Norwegian fish.

Western Spaghetti  A creative animated dinner 

Loop Loop  A playful experimental film derived from film and stills taken on the directors journey in Vietnam ( I know I said I would not pick favourites but this was my fav of the few I had time to see.  The sound and editing are supurb)

Mmmmmm....brekkie anyone?

Oh, those mad Englishman.  Anyone from across the pond ( or staunch Anglophiles), will wax poetic on the British crisp.  The British potato chip is a very different affair.  Thin but firm, cut from smaller potatoes and flavour which seems to be a glaze on the chip, not the powdery mess of the North American variety.  And speaking of variety, the tastes are a tantalizing diversion-prawn cocktail, Worcester sauce, steak & onion, pickled onion, and the list goes on.  The leader of the industry is Walkers.

Over the years, Walkers has introduced many enticing, limited edition premium crisps.  One of the stand outs being roast lamb and mint.  It was just like eating roast lamb with potatoes and mint sauce ( of course, they did contain real lamb in the flavouring). 

Recently, they ran a contest called "Do us a flavour" inviting the public to submit flavour ideas. Six ideas were selected and produced in a limited runs: Cajun Squirrel, Fish & Chips, Chili and Chocolate, Crispy Duck & Hoisin, Onion Bhaji,  and the winner Builder's Breakfast.

Jamie Oliver must have blown a gasket when he discovered the winner.  All that hard work of getting the British off of greasy, processed foods undone with a single crisp.  "Oi.  Look at that! Full English in a convenient snack. Pukka, innit?"

For those not familiar with British foods, a "Full English" is a breakfast consisting of egg, bacon ( not the bacon you know ( that would be "rashers" in England)), fried potato, baked beans, sausage and fried tomato.  There are some regional variations such as mushrooms, blood pudding and fried bread.  Did Walkers succeed in capturing all that?
They did indeed.  In what a friend described as a "Violet Beauregarde" experience (view here if you need a reminder),  the flavour comes in waves.  Bacon. Pepper. Egg. Baked bean sauce.  It could be summarized as what the fried potato in a Full English tastes like after being dipped in runny yolk and the baked beans.  
My tastebuds eagerly await the next new flavour.

A short note

Here's a brief note until such time as I'm able to:

a) find time

b) compose my thoughts

c) do my laundry

d) get sufficient sleep 

and e) in general, get my act together

I am alive and well. Over and out.

P.S. a reminder ( plug) that I will be working for the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival in a few short days.  Yo! Check it out dog!

April Showers

The last day of April is upon us and I can't be sure whether Spring has arrived or not.  The temperature has yo-yo'd all month between 7º-27ºC ( often on the same day).  

April has brought the gift of green.  Brown lawns have become lush again.  Spidery barren branches are dotted with green buds...and pollen.  The cursed, cursed pollen.

Unfortunately, I am one of the millions of allergy sufferers whose bodies unleash a fury against the perceived invasion.  My nose cannot distinguish between a little pollen and the swine flu.   I will spare you the messy details but imagine, dear reader(s)*,  your worst ever cold.  Then imagine that this cold will last from the first bud on the trees until every leaf has emerged.  That's Spring for me.   On any given day, you can check the pollen report to gauge my mood and physical condition.  If I go missing,  just follow the trail of empty tissue boxes.

Oh well,  it will be Summer soon enough...and heat, humidity, mosquitoes, smog.  

*I hope there is more than one of you out there.  Otherwise, I will keep my whining to my journal.

Out like a lion...

March closes it's eyes one last time.  Tomorrow, April will open it's eyes for the first time and the world will be renewed.