'Little Miss Sunshine'

'Little Miss Sunshine' is a must see for EVERYONE! I went to see this movie Saturday night with my Mum and we laughed until our sides hurt, we cried, we grinned, and we gasped in shock. This movie has it all and on top of that it is smart. It is one of the smartest films I've seen in a long time, the humour is smart, the story is real, the characters, although bizarre, are amazingly real and incredibly well acted by an outstanding cast. Steve Carrell is at his best as a suicidal gay scholar, Greg Kinnear is successfully annoying as a struggling motivational speaker, and Paul Dano stands out as a 15 year old kid who has taken a vow of silence until he can reach his goal of becoming a jet pilot. These three are only half of a dynamic set of characters. I cannot stress enough that this movie is a must see. It was so good that I convinced Lucas he must see it and we went Sunday night together. He also loved it, laughing the loudest in the theatre the whole time. So, you see, it was so good that I was able to see it two nights in a row. Go see it!

Blues & Roots Festival

The other night a friend of ours asked Lucas and I if we wanted to go to the Burnaby Blues and Roots Festival at Deer Lake park. OBVIOUSLY we said yes and yesterday Tara, Lucas and I spent the day with our friends from school taking in the sun and listening to some amazing Music. Buddy Guy was the headliner with other amazing acts including Koko Taylor, The Be Good Tanyas, Susan Tedeschi, and Booker T. Jones. The music was infectious, you could not help but be dancing the whole time. At one point Buddy Guy made his way into the crowd with his guitar and mic, he was less than 5' away from me!!! All I can say is that I will be there next year. (I wasnt able to take any photos as my camera died but I may have some off another camera in a few days-in the meantime here are some of the artists we saw)

P.S. I absolutely fell in love with Susan Tedeschi. She was incredible. Look her up!

PRIDE in Vancouver

This past weekend I was finally able to participate in Vancouver's Pride week. I was at the Dyke March rally and the Pride parade. Both of which did not disappoint. I was also very impressed in the turnout for the events. It is nice to know that so many people in our city are accepting. Some big politicians also participated, including the leader of the federal NDP, Jack Layton. George Bush and Harper also made an appearance on countless floats and posters, my favourite pictured below was the bronze statue of Bush holding a Harper puppet. All in all it was a great weekend and I'm so glad I was able to get out support and show my pride. :)

Curves Anyone?

The other night I was laying on the couch at Lucas' house doing some channel surfing while he did far more productive things. I came accross an old movie, 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. It is the first movie I had ever seen with Marilyn Monroe. I found it quite funny actually. A few days later, at my gym, having forgotten to bring my Maclean's I was forced to read the trash they have there. I picked up one of those tabloid magazines, Scoop or Us or whatever, the cover story was about hollywood actresses and how terribly skinny they are becoming. It got me thinking. What ever happened to curves?

In the fifties women wanted to be Marilyn Monroe or Jane Russell. That is, around a size 10, sexy curves and all. Today, in the new millennium, a century in which women are supposed to have more power and choices it seems as though our choices are very slim, quite literally. The media today flashes images of women no more than a size 4, leading young girls, teenagers, and women alike to want to be that size. Some may argue that that is just another choice we have, I tend to disagree. I'm not sure it is a choice. I feel as though the pressure to be very thin is so thick that we feel as though we have no choice. Eating disorders are fast becoming an epidemic among young girls desperate to look like Keira Knightly or Paris Hilton or Kate Bosworth. Instead of loving who they are, they are putting themselves in danger.


I believe this generation is losing sight of what healthy looks like. There is only one extreme or the other, there is thin or overweight. Black and white. What ever happened to looking like a beautiful, healthy, curvaceous woman? Marilyn Monroe was an icon. As far as I'm concerned, young girls should still be looking at her and Jane Russell for an image of the female bodyand not the ultra thin bodies of female celebrities today.