All you can Alcatraz

I have a mild fascination with Alcatraz.

A couple years ago I felt the urge to re-watch Escape to Alcatraz.

I prefer old-school styles of movie watching, including going to a movie rental store and renting an actual hardcopy disque.
Unfortunately my local Blockbuster didn't have stock of all movies created in the 70s. So I was out of luck.
I quickly forgot about the movie and rented Indiana Jones instead. 

Fast forward to present day.

There's a small independent movie store close to where I live. The chances that it would have this particular Eastwood film were pretty slim, but I still had high hopes.
I walk over to the store around 8pm on a Friday night.
It was closed.


Are you kidding me? 

It was at this point that I decided to take my movie renting up a notch.
It's not like this movie is going to be around forever! I need to watch it before it disappears!

So I jumped on the iTunes movie renting bandwagon. (Wait, is it a bandwagon? is anyone renting via iTunes?)

During the renting process I noticed that there is a free Alcatraz iPhone app!
For Alcatraz nerds enthusiasts.

by Geoki

It describes the history and lore around Alcatraz and escape attempts. There are also movie trailers and Alcatraz-related videos.

Josh & Chuck from the Stuff You Should Know podcast did an episode on Alcatraz not too long ago.




I think that's what reminded me to watch the movie.

Here's another free app, "Alcatraz Breakout".

This one's a game.

Is it just me, or is this kind of creepy?

Maybe I'm just a bit somber about Alcatraz at the moment. Escape from Alcatraz reminded me that aside from being this unique prison on an island, it was in fact a real prison. People did live and die there.

And I can't get that finger chopping scene out of my mind.
creeepy.

"That's a Canadian Actor!!"

A few days before Christmas, my colleagues and I went out for a celebratory lunch. When we walked into the near-empty restaurant,  I immediately recognized a man seated at a table next to us.

None of my colleagues appeared to recognize him. And rather than stand up and point at him and scream: "That's a Canadian Actor!!", I decided to keep my cool, and mention it later.

We enjoyed a lovely meal and eventually left the restaurant.
As soon as the doors closed behind us, I asked if anyone else recognized the man.

Alas, no one did.
So it was on me to remember which show/movie I'd seen him on.

Back at the office, I rolled up my sleeves and did some google searches on this guy.
What I knew was:

• he's an actor
• on a Canadian show/movie
• he played a sort of dramatic role

My Google search looked something like this:
male + Canadian + actor + drama + television

The results included lots of pictures of Ryan Gosling, but none of this man.

So I enlisted the help of one of my coworkers who used wikipedia to find a list of all the Canadian tv shows and read the dramatic-sounding ones aloud to me.
And then I IMDB'd any of the contenders.

It was very futile.

Eventually I gave up and went home.

At home I did some more Google searching.
In vain.

Fast forward to a week later, I'm sitting in a coffee shop with my BFF, chatting about life.
Somehow I got on the topic of this frustration: The unknown Canadian actor.
I was describing to her how I recognize his face from some Canadian show, but can't figure out which.
her reply: "Oh. Like that train show or something?"

she.is.brilliant.

It was Andrew Kenneth Martin (a.k.a Charles Lucas) from Train 48

How to liven up your bookstore experience!

A while ago, I wandered into my neighbourhood bookstore and instead of sticking to the few sections that I regularly frequent, I found myself exploring the store.
Philosophy, biography, mystery & fantasy, war history...

I only vaguely even knew that these sections existed!


So, I dreamed up this project whereby each month, I would buy a book from one of these 'new to me' sections. At the end of the year, I would've explored the entire store. And opened myself to all kinds of new knowledge! (Who knows, maybe I'll become fascinated with the War of 1812!)

One of the tricks with the project is that it takes me a while to read books. I tend to think that I'm a slow reader. Combine that with the fact that I don't set aside a lot of time to read, and the idea of reading one book each month is quite ambitious!

Eventually, I found myself back in the bookstore with lots of time to kill, and so I wandered into the Biography section and decided to start my project!
This first book was selected based on the prettiness of the spine:

 

At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream
by Wade Rouse

I'd recommend it.
It opened by eyes to Henry David Thoreau - I now want to take a course on 19th century literature. And it made me think about my life in the city.

I haven't decided what's next....

We still can

Remember this speech?




I remember watching this video for the first time back in 2008.
It gave me goosebumps.
... and it still does.


"Nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of people calling for change"

USB Necklace: Keep your files close to heart

I absolutely love the beautiful geekiness of these USB locket necklaces by Emily Rothschild.

I'm deciding whether to get the mini version or the regular-sized version..

Photos by Emily Rothschild

Wisdom on my coffee table

My obsession with Wisdom continues...

I bought the book!

It has been residing on my coffee table for about a month and a half. 

It is a beautiful piece of work. 

From the exhibit, I knew that the images were beautiful, but as I flip through the book I'm struck by the way the words are arranged on the page. 

It really is remarkable how much impact text can make.

 

 

 

This past month I've found myself simple reveling in the beauty of the book rather than soaking in the wisdom! So, I've implemented 'Saturday Afternoon Wisdom'. 

Every Saturday afternoon, after my dog walking, I will take time to read at least one of the interviews.

  

exciting!! 

My Digital Story

At long last!

Here is my digital story that I created this summer as part of Volunteer Toronto's SharedTime Project.


It was such a blast to create this.

During our three-day workshop, 10 volunteers from across the city gathered at Evergreen Brickworks and, with the help staff from the Centre for Digital Storytelling and Volunteer Toronto, we crafted our stories!

We laughed, we cried.... it was such a special experience to hear what others are doing and experiencing in the city. And there's such a feeling of 'Wow' when we gathered on the last day for the screening of our stories. To watch everyone's polished stories and congratulate each other.

Speaking of screenings.... I had the opportunity to take part in the SharedTime Premiere on the December 5th, 2011 - the UN International Year of the Volunteer +10.
I must say, it is quite something to see your work up on the Big Screen!

DIY: Super Easy Jewelry holder

Project: Jewelry holder picture frame (for hanging on the wall!)
Estimated Time: 10 minutes
Materials Required: Picture Frame, mesh-y plastic placemat, brads, duct tape, scissors

For the longest time I've wanted to make something to hold some of my jewelry. I have limited space on which to sit a classic jewelry holder, so I knew whatever I made would have to hang on the wall...or from the ceiling.

When I spotted this large black picture from at the UMBRA concept store, I decided that it was finally time to get to work!
I removed the glass and the backing from the frame.

large picture frame

I also found these place mats. They're made out of plastic and look like strings that were melted together. The results is a place mat with little holes in it. (Perfect for hanging earrings in!)

 

Step 1 was to cut placemat to size. An inch or so smaller than the outer edge of the picture frame.

Step 2:  Use duct tape to tape the placemat to the back of the picture frame.

Step 3: I attached some brads to the placemat.

Step 4: Attach jewelry and hang!

Tadaa!

Keep your files close to heart

Check out these beautiful USB locket necklaces by Emily Rothschild:

Love them!!

(photos by Emily Rothschild)

Dog Walking is my new favourite thing.

Dog Walking Update:

I love it!

It definitely did not start out as a fun time. (Walking around in circles for 2 hours and picking up dog poop? no thank you.)

But, I've come to enjoy it as I 'bond' with the dogs more. Some dogs are more difficult than others, but for the most part, they're all adorable. I definitely have favourites. My original favourite was adopted after being at the shelter for over a month. (We're all very happy for him!) My new buddy is this guy:

Isn't he handsome? He's bigger than he may appear in this picture (picture him bigger than a retriever).

There's one dog in the shelter right now who is wearing a cone around his head and when we go for walks he continuously shakes his head to try and get it off. It's sad yet hilarious. Poor guy.

Some of the dogs have a cough, which requires us to put on protective clothing when we take them for a walk. I view it as a costume!

Dogs + strolling + a costume (sometimes) = good times!

Unique Morse Code Necklaces: COATT Jewelry

Last week I was introduced to these morse coded necklaces by COATT Jewelry.

The necklaces feature the morse code interpretation of words or phrases.
Amazing, yes?

This one says friend:

I love how simple they look.
(images by COATT)

The BeltLine: The best trail in Toronto?

A couple weekends ago, a friend and I explored (and conquered!) the BeltLine Trail.

It's definitely a pretty trail, with a tree canopy and wide pathway. At one point, it is situated behind some fancy houses, so you can gawk at the backyards of Toronto's rich and famous people.

We encountered quite a few runners. So perhaps it is known as a good running trail. It is well-paved, I'll give you that. 

We started the trail near Davisville & Yonge St and strolled along until the end.
Closer to Davisville, it oddly intersects major streets, which means that you either have to J-Walk to reconnect to the trail, or you have to walk up to the lights and cross the street like a law-abiding person. Either way, it is kind of annoying. It does only happen a couple times. After that, the trail continues uninterrupted until the end.

 

Verdict: Definitely not the best trail in the city, but it is a good trail for an afternoon stroll. 

Church= Cookies

I pass this church every Monday.

"Come to church. We have cookies."

Cracks me up.

The best way to spend a Saturday Afternoon in Toronto: Evergreen Brickworks

It's no secret that I love Evergreen Brickworks.
I went back there a couple weekends ago, and rented a bike from BikeWorks.

This weekend, and friend and I grabbed our Nikon dSLRs, and headed off for adventure!
Here's the evidence:

My shoes.

Brick factory

colours

Graffiti Phone Booth

heehee!

Yup. I love Evergreen.