2 good films in 2 nights

Last week I did something out of the ordinary and went to the cinema a shocking two nights in a row, and was pleasantly surprised both trips. It was cheap Tuesday on Granville street and the film looked like fun "The Kids Are All Right". The film is about two lesbian parents coming to terms with their children getting in touch with their sperm donor and consequently letting him become a part of their lives. It was really funny and there was a refreshing level of acting on all parts.
The second one was the lottery ticket, a free pass found in the comic store on Granville street, hmmm should I risk losing two hours of my time watching a film I have heard nothing about? The flyer was a really bad printed image of a red fish and the film itself was named "Catfish". I checked out the trailor as a precaution, it simply gave an intro of it being another "Facebook movie" and tells you creepily that "the last 40 minutes of the film will take you on an emotional rollar-coaster ride that you won't be able to shake for days". This convinced me it was going to be gruesome...It's basically a really well edited documentary about a woman who in an attempt to brighten up her increasingly mundane life and make up for life choices that limited her creativity, creates layer upon layer of fake people and their lives on Facebook. The lead up is well done and the conversations genuinely funny.
If you had to see one, see "Catfish" just because it's more original. But both have hot brunette eye candy in the form of Nev Schulman and Mark Ruffalo. Just saying.

the North American pug craze

Almost every morning as I stand inside my glass walled shop counting the cash into the till, I look up to see a tall, tattoo covered man walking two little pug dogs along the street. It's become part of my morning ritual, and if I don't see them I actually get worried! Maybe I should introduce myself and offer the dogs some water from our shop's dog bowl?
Anyway, it's not just this guy who owns pugs, the whole of North America seems obsessed with them. On a short trip to Seattle I spotted maybe 30 pugs, no joke! They are so funny and small and their little beady eyes have started to grow on me. I don't like small dogs as a rule, but these little creatures have found a place in my heart. I can imagine they would have high pitched squeaky voices if they could talk to me...

sunday morning panda bear

Love "slow motion"

http://www.myspace.com/pandabear

my first flog

My love of sushi has developed over the past 6 months since arriving in Vancouver. Before hitting North America I hadn't even chewed on an over-priced California Roll from Yo-Sushi. Nope, until this trip I was a sushi virgin.

And there really is no better city to decide you love the stuff, Vancouver is literally bursting with sushi, there is a restaurant on every corner, they are more of a staple here than the corner shop. Of course not all of them give you the freshest most delicious food, and yes some of the decor leaves a bit to be desired but it's still cheap and accessible and everything is probably better than what you can get in say, my home town of York.

The other evening I was lucky enough to get treated to a delicious meal in the world famous sushi restaurant TOJO's. It lived up to it's reputation.

We started with deep fried tofu. So simple, yet so easy to get wrong. The dressing was so perfect we wanted to slurp it out of the bowl.

Next up, vegetable tempura. Fresh, seasonal vegetables taste so good, especially when they are covered in batter! There was a surprise slice of mango at the bottom of the pile, and they gave us tasty green salt to dip it in.

The vegetable roll we had to follow was bursting with ripe avocado (my fave) mushroom, cucumber and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

And because we wanted to try something a little different, our chef Alex made us something off menu- pineapple, avacado, yam tempura and asparagus in a roll coated with cucumber. It was SO so good, really fresh and tasty. As an attempt to make us regulars (I'm sorry but we don't own a small fortune... unfortunately) he gave us a shot of the most refreshing Lychee sake, I don't even like sake but this was like a sweet nectar slipping down my throat.

Thanks Alex! See you soon I hope.

"It's like a concert tour but with sketchbooks"

A friend suggested I take part in this- http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

I got my small brown sketchbook through in the post the other day. God knows what I'm going to do, I haven't drawn anything in about a year. I hope inspiration comes.

well ain't that swell

http://kingfisherbluez.com/2010/09/01/swell-season-at-malkin-bowl-08222010-reviewed-by-heather-welsh/