snowmageddon

keeping up

OH: facebook is so 2004.

Please note: I joined facebook in 2007. And only then because my 20something relative invited me. Sigh.

cartoon by Hugh MacLeod retrieved from his site: gaping void.
(sorry - i have lost the url for the exact post.)

marketing shmarketing

@You: < sound = "my own voice"> "SM, SEM, SEO, SMO, ..." < /blahblah >

@Me: < attention_span = "meh"> "zzzzzzzzz" < /blehbleh >

the perigee and the full moon

Girls and boys come out to play,
The moon doth shine as bright as day;
Leave your supper, and leave your sleep,
And come to your playmates in the street;
Come with a whoop, come with a call,
Come with a good will, or come not at all;
Up the ladder and down the wall,
A halfpenny loaf will serve us all.

Big moon rising...

The full moon that rises Friday evening will be the biggest and brightest in the sky in 15 years, say astronomers.

That's because the moon will be closer to the Earth than usual. The moon travels around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, meaning it has moments where it is relatively close, (its perigee) and moments when it is farther away, (its apogee).

But it's a relatively rare occurrence when the moon reaches its perigee during a full moon, as it will Friday night. It hasn't happened since 1993.

The moon will be about 356,567 kilometres from the Earth on Friday night, about 30,000 km closer than normal.

As a result, the U.S. space agency NASA said it will appear about 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than it normally does. The effect will be particularly pronounced as it rises and sets, due to an optical illusion that makes the moon appear larger as it nears the horizon.

The moon's close proximity will also produce stronger than usual tides.

CBC News, Friday, December 12, 2008 | 1:32 PM ET

let it snow

i made this prorogation snowflake.

another anti-harper activity brought 2u by singleladieswithnokitchentableorcareeropportunities.ca

make one too. u'll feel better. i promise :P

inspired by somecanuckchick's Prorogation Peanut Butter Cookies!!!

afterart&crafts

after john's, our group split up. leslie and i went to dundas to see the newly frank.gehry-ized art gallery of ontario. it is fabulous! there is art and frosting. gehry "going for the option that might amuse a user the most, that would give a user the most pleasure."

from the outside it looks like a floating zeppelin or a giant shiny fish swimming towards chinatown. inside it is fine finishes, pale wood, curvy lines and swirling staircases. the famous staircase worms its way out of the top of the walker court up over the rooftops, through galleries of contemporary art and panoramic views. it does look a little odd and wiggly from underneath but it is so much fun that the architectural incongruity (to my unsophisticated and unschooled eye) doesn't matter a bit. the long hall where the restaurant used to be is shorter and houses a fantastical installation of mirrored nooks and crannies and caves covered in birds, bird people, other critters. the new member's lounge is in the grange house and overlooks the park. parts of it are a bit stark, but in one room there is a fireplace and leather chairs - a perfect place to sip scotch and watch the snow twirl in the wind.

we arrived late and only had a little over an hour before closing time. we had a quick look at some of the contemporary art (like coming home for a 1960s baby like me) and the african gallery (amazing! there are sculptures that, from a distance, look like mahogany carvings but are made out of shoes. they are watched over by a joyous, artloving security guard who explains and exclaims about their form and context and history). we then found our way through the henry moore gallery into the hall behind the fish scales. it is a beautiful space - part cathedral and part canoe. we wanted to run the length but acted with restraint and walked. unfortunately we only made it half way along before a more killjoy kind of security guard booted us out.

it costs $18 (whew!) to get in but our family has a membership that allows us 2 guests each visit so we will be back.

here is what happened to my dad when he visited the gallery.

and here is what happened when frank gehry went to springfield (thanks julie).

[the video has been taken down but you can read about it and see screenshots here]

we left the gallery and wandered up through the university campus to the victory café (only one sign here but i would say this is more of a pub than a café) for a well-earned beer. we had our beer and went upstairs to the craft fair for a bit of shopping, came downstairs for some more beer and a snack (mac&cheese for me), got sleepy and went home.