Musings of a Brain Diva

We Have Come A Long Way...

2009-05-27T20:31:00.003-04:00

Someone passed along a link to these ads. It's just mind boggling to look at used to be acceptable not that long ago...

15 (very) sexist ads that may leave you as speechless as I am

12 vintage ads that are just plain disturbing

I Love Me Some TV

2009-05-19T20:33:00.004-04:00

I bought DVDs of the first season of Chuck and Andy Richter Controls The Universe. Even though the first season of Chuck was only last year, I had already forgotten a lot of what was going on back then. It's such a rewatchable show. I'm so glad it's been renewed for a third season, thanks to fan efforts.

Andy Richter Controls The Universe is a series that aired back in 2002. I remembered finding it very funny, but it got cancelled fairly quickly like most innovative and smart shows seem to. Anyway, I highly recommend it. I'm sure I'll be rewatching those DVDs often.

Finally, I was looking at my livejournal page, and all the keywords I had entered as interests. I think it describes me pretty well:

Aging, arrested development, books, cheers, chocolate, chuck, coffee, cooking, crosswords, dictionaries, french, grammar, montreal, monty python, movies, musicals, neuroscience, newsradio, non fiction, photography, politics, pride & prejudice, psychology, science, statistics, sudoku, teaching, technology, the colbert report, the daily show, the human brain, the office, the office fanfic, the x-files, toronto, writing

Farmers' Market

2009-05-09T09:08:00.006-04:00

Earlier this week, I discovered that there is a farmers' market on Saturday morning from 9 am to 12 pm close to my place. There's nothing I like quite so much to buy local products. So I got up early this morning, wanting to go. It was a beautiful day when I woke up. Now that I'm ready to go because the market just opened? The sky is dark as ink, thunder and lightening are raging, and it's pouring buckets of rain. Bah. I guess I'll have to try again next weekend!

Kitty Is Going On A Diet

2009-05-04T18:21:00.008-04:00

This is my cat:

She is a happy cat, but lately, her backside has been sore. She didn't seem to groom her backside as well either. I took her to the vet, and it cost me 400$ to find out that:

1) Kitty might be developing arthritis, and she needs shots.

2) She should lose weight. Putting her on a diet is going to be huge fun given that when the food is low in her bowl, she has no qualms about waking me up in the middle of the night for it.

3) Her fur was indeed somewhat matted in the bum area so the vet thought it'd be a good idea to shave her. So poor kid now looks like this:

She was apparently good when they were shaving her, but she looks a bit silly with her short black and white fur. It's a little cow-like. LOL

TV & Movies

2009-05-02T21:52:00.009-04:00

I was thinking of rounding up a list of cultural endeavours I loved in the last few months. You might know I love old movies so there are a few of that. I'll stick with recommendations.

TV Series

1) Chuck: Of all the new series from last season, this is my favourite. I lost my other love, Pushing Daisies. I cannot say enough good things about it. It's got comedy, spy action, and romance. I love the characters. It's perfect TV fluff. I really hope NBC doesn't cancel it!

2) Breaking Bad: Such a dark series about a chemistry teacher who learns he has 18 months to live after being diagnosed with cancer. To leave money for his family, he joins forces with a younger guy to make crystal meth. So it's a totally crazy premise, but the characters are flawed and interesting, and you just want to know what will happen next. It's a series by Vince Gilligan, who was my favourite writer on The X-Files.

3) Being Erica: I've talked about it before, but I was totally sucked into this dramedy about a 30-something girl who lives in Toronto. The season finale really makes me die to see how it continues.

I also really enjoyed two BBC miniseries I watched: Cranford and State of Play.

Movies

1) Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? What a fantastic movie! It's a creepy thriller, and Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are both great. That movie had me on the edge of my seat.

2) Vertigo:. I had a Jimmy Stewart double bill a few weeks ago: The Philadelphia Story, which I love, and a movie I had never seen, Vertigo. I don't know that I was totally sucked into the movie, but I can definitely see why it's been so influential in terms of film making. It's definitely very interesting as far as how it is shot. And the plot has lots of twists and turns.

3) Sunshine Cleaning: I saw this movie last weekend. It's the story of two sisters who start their own crime scene cleaning business to try to rise up above in their situations. It's a quiet little film about the struggles of life. It just touched some cords in me. Made me cry like a little girl.

Other mentions: Loved Rachel Get Married. It was my favourite Oscar season movie along with Milk. I saw Monsters vs. Aliens in IMAX 3D. That was just a whole lot of fun. On the more serious side, Waltz with Bashir, a movie about the Shatila Massacre in the 1982 Lebanon War, is very poignant.

I have a few old school movies lined up in the next few days: 1) Hitchcock's Rope, which I have seen before but is just a great movie, 2) To Have or Have Not, a Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall movie, and 3) Fellini's 8 1/2.

I'll be back tomorrow with my favourite books that I've read lately.

Montreal, Baby!

2009-04-16T13:10:00.004-04:00

I spent the long Easter weekend in Montreal, which was really nice. On Friday, my friends and I went to a fairly new French bistro called Le St-Urbain. It was really yummy. I had a risotto as I am wont to do in nice restaurants. Some of us also went to the Planetarium before the restaurant, something I hadn't done in years. It's always nice to gaze at the stars. There was a movie about the five great extinctions, which was really interesting.

On Saturday, I spent time with the family. We played Monopoly, and I lost again. I swear, I don't think I've ever won at that game. I also went shopping in the afternoon, and bought a new toaster oven to replace mine that is falling apart. It's all convection ovens out there nowadays. Can't wait to use it!

We went for brunch Sunday at Eggquis, which was really tasty. Then, I spent most of Sunday on the road, driving back to Toronto.

Monday and Tuesday, I was on the road again, in Windsor to go evaluate a patient over there. I stayed at the Hilton, and had a great view on the Michigan River, and Detroit's lakefront silhouette. However, Windsor was cold and rainy.

I'm now back in Toronto and we are having lovely sunny days! I love spring.

While I was in Montreal, I took lovely pictures, which I shall post up soon.

The Nanny

2009-04-01T18:32:00.006-04:00

Again, the Internet makes me rediscover things from years gone past. I love you, YouTube. Anyway, I've been watching some episodes of The Nanny lately. I had forgotten how funny that show was, especially in its earlier seasons, before it became way too corny. The last time I remember seeing this show on TV was when I first moved to Toronto. I have memories of crying, missing home late at night, and watching that show to cheer myself up.

I came across a clip where Fran Drescher saying that her inspiration for the show was a spin on The Sound of Music, and it's probably exactly why I like it. It has the romantic aspect to it mixed with silly antics. I do remember my thinking Mr. Sheffield was so dreamy. LOL Fran Drescher's physical comedy was always very funny to me, which is surprising given that physical comedy doesn't tend to be what makes me laugh most. Niles and C.C. are also very funny as are the kids. This is a show I'd never pick apart because plenty of it makes no sense whatsoever. It's like a silly vaudeville, but it doesn't pretend to be anything more than that. I was pleased to still be finding it funny, because some shows just age very poorly.

Sights of Toronto

2009-03-15T18:27:00.005-04:00

I have taken to carrying my camera with me when I'm walking around.

A cool alley mural...

The clock tower building is a fire station. Cool, huh? I love the architecture of this building.

Things I Bought That I Love

2009-03-12T11:01:00.007-04:00

I love for purses and shoes. Hence, an entry about purchases I love from the last few months. Most are awesome scores from my favourite store, Winners.

I got a purse from the Montreal company Matt & Nat a few months ago. They make vegan purses that are just as cool as leather products. I love their designs. I bought this purse with some birthday money...

I've gotten so many compliments over that purse. Everyone loves it, and has a hard time believing it's not leather.

I found love again with Matt & Nat and this purse...

Look at the weaved fiber, it's so nice...

It's going to be a great bag, I think. It's big enough to carry files and other stuff to work.

As for footwear, I got these cute boots at Target when we went to Buffalo a few weeks ago.

They make me feel so spring-like! :)

I also bought these Steve Madden shoes. Look how cute they are!

My feet love them so dearly...

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report

2009-03-05T23:52:00.002-05:00

I really enjoyed the economy-focused episode of TDS yesterday. It was one of the best recent episodes. There's nothing like Jon and the TDS writers going full spin on a topic. It was nice to see him calling out TV "financial analysts" who didn't see the recession coming and are now ranting about Obama wanting to help common people, not just big corporation.

As for TCR, Stephen Colbert's Doom Bunker is definitely one of the funniest segments they've ever done. I was laughing until I cried. FOX's Glenn Beck deserves every joke for putting such ridiculous fictional scenarios for doom analysis on TV.

Erica Strange's Video Blog

2009-02-26T22:18:00.006-05:00

I love the show Being Erica and I discovered they made video blogs of her talking to Ethan about a bunch of daily events.

Here's an example...

I can only relate too much to encountering a mouse, wanting to flee, and the fear of becoming a cat lady. I love this show.

Sometimes It's The Little Things...

2009-02-24T23:33:00.004-05:00

I had an okay day, I guess, but as I was unpacking groceries, my watch hit the shelf in the fridge, and a piece of the corner broke. I guess it doesn't even show that much, but I burst into tears. I have no idea where that came from except I've been feeling blue lately. What a stupid thing to get upset over. Sure, I love this watch, and I got it only a few months ago, but still... Meh, I can't wait for the winter to be over.

On the other hand, Stephen Colbert with his impression of getting on the Internet in 1997 made me laugh till I cried. Ricky Gervais on TDS was also a gift. Oh, and I couldn't believe Jason Jones's interview with guys who call Obama Hitler and the Anti-Christ!

I'm a Superhero

2009-02-21T11:45:00.003-05:00

Hee. This site is so much fun: The Hero Factory.

Three-Day Weekend! Woo hoo!

2009-02-16T17:44:00.005-05:00

Hit Buffalo on Sunday for a day of shopping, food, and art. We hit all the stores we don't have in Canada. I got cute rain boots from Target! We also went to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery for an exhibit on abstract art, which was super interesting.

Oh, and this is the song I loved from my high school days that I was trying to sing in the car on the way back... It comes complete with cheesy early 90s video!

Place Des Grands Hommes (1989).

A February Weekend in Toronto

2009-02-08T19:02:00.006-05:00

I went to see a play on Friday, Medea. It was interesting since I had never seen a Greek tragedy before. Of course, everyone dies at the end so it's a bit of a bummer.

The weather was positively spring-like this weekend. See, it's melting and there are puddles everywhere...

The weather was even nice Saturday night...

We had a lovely sunset on Sunday. You can see the moon rising as the sun is setting. I took these pictures from my apartment window. :)

Television

2009-02-04T19:43:00.003-05:00

I rented the season 1 DVDs of The Flight of the Conchords over the weekend. Very funny show. I noticed that one of the writers was the creator of one of my all-time favourite shows, NewsRadio so I'm not surprised it's up my comedic alley.

R.I.P. Kim Manners

2009-01-26T22:59:00.002-05:00

Kim Manners, the director of 52 episodes of The X-Files, died of lung cancer yesterday. He was certainly the most distinctive director of the show and appeared well loved by everyone on the show. He directed so many of my favourite episodes! R.I.P., Mr. Manners.

Snack

2009-01-25T14:01:00.005-05:00

I've discovered a new snack...

This is the result.

;)

Snow and TV Shows

2009-01-19T23:01:00.008-05:00

It's been a snowy weekend, so I had fun with my camera!

As far as TV goes, I'm so sad that Pushing Daisies has been cancelled. Now, ABC may not even air the last episodes. Boo, ABC, boo.

On the plus side, there's this new series on CBC on Monday nights (which I've heard will air in the US on SoapNet, but it's totally not a soap) called Being Erica. It's about a girl who gets sent back in time to moments she felt she screwed up to try to fix them or learn from her mistakes. The writing is really good, and I just got sucked into the show. The third episode was on tonight, and it's just so enjoyable. Plus, you get a lot of music from the 90s, which is so cool. The fact that the series is about a single girl in her early 30s living in Toronto and coming home to her cat and kinda of confused about it all might make me identify a tiny bit. ;) Highly recommended.

Chuck and The Office are also very enjoyable this year, and The Daily Show is on fire so I'm pleased as punch.

Oh, to end my post, here's a little cutie. :)

Picture Blog

2009-01-10T18:24:00.012-05:00

I finally bought a digital camera over the holidays! Yay! So I had a lot of fun taking pictures...

I love winter, and my hometown is so pretty with the snow all around. I took the next two pictures near my high school. The lake you see at the center in those pics has now become an ice skating rink since they've had enough cold days to ensure the ice is thick enough.

In front of my parents' house, we have a lot of snow. However, by the end of the winter, you usually can't see the door at all from the street.

My mom decorates the nicest Xmas tree:

This is my attempt at a little tree in my apartment:

Man-Made Terror

2008-10-28T06:52:00.002-04:00

Excluding any disaster that threatens your life, I think there's nothing quite as scary as waking up to the "can't boot computer" screen of death. I woke to it this morning, and I really wished I were still dreaming. My little PC had tried to reboot in the night after upgrading one program or another, and somehow failed miserably at the task of just starting up again. I think the terror comes partly from knowing this piece of aluminum and circuits will rule your day and suck your time until you can tame it into running again. I have to fix a problem with the Registry Editor, it seems. I can foresee fun computer times ahead of me in the next few days.

A Bad Case of The Mondays

2008-10-06T22:49:00.004-04:00

You know how the common wisdom is the life is made of a series of small moments? Well, all my little moments today kinda sucked! Let's make a list, shall we?

- Woke up at 4:50 am because I had nightmares. That hasn't happened to me since I was a kid. Couldn't fall back asleep because I was so freaked out. On the plus side, I had a lot of time to get ready for work.

- Had to come back up 3 times to my apartment on my way to work because I kept forgetting things. I got halfway down the stairs to realize I forgot my bottle of water. Second time, I got just outside the door of the apartment building and realized I forgot the keys to the office. Third time, I was halfway down the street to the subway when I realized I forgot my agenda, which I needed for all the phone numbers in it.

- Oh, that bottle of water? I would have been better forgetting it home since it leaked a bit and got my library book wet! The poor book is now wedged between huge tomes to get it straight.

- I had a really tough case at work. My boss was on my case about a bunch of trivial things that she keeps changing her mind about. When I asked her for some info to help me do my assessment, instead of getting the info for me, which would have been a courtesy given that 1) I was working a patient all day while she was home writing reports, 2) this info was needed today and 3) she should have known the info given that she's the boss, she gave me a phone number to call to get the info. When she called at the office at lunchtime to know how things were going, her first question was, "So, did you get the info?" Given that I had spent the last 3 hours trying to assess someone who didn't want to be there, NO I didn't get around to it yet. Argh.

- Also I didn't have time to have lunch.

- To cheer me up, I stopped by the music store right by the office to get a CD I couldn't find on iTunes. When I got home, opened the case, and THERE WAS NO CD in there! I mean, really?! So I have to go back to the store and explain that!

- I decided to cheer me up by going to rent "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". I get to the video store. There is a box for it on the shelves, and then they tell me they're out of it. Seriously, universe?

- I wanted to go deposit a check. The ATM is out of envelopes. Of course.

- My cat also won't stop howling at the moon.

- Oh, and of course, the cherry on top is that, as Cher Horowitz would say, God decided it was the day for me to ride the crimson wave too. That never helps in making you not a bitch.

So in conclusion, October 6, 2008= freak day. It will go in the books in the minus column. LOL

How Long Could You Survive Chained to a Bunk Bed With a Velociraptor?

2008-09-17T09:56:00.001-04:00

60 seconds

This concept makes me laugh far too much.

How I Wish I Had Call Display...

2008-09-03T22:48:00.005-04:00

This is a typical day at my apartment... I get maybe 6-7 calls, 4 or 5 of them are from telemarketing/survey people. I was waiting for an important call so I couldn't let it go to the machine. So I had to deal with super annoying people always trying to sell me the same crap. I don't need a new credit card/long distance plan/a free trip (yes totally free!)/cell phone plan. Leave me be.

In other news, I had the most amazing weekend. I took time off and it did me so much good. I went to Niagara with some friends. We saw the falls, went wine tasting, visited Fort George, and hung out in Toronto. We had good food, and it was the most relaxed I felt in months. So that was nice,

Also, newsflash: it is apparently the early 90s again and I'm 12 all over again, I listened to The New Kids on The Block new CD and watched the 90210 premiere yesterday. ;) NKOTB impressed me. I mean, I'm not going to start sketching little hearts in my notebook or anything, but what little I heard from their new CD sounds like good pop music. That's good enough by me. As for 90210, I was a regular watcher of the original for the first few seasons... I'm definitely too old for this stuff, but I love that Jessica Walter plays basically an unironic version of Lucille Bluth. Otherwise, it's just like any other teen soap, which basically means I'll have it on if I'm cleaning or really trying to avoid work.

Free Jenna Fischer!

2008-08-12T19:27:00.002-04:00

She has unfortunately been kidnapped by Rainn Wilson. She will not be given a peach smoothie unless we see Rainn's new movie. ;)