Go Canada - UPDATE

Today I'm reminded of a Sunday 8 years ago... in 2002. I met a friend at a bar called "Shanks" in the West side of Calgary- to watch the gold medal game between the US and Canada. We were there at 9am for a 12pm game. And we had to wait in line for an hour to get in.

We watched the game on screens that covered the entire wall, surrounded by hundreds of people wearing red. Every time we scored the place would erupt in cheers. There was so much passion and love in the room. Especially when we won 5-3. I remember singing the National anthem with 300 of my newest closest friends and being so proud.

I'd imagine it's no different today as Canada once again goes up against the US for the gold medal. Only this time we're on home soil- in Vancouver.

The difference for me is that I'm not. I'm in the states. In a country where hockey is a second rated sport. But it's the Olympics- and the Americans will still want to win. Luckily I'll be watching the game at a bar in the Lower East Side that caters to Canadians. So there'll be a mix of cheering. I'm sure it'll be tense and heated. And I'm hopeful that the outcome will be the same- with the bar coming together to sing the CANADIAN national anthem, bound together by our love for our home and native land.

UPDATE: We won. : )

It's my birthday

Cupcakes, friends, phone calls, Olympic hockey, more out of town friends, singing and balloons. Finished off with dinner at Rosa Mexicana.

It was a wonderful birthday.

I would write something more insightful or clever but am not feeling that inspired lately.

But I will say that I very much felt loved on my birthday- so was and am very thankful.

In this picture I'm wearing the Olympic mittens that my friends Barb and Olga gave me- which was an AWESOME surprise!!!

Old Spice Commercial

This is a GOOD AD. Good casting. Good copy. Good branding. It's appealing. It's engaging and entertaining and memorable. Brilliant.

LOST Theories

I think that the TV show Lost is like the book "Life of Pi" . The island is actually a metaphor representing the story of loss and redemption.

Season 6 is now going to be like the last chapter of Pi where we are shown the events we've just read/watched on the island- in real life- through the 'sideways' storyline.

We'll see how the characters are actually brought together, evolve and how they find redemption.

There is also an interesting theory I've been told- about how life will only truly happen once- with a bunch of other iterations being incomplete and imperfect progress. And the sideways story is the perfect iteration and thus final stage of life for the main characters.

ahhhh- so much to think about !!!!

One Week of Sun & Snow

This past week was a busy one as I spent the first part in LA for a photo shoot, the middle part in NY and the last part in Utah for a skiing trip.

I'd never been to LA before and while it was a good experience, I really think I'm not a West Coast person. Everything feels kind of washed out and bland. Everything looks the same, and is covered in stucco. Having said that, I'll admit that it was nice to go biking along Venice beach and to run outside in capris in January.

What was interesting was Venice Beach. In addition to the crazies that we saw along the boardwalk, we walked along the beautiful canals in the neighbourhood. I didn't know they existed, but it makes sense that's where the name "Venice Beach" came from.



After a quick trip home I headed to Park City, Utah with my friends Rose and Esther for a ski weekend.



I'd never been before, and thus far had been underwhelmed with the skiing in the states. This, of course, being that I grew up an hour outside of the Rockie Mountains and some of the best skiing in the world.

Well these were the same mountains, just farther south, and I was not disappointed. I preferred Park City to the Canyons (for anyone venturing out there) but that might be because we had fresh snow and the conditions were awesome.

The trip was not without fault though, as Rose seemed to be a beacon for tragedy. She started out the trip with a bout of random stomach flu and missed the first day on the hill. She was ready for the second day, and about 2 hours in she caught an edge and fell hard. She broke her clavicle in two places- seriously broke it.

The plus side to this is that for Apres Ski (she was bandaged up and pumped full of drugs by then) she was a hot target and the guys were literally stopping by our table all night.

Both experiences fun. Both very different. I am glad to have gone, but also happy to be home.

On-line all the time

I'm glad that I'm still not so cynical and jaded as to not get excited or amazed by the thought of being online 39000ft in the air.

Which I am right now. (Right above Kansas)

It's a bit of a mixed bag as the plane was the only place left really where one was completely cut off from communicating with the outside world (other than the deep wilds of Algonquin Park!) and now that has been taken away.

BUT the upside is that I can use my time productively and instead of watching bad movies, finish some work that is desperately needed before heading off to Utah tomorrow afternoon.