Recent Wars Retold by Food

I've finally made it on the little screen

We launched our cool little MOO MiniCard holders yesterday. Whoohoo! J and I also created a this video for it ... starring my hands. Is it just me or do my hands look like they belong to a granny? Oh well. Pass me another glass of wine.

The moo mincard holder
Uploaded by MOO_Crew

Another Hugo Video

Well weirdest thing ever. J's video has TAKEN off on Youtube. I'm still shaking my head. It was seen more than 1.4 million times in 4 days. Wow! So, I figured my 1000s of viewers might like to see episode 2. Here it is. Enjoy.

World War 1 - We have not forgotten

Last night after a long day of egghiding, we decided it was high time we did something a little cultural. So, we went to my all time favourite theatre venue in London. No, I'm not talking about the National Theatre or the Old Vic. I'm referring to the Arcola Theatre.

I have long been a fan in fact, I went to the very first production back in 2001 of a play called SOHO.

I have seen a number of shows at the Arcola and each has been memorable for different reasons. I would recommend that you keep your eyes on their roster.

So. ... last night we saw the Living Unknown Soldier.

First off, World War 1 holds a few personal connections for me. Firstly, my Father's Father fought in the Great War, was gassed and many years later died due to a related illness. I think this has made me more interested as I wanted to understand what he must have gone through. While I never met Frank Rodwell, he had a huge impact on my life. I believe the fact my Father was deprived a healthy father growing up coloured his own approach to parenting. He always made it his top priority to be there for all four of us at all times. I think he realized what he missed out on and wanted to be sure his children would get all the love and attention he could give. He still does treat us royally and I know he is always there and ready to help out. (OK - I'm digressing)

Secondly, my best friend (who was recently a guest blogger) worked at Vimy Ridge Memorial - a world war 1 battle site where Canadians fought together under Canadian direction for the first time. In fact, she recently took us to the Vimy Memorial (see my flickr photos here) and I'm still reeling from the beauty of the memorial and the emotions that it stirs.

That is why I was more attracted to this play than you might think. So you want to know, was it interesting and compelling? It definitely was. It was the story of a young soldier who had lost his memory and knew nothing of who he was, where he had fought and what he had seen. It was a powerful story as this unknown soldier was pulled in one direction and then another by potential families trying to claim him for their own. The anguish of these families reminded the audience (and the doctors in the asylum where the soldier was kept) of how even 20 years after the war was over the pain of losing a child never goes away and the raw emotions are always close to the surface.

I had read a review in Timeout which criticized the director's technique of using all the actors to play the "unknown soldier" at different points during the play. I actually thought this technique added to the reality of amnesia. It left you slightly confused and feeling off-balance as the soldier himself would feel.

The script was also speckled with lighter moments which gave the audience a chance to break the stress often associated with themes such as war and death. The show kept a steady pace by quickly moving through time which was marked cleverly on the wall with chalk . Yeah - I liked it alot. Here is more about the production company behind the Living Unkown Soldier (you can also watch a trailer on their site and judge for yourself. Blog participation: Have you seen a movie or play you would recommend for yours truly?

Again, the Arcola does not disappoint.

Misfits, MOO and Mahem

When I first met J, he had a set of MISFITS cards from his childhood and I knew we were meant together because:

1. I also had the MISFITS game as a kid
   
2. I still had my game (but for different reasons ... mostly being a packrat)

(photo courtesy of Etsy seller sushipotparts)

In any case, he kept his set of MISFITS for many years hoping to get a client to buy an idea that used them. He finally managed it when he designed this book cover for Knopf. Not sure the book did all that well ... but he realized his MISFITS' dream. So, it didn't come as a huge surprise to me that J would think it would be cool to use MOO MiniCards as a modern day way of creating a new MISFITS game (complete with Angelina Jolie and Woody Allen). So, first he created some misfits,

then he borrowed Nick and Jacqui's cat - Walter - then came the filming .... below is the result. A cat, some silliness with a dash of MOO ;)

Not exactly the London Fashion Week Sale

I knew it was going to be a marathon shop as I didn't leave for the Natural History Museum (home of the London Fashion Week ) from Stokey until 2pm on Saturday. I finally got to the sale by 3.30pm, so I knew I was going to have bolt crazily around the stalls snatching up unique and stand-out fashion finds - I was ready for the challenge.

Sadly, the burly security guy looked at me with absolute horror when I told him I didn't have a ticket. He basically laughed in my face reinforcing his power. Dejected and embarrassed, I slinked away.

There I was in the other side of town locked out of the fashion heaven that the London Fashion Week Sale can be. I had to drown my shopping sorrows somehow. So, I thought I would do something I never ever do... go down to Harvey Nicks and see if there was something on sale. Thank goodness that didn't happen.

Instead, I got sucked in to good old Zara on the way to Harvey Nicks. I must admit Zara is amazing for cheap but fashionable finds (I felt like Erin as I walked around snatching up items to try on in the fitting rooms). I had her voice in my head the whole time - "don't buy something that doesn't fit, you'll never get it altered"

I ended up buying about 5 things. Here are a few I found:

1. Silky Top - with 60s design
First off, I was thinking about an upcoming wedding (evening one) and wondering what I might be able to wear with my raw silk black tulip skirt purchased for a Yahoo! Christmas party 2 years before. So, I gravitated to a number of silky shirts. I'm not sure this shirt really works with the skirt ... but I like the bold design and bought it.

I also love the easy construction of this top which I plan to knock off if I ever get my sewing machine out again. It is so simple to make it is ludicrous they can charge any money for this thing. While my top wasn't on sale, I thought it was a good deal for London - £29.00 (ok i'm still having rotation issues on blogger - please help!) Blog participation: Do you think the black skirt will match in style? I'm not convinced. Other ideas?

Orange Shorty Swing Coat
Here is the next incredibly cheap deal. I bought this little jacket - ORANGE - on sale for £12.95. For those of you not hip to the exchange rates to US$ ... that is about $25.00 Whoohoo! I felt like Erin (my shopping fiend friend). Now she would also point out to me that I look terrible in Orange which was in fact reinforced as J told me that perhaps I should wear a bit of make-up with it :), but hey, I'm addicted to orange. What do you think? Good buy? Or bad purchase?Here are the other fun finds of today (i need to upload a shot of the dress because i'm still on the fence and need all of your input - 100s that read my blog ;) Here they are:

• Gray Silk Dress (perfect for all my upcoming weddings) It has empire waist and feels a little deconstructed but need to show it to you for your advice- required some kick-ass, high heeled shoes... really high
  
• Gray leather handbag - every day big leather bag, rectangular in shape with short shoulder straps (not so cheap £89), but my laptop can fit in it if i need to get everything in one bag for carry-ons
• Burgundy jersey long-sleeved top - cheap £6 (i'll need to throw out the one i have that has bleach marks on it which means i can only wear it with a vest)
  
• REALLY pink, v-necked cotton sweater - cheap £9.99 (perfect to go under my orla kieley vest with pink around one shoulder)

So, what do you think? I think I made up for the fact I got pushed out of the London Fashion Week Sale... :) It was a Happy Ending.

In fact, I came home to an amazing meal prepared by J and then we went around the corner to an evening of jazz at the Vortex with Gilad Atzmon (highly recommend ... in fact we bought a CD for Paulie -lucky Paulie)

If I can't ski, I'd rather bike

Having grown up in Ontario, Canada, I still find it incredibly surreal to be able to bike and walk without wearing gloves in February. This photo of a Magnolia bud was taken yesterday.

To give you a sense of winter while I was a child and frankly up until 3 years ago, here is a shot Tania took in Toronto just last week. While I love the snow, I need to be close to a mountain for some skiing. So, I'm not sorry not to be in Toronto ...


Now here in London, England, this weekend brought blue skies! Both Saturday and Sunday were filled with clear sunny skies only scarred with airplane vapour trails. Plus the good old gulf stream made sure we could easily spend all day outside --around 12C (yippee!)

The blue skies also meant that I wasn't going to sit in front of my computer, it dictated a day(s) out. Yesterday, as soon as we managed to wake up (we had been up late visiting with Matthew and Alex), I suggested a trip to Kew Gardens and J quickly agreed. So, after the prerequisite latte and croissant from Belle Epoque, we jumped on the train to Kew Gardens to see the Henry Moore exhibit.

I'm sure the exhibit would have been amazing on any day, but add in blue skies and relatively warm winter weather (i.e. 12C) and you have an "I love life" kind of day.
We just arrived at Kew and bought some fudge :) But it is disappointingly not anywhere as good as Niagara-On-The-Lake's fudge. Beware!

Can someone tell me how to make sure blogger doesn't rotate the pics. Sheesh!!



Here are a few shots from the exhibit and the day... I hope they make you smile and hear me say "miluju zivot!"

I think the best part of the day was as we walked from Kew to the train, some entrepreneurial young girls were selling yummy pink cupcakes. We passed by only to stop 10 feet past their booth and J ran back to get some -- yum yum. Only 50p each.

Now today (Sunday), J and I decided to give each other an early Valentine's Day present. FLOWERS!! As if Jonathan needed an excuse.

Today, I noted in the market (Columbia Street Flower Market) that it doesn't take an HP like J to buy flowers for himself. In fact, all guys here seem to find it invigorating. I was pleasantly surprised to see how at home the most tattoed, piereced and muscle-bound east-ender looked with an armful of lillies or tulips in Awww so sweet.

Believe it or not there were other great moments this weekend .. but feeling a bit weary from all the goodness. I hope you had a memorable one too.