Friday, February 29, 2008

Strike TV is actually not so bad

Before this season of LOST began, SB and I sat down and watched the entire 3rd season in two days. 23 episodes. We both had Couch Cramp (I'm currently working on trademarking that term). Now we are both even more hooked than ever on that damn island. And this season is completely blowing my mind. Last season was slow-moving, and hard to watch from week to week, and then a big giant gap in the middle of the season (watching it all at once was amazing). But this season, you spend a whole week trying to figure out WTF????? And then they blow your mind again the next week.

I'm actually watching Grey's Anatomy now because I didn't watch it all season (it doesn't fit into my Survivor/CSI/ER Thursday) and they are showing the repeats on Fridays.

Big Brother is kinda not holding my attention the way it usually does. The premise is actually cool (they are playing as couples, no individuals, so it add a whole new dynamic), and the characters are colorful (one guy has done gay porn. But he's not gay. And his "occupation" is cycling around the world. Hmm.), but I'm just not as into it as usual. I still watch, but I don't really know anyone's name

And also, we are getting a (censored) view of Dexter on CBS. I have seen the first episode and am in love with this show. But, I'm thinking of buying Season 1 and bringing it on our trip to Paris for the nights when we are exhausted, or the rainy days when we don't feel like schlepping. Plus, I kinda just want to see it un-censored. Because changing "motherfucker" to "moron" usually just gets on my nerves.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Did you see it?

Anyone else catch that new show quarterlife the other night? No? Apparently not many people did. Hmmm.

The show is based on an actual vlogger who had journal videos on youtube. Apparently her youtube stuff is quite popular. The show is not.

I think what they are shooting for is a My So-Called Life for those of us who watched that show in the nineties, trying to connect with those of us actually going through our quarter-life crisis. It focuses on a group of friends, some of whom live together, many of whom are dating or have dated or want to date someone else in the group. All of them have hopes and aspirations, most of which are creativity-related, so of course they also all have day jobs that they hate. Except for two of the guys, who are film-makers trying to strike out by making car commercials - these two are partners, but of course one of them is the true artist, and the other has a moneybags dad who has funded their start-up. Conflict ensues.

I feel like this show should be a good idea, and should be interesting. It has been a while since there has been a show that is really great that is just about people - not centered on where they work (hospital, courthouse, crime scene lab), but on the people and their relationships. Think thirtysomething.

But this show just seems trivial. I'm not sure if I've ever seen quite so many cliches packed into one hour of television. To be fair, generally the first couple of episodes of any show feel a bit contrived, so maybe it will improve, but so far I would give it a D.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Blame it on Google

I used to visit my own blog when doing my daily visits to all the blogs I read. I would just click through my Blogrolling list to see who had updated and who had not, and in visiting my own site I would realize how long it had been since I actually written anything.

But then I discovered Google Reader.

I'm still not sure how to fill all the time I used to waste clicking onto everyone's site once, twice, or ten times a day. I guess I should probably use that time to update my own blog. Or do work. But mostly I spend it clicking "refresh" on my Google Reader. It's highly efficient and nifty, except when it comes to some people's blogs, who I can't get an RSS feed for.

In other news, we're going to Paris!!! In May!!! That's like two months away and I'm sure I am going to travelguide myself out by then, but I am so excited! SB hasn't been overseas before, so that is super exciting, and when I went to Paris I was only there for like two days and we are going for two weeks! WEEKS!!! More details to come about our flights, accommodations, itineraries, etc, in case anyone cares/is interested, or in case anyone has any recommendations for us. I am feeling a lot of anxiety about getting the business ready for the girls to take care of while we're gone. While I'm confident they can handle the mundane day-to-day stuff, I want to get ready some Troubleshooting checklists just in case.

As far as the trip goes, we want to sightsee, obviously, but also want to spend some time just wandering. If anyone has any lists of things we may not think of but should not miss, please let me know so I can check 'em out!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Blinded by the flashbulbs

It would appear that our mini media blitz has come to an end. We had an interview with the paper last Monday (published Tuesday), then interview with local CTV on Tuesday (aired Tuesday), then interview with paper on Tuesday (published Wednesday), then a radio interview on Sunday.

No calls today. Phewf.

Loads of free publicity, which is great, and the fact that we were the only dog-walking company interviewed tells me we are easy to find when people are looking for dog walkers, which is awesome. I also think it's really great that the issues are getting so much attention.

One of the proposed bylaws is to limit the number of dogs that are allowed to be walked outdoors in the downtown core to two dogs per person. There is talk that this will be waived for professionals with a permit, but we try not to walk in the downtown core anyway. People are annoying and there are a lot of people in the downtown core. We like to stay around dog people, and we walk in dog-friendly areas. So I doubt this will affect us.

The other proposed bylaw is to place an outright ban on all pit bull breeds and pit bull crosses. This infuriates me. Pit bulls are not the problem - people are the problem! People who get a pitty to show how macho they are and then train them to be aggressive or mean so that they can create this tough guy image. The dogs are always the losers in these situations - either they are mistreated and that is what has made them mean, or they end up being abandoned because the owners never really thought of them as anything more than an accessory, or they are destroyed because they do end up lashing out and hurting someone. But none of these problems are inherent in the breed. Some of the sweetest dogs we walk are pits or pit mixes. They just need proper training and socialization, like any other dog.

I am hoping that as people get more informed and the issue is discussed more that they will change their tune, but I'm not holding my breath since the Ontario government have successfully placed their own ban. Even though the UK did it 10 years ago and their incidents of dog bites and attacks didn't decrease at all. People with bad intentions, and people who don't know what they are doing and just ruin dogs will always be out there, they will just flock towards a different breed of dog.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Next, I'll be speaking with Anderson

One of the boroughs of our fair city announced yesterday that they were going to try to pass some bilaws to regulate dog stuffs within the borough.

Some of the bilaws:
a) maximum two dogs may be walked at one time
b) ban on pitbulls

I got a call yesterday from the English newspaper and was quoted there today. Then I got a call this morning from our local TV news to do an interview with them. We met around lunch today and the interview will air tonight at 6pm (CTV for those of you in Montreal).

I wasn't really nervous, but was extremely conscious of what I said I really hope I didn't sound like a bit tool. I have to tape the broadcast because SB will probably be at work. I hope it goes okay - check it out if you get a chance.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Buy me things - I can send you a list

Have you ever discovered something, and it is so great and wonderful, but then you become kind of a little obsessed, and then you wish you had never discovered it in the first place?

This is how I feel about Etsy.

I heard about Etsy a while ago through several different blogs, but have been resisting the urge to visit it. It is a website where different sellers post their handmade goods for sale. Sound a little flea-markety? nay nay my friend. This is good stuff.

Stuff like art
Stuff like pottery:
Stuff like super cute dog collars:
There's also some yarn that looks like ice cream, which I won't post the picture of because I'm not sure how many people it would thrill besides myself.

Anyway, so I have been browsing there. A lot. SB and I have found several art pieces that we would like to get (we still haven't hung anything on our walls.... we suck). The bad part is we both choose different pieces - we have very different taste in art, I guess.

So, visit Etsy. I dare you not to find anything you like.