Hey! That Cat Has Horns!

This photo was sent to me this morning (taken by Art Carr of Douglas NB) and I think it's fantastic. I think this picture tells quite a sweet story. Plus, it makes you glad that you're not the only one who doesn't put your patio furniture away before winter.

Now What?

I have 2 squirrels that have found a secret entrance to my laundry room. This is one of them. I don't stand a chance.

Oscar scripts! Hot off the Press! Get Your Oscar Scripts Right Here!

The Oscar nominations have been announced. Every year I try to see as many Oscar-nominated movies as I can before the Academy Awards, but it doesn't always work out. The best picture nominees are: 'Atonement' (my personal favourite), 'No Country for Old Men', 'Juno', 'There Will be Blood', and 'Michael Clayton'.

With all the buzz about movies, awards, whether or not there will actually BE an Academy Awards this year, I was involved in a bit of a debate yesterday. A friend of mine always reads 'the book' before she 'sees the movie'. She goes to the theatre knowing 'exactly' what the movie is about and how its going to end, because she read the book. I don't agree with this, mostly because I love surprises. But here's a whole new angle: how about reading 'the script'?! I came across a website that allows you to 'download' big huge honkin' Hollywood movies. Here's the link: http://www.simplyscripts.com/

Its quite up to date, in fact you can download and print out the complete script for 'Atonement', 'Juno', 'No Country for Old Men', and many other movies! But make sure you have lots of printer ink, because your printer will be spewing out around 100 pages. Its better to do this at work. Just kidding. So print out the entire script for 'Atonement', then bring the script with you to the movie theatre and read aloud to each scene.

Winterlude is just a little over a week away, and the festival is being kicked off with STEW! Mmmmmm...... nothing beats a big bowl of hearty stew when its -minus 20 degrees outside. Next Friday, February 1st, come on out to the Byward Market at lunch-time. Market restaurants will be participating in the 'Stew Cook-Off'. Its a fun competition with some pretty amazing stew concoctions, and the best part is that you can try 'em all. And what the heck, after you've eaten some stew, grab a Beavertail. Its the Winterlude in Ottawa thing to do!

Ottawa's most 'purrfect' evening returns! Saturday March 29th, its the Humane Society Fur Ball at the National Gallery of Canada. This has become quite an 'A-List' event, but despite that, organizers still let me attend. It always sells out, so get your tickets now at www.ottawahumane.ca

Its Robbie Burns Day this Friday! A tribute to Scotland's greatest poet. How this became a day for eating oatmeal stuffed into a sheep's stomach, I'll never know. Haggis. Yuck! I won't even try it with ketchup.

Sandy Eats Deer Food! JR Eats a Dog Cookie! On the next 'Morning After'!!

JR: hey, who needs a bag of deer food? The deer thats been hanging around my backyard has moved on, and I'm stuck with a 50 pound bag of deer chow.
Sandy: Deer food looks tasty. Like granola.
JR: Ok, do you want the bag of deer food for yourself?
Sandy: I'm just saying, I wouldn't have anything against eating it. Would you have anything against eating a dog cookie?
JR: I'm not eating a dog cookie. I'll never eat a dog cookie.
Sandy: I'll eat deer food if you eat a dog cookie.
JR: Is that a challenge?
Sandy: Yes.
And so ended the show, with a promise of sheer entertainment on the next morning show.
Thank you to James the 'Photoshop King of Ottawa' for the above image.

The Official Mike Fisher Fan Club is Here!!

THE OFFICIAL MIKE FISHER FAN CLUB is finally here! If you already have a Mike Fisher / Coca Cola cardboard cut-out, you know how much fun THAT is! And if you DON'T have one, winning your own stand-up Mike is just ONE of the perks of being in the fan club! For example, above is a photo of Mike in a beautiful fall setting.

Sign up today - right here - on the home page of this website! You'll get an official Mike Fisher Fan Club certificate, suitable for framing (example above) plus, you could win Sens tickets, cool stuff like Mike Fisher cheer cards, AND ....you'll even have the opportunity to TALK TO MIKE! Yes, thats right...get those questions ready! Mike will appear periodically on 'the Morning After', to take questions from fan club members! You can find out his favourite music, his favourite food, the size of his skates, stuff like that. And here's the 'piece de resistance': ONE official Mike Fisher fan club member will be awarded the title of Fan Club Vice President - which means a BUSINESS TRIP! You and a guest will join me and 200 super-charged Sens fans for 4 beautiful days in Barbados, with stops at Berts Bar - hosted by Sens owner Eugene Melnyk. We will, of course, talk non-stop about Mike Fisher while we're lying in the sun, swimming, watching the Sens on the big screen, all those things. Enter today!!

Hmmm....looks like the movie 'Atonement' won the Golden Globe for best picture. All is right with the world. James McAvoy. Best actor. Ever.

Winterlude is just a couple of weeks away, and no sign yet of the canal being open for skating. For ice conditions, check 'the official website of the Rideau Canal skateway', click here http://www.capcan.ca/bins/ncc_web_content_page.asp?cid=16297-16299-10080-10081&lang=1

Uh oh, the red flags are up. Red flags, no skating. Green flags, get out and give 'er! If it doesn't get really cold soon, we may be eating beavertails on the side of the road.

Not for the 'faint of heart'...someone came up with this list: the 16 ugliest men in rock and roll. Here's the link: http://thewvsr.com/ugliest.htm. Most of them, great musicians, but not strong in the 'looks department'.

However, I take issue with one in particular: Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. A have quite a few girlfriends who think he's rather 'dreamy'. Maybe its the mouth, I don't know. Missing from the list: Geddy Lee from Rush.

Lost Puppy!

Have you seen this puppy? Her name is Cinder, and she has gone missing. Cinder disappeared behind the Merivale Mall area on January 8th 2008, and her owners have been searching everywhere, including the Humane Society, but no luck. There is a $100 reward for her return. If you have any information, please contact Keisha Pelletier at 613-421-9673. p.s. this photo of Cinder was taken when she was 7 weeks old, and she is now 4 months... so she's a bit bigger! Let's keep our fingers crossed for Cinder's safe return.

A Picture of Mike Fisher in a Kilt

If you ever wondered what Ottawa Senators' Mike Fisher would look like in a kilt, here it is. Courtesy of Michael Cox of the 'Scottish and Irish Store' in Bells Corners. Doesn't he look smashing?

Happy 2008 !!!

It’s a whole new year, which has begun for me exactly the same way every year begins. Writing the wrong year on cheque after cheque, crossing out the wrong year, writing in the right year, then initialing it. Some things never change. Why do we need to initial things, anyway? The cashier at the grocery store always asks me to initial my receipt when I get cash back, so of course I do, then she gives me the receipt which I just initialed, and I put it in my purse and walk away. Do my own initials on the receipt just serve as a reminder to me, in case I’m wondering, ‘hey! Where did I get this 40 dollars from’? Why do I suddenly have 40 dollars? Oh, phew, those are my initials on a grocery receipt. I signed that myself so now I why I have 40 dollars.

Some people go to the bank machine and take out a couple hundred dollars for their spending money, which may last a few days at a time, maybe even a week or two. If I take two hundred dollars out of the bank, it will last me exactly the amount of time it takes to walk by a store window. Doesn’t matter what it is, if it costs $200 and its in a store window, and I have $200 in my purse, I will buy it. That’s why I usually only take $20.00 out of the bank. Twenty dollars in my wallet will last much longer than $200. Because I never see anything I want for 20.00. But if it costs $200.00, I am definitely buying.

It took almost a year, but I finally saw the movie ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. What a great movie! It had hints of ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’, but it was smarter and had much better acting. Although I don’t think Christie Brinkley was cast in ‘Vacation’ because of her acting ability. If you get a chance to see ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, don’t miss it. It’s a feel-good movie with an ‘edge’, and a very cool message too.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/ New Year holiday. While on vacation, I spent a lot of time trying to move a squirrel. He moved into my laundry room. One day the squirrel ran past me while I was folding clothes on top of the dryer. If you can call it running, I’m not sure that’s the proper term for a squirrel scurrying past with his four paws clinging carefully, belly pressed firmly against the wall, the whole time spewing squirrel swear words at me. I’m not sure why he was so angry with me, considering that I’d given him a roof over his head and fairly easy access to a big plastic tub filled with sunflower seeds for my birdfeeder. My husband set up a humane live trap, filled it with sunflower seeds, and within a couple of hours the squirrel was in the trap! I let him out the back door and watched him scurry away. Within about five minutes he was back in the laundry room. We set the trap again. A few hours later I went to the laundry room and checked on the trap. This time, there was one squirrel IN the trap, and one squirrel OUTSIDE the trap busily trying to open the latch to help free the captured squirrel. The trap went outside again, and everyone ran free. I like the fact that my squirrels get some fresh air every once in a while. As I write this, they are both back in the laundry room, doing whatever squirrels do in a laundry room. I have stopped short of setting up a tv for them.