I just read about a shooting today, where a woman was shot to death while she was driving her car - and her 4 year old child was in the back seat, thankfully unharmed, though I'm sure will have permanent psychological scars. The scary thing is, this isn't even the first shooting of the day!! And what's worse, I think it's like the 10th or 11th shooting of the year. I can't even keep track anymore. When the hell did Vancouver turn into some gangland warzone?

Apparently this all stems from a tug-of-war on the money from the drug trade. Hell's Angels and some other gang. I haven't read the details, but I think that's the gist of it. And the fact that many of the shootings have been in broad daylight are the most startling and unnerving to hear about.

I just don't know what to say. Every time I read about a new one, it's like, is this for real? This isn't something that Vancouverites are used to, nor is it something that we should get used to. This is Canada - this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen here, right?
*UPDATE*

Just heard this afternoon that there was yet another shooting, this time in Vancouver. And then while watching the 6 o'clock news, there was a breaking story about shots being heard in the burbs somewhere. That's the second of the day, bringing it up to 17 shootings for the year. Needless to say, this has got to stop.

 
 

You can probably tell from reading this blog that I'm a bit of a foodie. Part of the obsession is constantly watching the Food Network. Even if I'm not really watching tv, I'd still turn it on and just leave it running in the background while I do other stuff. Totally habitual, but I'm breaking out of that now because I finally realized how much it sucks now. Seriously, have you seen it lately? I can't remember the last time I saw an actual cooking show on there. I know that the Food Network in the States has a slightly different schedule, so I can't speak for that, but Food Network Canada seems to show nothing but those dumbass Food Network Challenges or Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares or Iron Chef. Wtf?!

They show Top Chef - which I love, and at least it shows people cooking, but it's not even a FN show - it's a Bravo show that they happen to air. And if I see that red-faced bleached blonde chump, Guy Fieri, shove another greasy burger and ribs in his mouth, I will have to jab myself in the eye with a dull fork. Why is this a show? Why do we have to watch some guy going around the country eating at greasy spoons and telling every single cook, "Dude, that's money!"

I think I saw a Jamie Oliver cooking show recently, but it must've been late night or early morning because I certainly can't find any sort of cooking shows during primetime hours. Remember the days of Emeril, Rachel Ray, and Barefoot Contessa? Where is Ina Garten now? I need to know! I don't even see Giada's cleavage around anywhere either.

It seems that FN has gone the way of MTV, who started out showing music videos and then started showing anything but that. FN is the same now. I read in an article somewhere that this is a conscious decision on their part. Like anything else, it's about ratings, and they seem to think that pandering to the TGI Friday's/Guy Fieri crowd is the best way to go. Apparently, the cooking shows are on during the day when only housewives and stay-at-home moms have time to catch it. Lucky them. As for the rest of us, all we get is Gordon, Guy, and The Chairman's nephew. Gee, thanks.

Instead of taking an opportunity to educate us on proper cooking, they'd rather we watch people make sculptures out of marshmallows or learn the history of where buffalo wings came from. Uh, fuck off, Food Network. You guys are lame. It's because of this crap that I've gone back to watching cooking shows on PBS. If PBS is good enough for Jacques Pepin, then it's good enough for me! You all should give it a try. Rick Bayless, Ming Tsai, and Lidia Bastianich all have awesome shows on there. It's what Food Network could've been and should've been.

I hope that they'll snap out of it and see that the direction of this network is going down the crapper, along with any integrity they may have once had. If they ever get a clue and start thinking with their brains instead of their wallets, then I'll be happy to be a regular viewer again. Until then, I'll be pretty much anywhere else.

 
 

Continuing my Coldplay kick, here's a super cute video of theirs. Love this.

 
 

I remember when George was one of the vj/reporters on muchmusic. Women thought he was hot and men thought he was pretty cool. But above that, he was quite well respected as a serious music journalist. Quite frankly, he's probably the hottest guy that Canada's got on the air. Now, he has his own talk show called The Hour, and I admit I haven't watched it all that much. I did see it the other day while flipping the channels and was watching an interview with Gordon Ramsey. You know what, I'd forgotten how good of an interviewer he was. He seems genuinely interested in whoever he's talking to, whether he's talking about music, politics, or in this case, the culinary world. And yeah, he's hot. I'm amazed that he's aged so well because it's been well over 10 years since his muchmusic days.

A friend of mine told me that he'd come by her workplace one time and lots of people were asking him for photos and everything, and apparently he was super cool to everyone - posing for photos, signing autographs, and basically really nice. I love hearing that about famous people I like. It's refreshing, as opposed to the ones that you think seem cool, but in real life, they're d-bags.

So here's the interview with Gordon Ramsey, who thinks that Araxi in Whistler is the best restaurant in Canada. (I'm sure I don't agree with that, seeing as they're the same company as Blue Water Cafe & Raw Bar, as well as West - imho, all overhyped, which leads me to want to shout out, "the emperor has no clothes, people!!!") Anyway, I could watch George all day. Couldn't you?

 
 

I've always loved and hated Coldplay. The songs of theirs that I don't like, I really don't like. But the ones I like, I love them and think they're brilliant. Some of them are even so good, I could cry (Amsterdam and the second half of Fix You do it to me every time). But something about them as a band gets on my nerves sometimes. I don't know what it is, but Chris Martin in particular comes off like a d-bag. But then, on the other hand, whenever I see him in interviews, I ease up on him a lot because he seems like a pretty normal guy - funny and charming, in fact.

Even still, if I'm talking about music with someone I don't know that well and they ask me if I like Coldplay, part of me always feels embarrassed to say that I do. Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind someday. For now, they're still the band I love to hate, and hate to love.

Here's an interview from 60 Minutes from the other night. Saw it on Lainey and had to share. Watch it - he doesn't come off like a d-bag at all here. Pretty affable, actually!


 
 

Why do carbs have to make us fat and mess with our blood sugar? *sigh* And when I say carbs, I don't mean that brown rice crap (sorry Sarah & Jenny - hehe). I mean real carbs, the good stuff! Baguettes, potatoes, regular pasta, white rice. I love all of those. If they discovered that carbs cured cancer, I'd be all over that. But unfortunately for me, when I have too many carbs, I feel like garbage. I used to sort of be hypoglycemic, where my blood sugar was all over the place. Not diabetic or anything, but it definitely didn't help.

This past weekend, I totally slid down a carb spiral and binged on pretty much nothing but bread and pasta. That wouldn't be a problem if I were a track runner or something, but clearly I'm not! It was just a crappy moment of weakness, a truly bad decision on my part. And yep, I paid the price for it. It's true what they say - I felt soooo tired and sluggish and yet, my heart was racing. I felt kind of shaky, and it felt like heartburn, but I know it was all from the damn carbs.

Now I have to cut out all carbs for a little while. Not for the sake of all that South Beach diet stuff, but honestly, because my body just can't handle the carbs right now. I ate no carbs the day after and then I felt better. But the day after that, I had a bit of carbs with lunch - just a little. But then that gross burning feeling in my chest came back. So I've got to get off it entirely for a while until my blood sugar normalizes and my body doesn't freak out.

This totally sucks, but when your body's telling you you're a dumbass, you've got to listen, right? Anyway, there's no logical reason why I'm sharing any of this, seeing as no one gives a shit about my blood sugar. But I think I'm still on a bit of a carb freakout, so I'm not thinking too clearly right now. Plus I'm venting. And lamenting. And feeling like crap. But I'm slowly feeling better. Thank you, chromium GTF.

 
 

Coworker comes over to describe a funny scenario that she just encountered in the bathroom at work. While in a stall, someone comes into the next stall beside her. "It sounded like someone was pouring a bucket of water into the toilet." And from that, I responded with "OMG - I know who that is!!!" Yes, that's right. I, too, have encountered this person with the seemingly large bladder. And I, too, used the words "bucket" when describing her before. That's exactly what it sounds like - fill up a bucket with water all the way, and then throw out everything in it - like, toss it hard, with force. That's what it sounds like. Though in my head, I've been calling her "The Fast and Furious Pee Lady".

It can't be good on her bladder to pee that much that quickly. She's honestly done in like 5 seconds. If I'm already in the stall, she'll come in, do her thing, wash her hands and be out of there before I've wiped! It's incredible.

She walks fast like that too. I've seen her walking down the hall. Always in a rush. There was a girl at my old workplace who was like that too - talked fast, walked fast, and yes, she was also a fast and furious bucket-pee-er. And no, these are not large women. They're tiny, so it's even more mind-boggling.

 
 

Here's Radiohead with the USC marching band from the Grammys last night. It's so odd but I love it. He's one of those people who dances like he doesn't care who's watching - and he really doesn't give a shit! lol - It's kind of mesmerizing to watch. hee hee.

Who knows how long this video will be active on youtube before someone forces them to take it down, so watch it now, before it disappears! (Oh, and if you watch it directly from youtube, then make sure to click the "watch in high quality" link - big difference.)

 
 

Why has no one come up with this before? Honey Drops by Honibe. It's brilliant, and I want some! I love honey, but it's the messiest damn thing. It'd be perfect to have a bunch of these in my desk drawer at work for when I want some tea, without getting everything all sticky, trying to squeeze it out of the bottle and everything. I'm not as into the creamed honey, so that's not an option, but I love the idea of a hard chunk of honey like this. Apparently they also have one with lemon too. Can't wait to try.

 
 

I had McDonald's the other day and I felt like crap afterwards. Haven't had the food from the regular menu in a long time. I normally have the breakfast more often than the lunch stuff and I don't have a problem with it, because you can't really screw up an egg, slice of ham, and an english muffin. I skip the hash brown too. But after having the filet o'fish and fries, I really felt like garbage afterwards. It sucks because it tastes so damn good going in! lol. And I really like their tartar sauce, or as some might call it, McChicken Sauce with relish. haha

Oh, and it looks like more people think that McChicken sauce is just mayo with some other flavour in it. Just sayin!! ;)

While I'm talking about McDonald's, I stumbled upon some interesting sites that showed the various Mcdonald's menus from around the world. There's some cool stuff out there! A McArabia, anyone? And there's even quite the variation regionally around North America. Atlantic Canada has lobster rolls, and I didn't realize that they don't have the deli sandwiches in the States.

Also, when I was in New York, I noticed that they don't even have the regular McChicken anymore. They have other variations but it's not the same at all. And their breakfast was different. They had a chicken n' biscuit thing, which quite honestly, looked like a McChicken patty in a buttermilk biscuit. That sounds kind of heavy for the morning! I prefer my breakfast burrito. hehe

It's pretty cool to see other things served in different countries. There are lots of different site out there that list all of the various menu items. Here's a good one. This Maharaja Mac from India has chicken patties because Hindus don't eat beef, and the burger also has smoke-flavored mayo or something like that.

I hate to say it, but if I were on holiday in one of these countries, then yeah, I'd totally go to McDonald's, if only to try these unusual items!





Okay, maybe not the McRice Burger. haha --->>>

And this will be the last posting about McDonald's for a long time, I swear! lol