Yes it's true - and particularly strange:
I love the use of Thriller-esque hands and shoulder shrugs.
PS. I love Nicki Minaj!
31 January 2011
Run Run Run!
While I won't be participating in any of the Bluenose run this year I really enjoy their ad:
Some of the shots remind me of downtown St. John's - lovely!
I will be giving the Fredericton run a go this year, I think I'm going to aim for a killer time in the 10km. After running two half-marathons I think I'm ready for something different. Greg on the other hand is increasing his distance and will be running the full-marathon this year, impressive right?
Some of the shots remind me of downtown St. John's - lovely!
I will be giving the Fredericton run a go this year, I think I'm going to aim for a killer time in the 10km. After running two half-marathons I think I'm ready for something different. Greg on the other hand is increasing his distance and will be running the full-marathon this year, impressive right?
25 January 2011
New Music
First, I just wanted to point out that it's January 25 and a month since Christmas - holy crap! Where did the time go?
Well now that I have that out of the way, I want to share something that You Tube suggested to me. Most of the time I ignore the suggestions as they are often in left field. But today I listened to a performance by Matt Mays on Q - you can check that out here - and a suggested video was one by a duo called First Ait Kit.
Now first I thought it was a band from Halifax, which I thought had the same name, so I was surprised to see a pairs of young ladies singing in the woods.
I kept listening and was pleasantly surprised:
And there are more catchy songs, such as this one!
I'm blown away by this girls as theirsuper reliable source Wikipedia page says that they were teenagers when they released this EP with the above songs on. They are like a Sweedish Tegan and Sara..or something like that.
Here is their myspace page, it has 30 second teasers of some of their tunes.
They even covered a Fleet Foxes song!
Well now that I have that out of the way, I want to share something that You Tube suggested to me. Most of the time I ignore the suggestions as they are often in left field. But today I listened to a performance by Matt Mays on Q - you can check that out here - and a suggested video was one by a duo called First Ait Kit.
Now first I thought it was a band from Halifax, which I thought had the same name, so I was surprised to see a pairs of young ladies singing in the woods.
I kept listening and was pleasantly surprised:
And there are more catchy songs, such as this one!
I'm blown away by this girls as their
Here is their myspace page, it has 30 second teasers of some of their tunes.
They even covered a Fleet Foxes song!
23 January 2011
Musical Confessions
It's another catchy female hook driven rap song - surprise!
This time it's by our old friend Puff Daddy, wait - P. Diddy, nope...umm, Diddy-Dirty Money? Geesh! This guy has changed his stage name more times than Prince but at least we can still say all of them.
It's called Coming Home and after some hard research (thanks Wikipedia!) I learned that the female artist on the track, Skylar Grey, also helped to write it with my good o'l friend Jay-Z - no wonder it's a good song.
I don't really get the video, it's just a lot of walking around some post-apocalyptic land. And I really don't get the grill Mr. Money is sporting on his bottom pearlies.
Maybe I'll understand when I'm a rapper.
This time it's by our old friend Puff Daddy, wait - P. Diddy, nope...umm, Diddy-Dirty Money? Geesh! This guy has changed his stage name more times than Prince but at least we can still say all of them.
It's called Coming Home and after some hard research (thanks Wikipedia!) I learned that the female artist on the track, Skylar Grey, also helped to write it with my good o'l friend Jay-Z - no wonder it's a good song.
I don't really get the video, it's just a lot of walking around some post-apocalyptic land. And I really don't get the grill Mr. Money is sporting on his bottom pearlies.
Maybe I'll understand when I'm a rapper.
National Geographic: Photo of the Day
National Geographic has an amazing stash of amazing photos:
Since the idea is to have a photo of the day you can imagine how many photos they just have. They are submitted by people from around the world and give you a look at different landscapes, different people and different perspectives.
From the very small:
To wide open spaces:
There are also great photos of animals stealing the spotlight:
You can check out their Photo of the Day or Photo Galleries - but I suggest both!
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| Timber wolves - Source |
Since the idea is to have a photo of the day you can imagine how many photos they just have. They are submitted by people from around the world and give you a look at different landscapes, different people and different perspectives.
From the very small:
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| Bee - Source |
To wide open spaces:
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| Cuba - Source |
There are also great photos of animals stealing the spotlight:
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| Best Photo Bomb EVER! - Source |
You can check out their Photo of the Day or Photo Galleries - but I suggest both!
22 January 2011
Smooth Criminal'd
I'm sure we all know Michael Jackson's song Smooth Criminal, but maybe you are like me and are embarrasingly more familiar with the Alien Ant Farm cover of the song.
Well I poached a video someone (thanks Jen!) posted on Facebook of two amazing cellist dueling it out over their cover of the song.
But to make sure you are familiar with the original here it is the video in all of its incredibly theatrical, drawn-out, confusing glory:
And just to be sure here is the Alien Ant Farm version, with a monkey, a confusing crotch-grab/car window explosion, some sort of Billy Jean video tribute and terrible dancing, sigh:
And finally, what made this post exist, the cello-version (AMAZING even despite their acting skills):
Well I poached a video someone (thanks Jen!) posted on Facebook of two amazing cellist dueling it out over their cover of the song.
But to make sure you are familiar with the original here it is the video in all of its incredibly theatrical, drawn-out, confusing glory:
And just to be sure here is the Alien Ant Farm version, with a monkey, a confusing crotch-grab/car window explosion, some sort of Billy Jean video tribute and terrible dancing, sigh:
And finally, what made this post exist, the cello-version (AMAZING even despite their acting skills):
Twitter Love
Yesterday morning on CBC Radio 2's morning program the host (Tom Power, filling in for Bob Mackowycz) posed a question to us listeners: "Are Cadbury Cream Eggs out yet? Let me know on Twitter".
So being the nerd that I am, I was already following CBCR2Morning on Twitter and promptly responded.
To my surprise I received a thank-you in return. So that was an excellent start to my Friday morning.
And here it is:
So being the nerd that I am, I was already following CBCR2Morning on Twitter and promptly responded.
To my surprise I received a thank-you in return. So that was an excellent start to my Friday morning.
And here it is:
PS. You can follow me on Twitter: alihutchings
Post Snow Storm
I survived - hooray, hooray!
It really wasn't much of a challenge after I made it to my apartment, but hooray anyway.
Bright and early this morning I was bundled up and headed out for a step class at the gym. I think the temperature (according to the most reliable of sources, Environment Canada) was -20 with the windchill.
I was impressed with how wide the streets had been plowed but I'm not used to plowed streets still being snow covered. In Halifax, usually after they are plowed and covered with salt the asphalt quickly comes back into view - not the case in Fredericton, or at least not on my street. I'm definitely a fan of using less salt and it seems there's a lot more sand used here - my boots are very happy about this fact.
On the way back from the gym the sidewalks were in a much better state. One of those little bob cat machines must have come along and cleared the path. But it left pretty high banks of snow on either side, you can get a better idea in reference to this street sign:
The view from my kitchen window is pretty much into the windows of the neighbouring building. But on the building's roof there was some pretty neat looking drifts. I used my super zoom lens and tried to capture their awesomeness. I probably looked like a creep taking pictures out of my window at the building, but hopefully I wasn't caught.
It really wasn't much of a challenge after I made it to my apartment, but hooray anyway.
Bright and early this morning I was bundled up and headed out for a step class at the gym. I think the temperature (according to the most reliable of sources, Environment Canada) was -20 with the windchill.
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| The view from my front window - a large pile of snow! |
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| A look down my street - it's so sunny! |
I was impressed with how wide the streets had been plowed but I'm not used to plowed streets still being snow covered. In Halifax, usually after they are plowed and covered with salt the asphalt quickly comes back into view - not the case in Fredericton, or at least not on my street. I'm definitely a fan of using less salt and it seems there's a lot more sand used here - my boots are very happy about this fact.
On the way back from the gym the sidewalks were in a much better state. One of those little bob cat machines must have come along and cleared the path. But it left pretty high banks of snow on either side, you can get a better idea in reference to this street sign:
The view from my kitchen window is pretty much into the windows of the neighbouring building. But on the building's roof there was some pretty neat looking drifts. I used my super zoom lens and tried to capture their awesomeness. I probably looked like a creep taking pictures out of my window at the building, but hopefully I wasn't caught.
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| Wave-esque snow |
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| Strata snow! |
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| Teeny Tiny Icicles |
Analytical Update
It's been two months (to the day!) since I lasted posted an analytical update, so here's another one!
Overall numbers are down, it seems I'm not as interesting as I once was...or maybe people have eased up on their procrastination...or people have subscribed to my RSS feed and are reading through a reader of some type - I'm a fan of readers!
Regardless, here is a little peak of where you are from:
Thanks!
Overall numbers are down, it seems I'm not as interesting as I once was...or maybe people have eased up on their procrastination...or people have subscribed to my RSS feed and are reading through a reader of some type - I'm a fan of readers!
Regardless, here is a little peak of where you are from:
Thanks!
21 January 2011
More Adventures in Saint John
Last weekend I visited Greg in Saint John, here are a few of my finds:
This requires more than just a picture caption. Greg and I went to the market just for a few groceries and we were wonderfully blindsided by this amazing Turkish woman who fed us yummy food (hummus, breads, tabouleh, etc). We were immediately sold on her hummus and pizza dough shaped/consistency bread and bought it - she actually fed us so much that we ate breakfast later than planned. but who cares because it was all SOOOO good!
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| Lots of windows - on King St. |
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| An art gallery around the corner from Greg's. They had people made out of cardboard in their windows! |
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| Zoom in on the sign - very cute |
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| Old building downtown, pardon me...uptown |
This requires more than just a picture caption. Greg and I went to the market just for a few groceries and we were wonderfully blindsided by this amazing Turkish woman who fed us yummy food (hummus, breads, tabouleh, etc). We were immediately sold on her hummus and pizza dough shaped/consistency bread and bought it - she actually fed us so much that we ate breakfast later than planned. but who cares because it was all SOOOO good!
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| The hummus and flat bread we picked up. |
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| 3D Union Jack, on Union St. - pretty clever hey? |
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| The owner of this car might have a hoarding problem |
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| 3D art that no doubt freaks people out when they walk by |
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| 3D art WITH ME! |
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| Art work on King St. I was pretty impressed with these two gay men parked on a motorcycle - well done Saint John! |
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| This piece I'm not too sure about? That 'child' looks like a pretty old lady to me! |
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| Om-Nom-Noms! |
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| Low tide |
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| SJ is the new Hollywood |
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| A view of uptown from the Harbour Passage |
A Snowy, Blowy Day
It seems that the lovely fluffy snow that was falling this morning turned into a full-out snow storm by 3PM. With my love of the radar option on the Environment Canada website (yes Greg, I'm actually posting about the radar option - that's how much I love it!) I snooped on this blowy weather and took a screen shot (yup, I'm a nerd):
While there is quite a bit of snow piling up outside here in Fredericton I'm surprised at how much crap is getting thrown at poor o'l Halifax! I'm kind of glad I moved when I did, I should complain about the weather we get in Fredericton when Halifax gets the same thing and then a bunch of rain on top of it. As much as I miss Halifax that's certainly something I could live without.
Remember awhile ago when I posted about the weather and I pointed out how incredibly Canadian it was? Well, you can insert that thought here as well. But really, it has a big impact on our lives so it's important...right?
After the super awesome Bake Sale earlier today I bundled up and trekked home from campus - it was slippery and hilarious. For most of the walk I couldn't see because my glasses were fogged up, so I took them off to "see" but I have zero depth perception without my glasses so you can imagine just how hilarious I looked staggering along the sidewalk.
I did get home safely (so don't worry mom and dad!) and very, very snowy:
From the comfort of my apartment such a snowy, blowy day looks pretty. I can't wait to be able to take advantage of all of this snow!
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| This was from earlier today, but it still gets the point across, lost of snow! |
While there is quite a bit of snow piling up outside here in Fredericton I'm surprised at how much crap is getting thrown at poor o'l Halifax! I'm kind of glad I moved when I did, I should complain about the weather we get in Fredericton when Halifax gets the same thing and then a bunch of rain on top of it. As much as I miss Halifax that's certainly something I could live without.
Remember awhile ago when I posted about the weather and I pointed out how incredibly Canadian it was? Well, you can insert that thought here as well. But really, it has a big impact on our lives so it's important...right?
After the super awesome Bake Sale earlier today I bundled up and trekked home from campus - it was slippery and hilarious. For most of the walk I couldn't see because my glasses were fogged up, so I took them off to "see" but I have zero depth perception without my glasses so you can imagine just how hilarious I looked staggering along the sidewalk.
I did get home safely (so don't worry mom and dad!) and very, very snowy:
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| At this point I was struggling to see through my glasses I don't really think this photo does it justice! |
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| A view from BMH (where all of my classes are) |
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| Snowy Tree |
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| A look down my street, pretty good visibility - right? |
From the comfort of my apartment such a snowy, blowy day looks pretty. I can't wait to be able to take advantage of all of this snow!
Bake Sale!
Our program decided to hold another bake sale to raise some monies for a good cause.
I like bake sales a lot.
I like how generous both the people who bake the treats and the people who buy the treats are. It's really quite heartwarming that people are willing to take the time to bake for people other than themselves and for a bake sale that they won't benefit directly from.
I like people a lot!
I also like that I get to eat a lot of different types of goodies that I wouldn't normally try - OM NOM NOM!
However, there is a slight downside to bake sales...when you help to run them, as in my case, there is a HUGE chance that you will consume way, way, way too much sugar and give yourself a hangover type headache. Who knew that sugar could do that to a person? I certainly didn't, I wish my brain clued in that I've learned my lesson, sigh.
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| BEd'ers participating in a group meeting AND hanging out at the bake sale AT THE SAME TIME! Amazing multi-taskers! |
I like bake sales a lot.
I like how generous both the people who bake the treats and the people who buy the treats are. It's really quite heartwarming that people are willing to take the time to bake for people other than themselves and for a bake sale that they won't benefit directly from.
I like people a lot!
I also like that I get to eat a lot of different types of goodies that I wouldn't normally try - OM NOM NOM!
However, there is a slight downside to bake sales...when you help to run them, as in my case, there is a HUGE chance that you will consume way, way, way too much sugar and give yourself a hangover type headache. Who knew that sugar could do that to a person? I certainly didn't, I wish my brain clued in that I've learned my lesson, sigh.
Pole Poster of the Day
These posters are not quite on a pole but they are the type of posters that WOULD be on a pole, so they fit into this category.
They are both found on a bulletin board in the building where all of my classes take place. The Julie Doiron poster was also there so it's a pretty stellar line up of posters for a small corner of campus.
Rather than taking separate photos I took one of these two posters since they were so close together. The Olympic Symphonium are playing as part of the Shivering Songs Festival here in Fredericton next weekend. I actually don't know what they sound like (I'll look into it) but they have an excellent poster.
Hey Rosetta's poster isn't super awesome, but Hey Rosetta sure are awesome. So here is there poster. Unlike the last time I tried to see them and even picked up tickets, Greg and I won't double book ourselves by hosting a BBQ on the same night as the show. That was a sad and expensive lesson learned. I'm very happy that the BBQ was such a good time.
In this exciting TRIPLE post of posters, this last one is for an artist who I heard about on Q. I'm not sure if he was a Friday Live Guest or not, but he played some songs and I remember liking them. Also, this poster is pretty darn awesome, I'm not sold on the man in the bottom left corner but he's also featured on Rae Spoon's website. So maybe it goes with a theme?
They are both found on a bulletin board in the building where all of my classes take place. The Julie Doiron poster was also there so it's a pretty stellar line up of posters for a small corner of campus.
Rather than taking separate photos I took one of these two posters since they were so close together. The Olympic Symphonium are playing as part of the Shivering Songs Festival here in Fredericton next weekend. I actually don't know what they sound like (I'll look into it) but they have an excellent poster.
Hey Rosetta's poster isn't super awesome, but Hey Rosetta sure are awesome. So here is there poster. Unlike the last time I tried to see them and even picked up tickets, Greg and I won't double book ourselves by hosting a BBQ on the same night as the show. That was a sad and expensive lesson learned. I'm very happy that the BBQ was such a good time.
In this exciting TRIPLE post of posters, this last one is for an artist who I heard about on Q. I'm not sure if he was a Friday Live Guest or not, but he played some songs and I remember liking them. Also, this poster is pretty darn awesome, I'm not sold on the man in the bottom left corner but he's also featured on Rae Spoon's website. So maybe it goes with a theme?
20 January 2011
New Tunes
From She and Him, it's called Don't Look Back!
Check out their futuristic video with a group dance scene:
She & Him - Don't Look Back from Merge Records on Vimeo.
Zooey Deschanel is such a cute adult!
Check out their futuristic video with a group dance scene:
She & Him - Don't Look Back from Merge Records on Vimeo.
Zooey Deschanel is such a cute adult!
17 January 2011
Plants Are Tough
Well, some plants are. I tried to grow basil last summer and I went away for a weekend only to come back to a few withered leaves.
On a walk to the Fredericton market the weekend before last I spied this plump little berries hanging on for dear life.
Given the extra amount of snow and super cold weather between then and now I wonder if they are still there.
On a walk to the Fredericton market the weekend before last I spied this plump little berries hanging on for dear life.
Given the extra amount of snow and super cold weather between then and now I wonder if they are still there.
Carbo Loading - To The Max!
In an attempt to know all of the ingredients in the food that I eat (and be able to pronounce them) I've started making my own bread AND bagels!
My first bread attempt resulted in a dense loaf that had a particularly gluten free bread taste to it - which is strange because I actually added gluten to it to make up for not having real bread flour (a tip I picked up from a few bread making websites).
I'm still eating this loaf, so it's edible but much too dense for my liking.
The bagels I made on the weekend turned out much better. It turns out bagels are pretty simple to make but just take a bit of time and patience.
I got the recipe from this website, it appealed to me because of its simplicity which I enjoy when making something new.
You start by making the dough and then separating it into 8 pieces to let rest for a little while:
Then you roll the pieces out into snakes, make it into a loop and roll it out. The website I linked has a video!
Then you let them rest again and this is what they look like, not too much difference:
Once they have risen you put them into a bot of boiling water, 1 minute on each side which seemed strange to me - putting dough in boiling water but here we go:
This is what boiled bagel dough looks like!
After a quick trip in the oven this is what the bagels looked like - not burnt, hooray!!
And another look, why not:
After all of that work (which really just too more time than effort) Greg made some yummy breakfast sandwiches from my bagels:
It think knowing what is in my food definitely makes it taste better. This was one yummy meal!
I made the bagels on Saturday and apparently I didn't meet my bread quota for the weekend because on Sunday I busted out the yeast and flour and was at it again. This time with a different recipe, from Jamie Oliver's website.
Pre-risen bread, apparently cutting it down the middle helps with the rising:
Where I kept the bread on on and off to help it rise. This is one toasty warm heater:
A sneak peak at the rising bread:
The finished product, this bread was lighter but still really hearty. It could be lighter still, it's not that fluffy bread I'm hoping for. I'm going to keep at it!
My first bread attempt resulted in a dense loaf that had a particularly gluten free bread taste to it - which is strange because I actually added gluten to it to make up for not having real bread flour (a tip I picked up from a few bread making websites).
I'm still eating this loaf, so it's edible but much too dense for my liking.
The bagels I made on the weekend turned out much better. It turns out bagels are pretty simple to make but just take a bit of time and patience.
I got the recipe from this website, it appealed to me because of its simplicity which I enjoy when making something new.
You start by making the dough and then separating it into 8 pieces to let rest for a little while:
Then you roll the pieces out into snakes, make it into a loop and roll it out. The website I linked has a video!
Then you let them rest again and this is what they look like, not too much difference:
Once they have risen you put them into a bot of boiling water, 1 minute on each side which seemed strange to me - putting dough in boiling water but here we go:
This is what boiled bagel dough looks like!
After a quick trip in the oven this is what the bagels looked like - not burnt, hooray!!
And another look, why not:
After all of that work (which really just too more time than effort) Greg made some yummy breakfast sandwiches from my bagels:
It think knowing what is in my food definitely makes it taste better. This was one yummy meal!
I made the bagels on Saturday and apparently I didn't meet my bread quota for the weekend because on Sunday I busted out the yeast and flour and was at it again. This time with a different recipe, from Jamie Oliver's website.
Pre-risen bread, apparently cutting it down the middle helps with the rising:
Where I kept the bread on on and off to help it rise. This is one toasty warm heater:
A sneak peak at the rising bread:
The finished product, this bread was lighter but still really hearty. It could be lighter still, it's not that fluffy bread I'm hoping for. I'm going to keep at it!
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