California Dreaming: Special Birthday Edition

I've been posting a series of pictures from a road trip my dad took to California back in the late 1960s and since today is his birthday, I'd like to take this opportunity to tell him how he's still as cool at 65 as he was in 1965, or whenever this photo was taken. Either way, he's always been one of the good ones. Happy Birthday Dad! 

Funny You Should Ask

I know it's been out forever now, but I just saw Funny People (the unrated version) and I thought it was a terrific movie. First of all, Adam Sandler is amazing, playing a dark and downright unlikable character that pretty much takes the piss out of his own career, while celebrating said career at the same time. Seth Rogen is my new boyfriend—I'm all about the smart, self-deprecating dorky dudes who are exuberantly idealistic at heart. Sigh. And all the satellite characters were allowed to be quirky without becoming ridiculous caricatures. One of the best scenes is when Adam Sandler the big comedy star, comes to have Thanksgiving dinner in the apartment with all the young comedians who are still trying to get their big break, and makes a toast about them one day looking back and remembering this as the best it's ever been. It really reminded me of Thanksgiving dinners in Whistler, all of us scrunched shoulder to shoulder around a bunch of little tables lined up in a row on a mishmash of chairs, stools and rubbermaid containers‚ that feeling of being young and more than a little crazy, and that everyone else in the room understands. There's nothing quite like raising your glass in a room of people that all understand. Cheers.

California Dreaming Part 2

A series of shots from a California road trip my dad took in the late 1960s.

Free the arms, free the mind

I just walked into Shisomiso Boutique wearing winter grey and walked out in the summer sundress—a flirty little Kersh piece in cowgirl plaid with a flowy skirt and spaghetti straps. It fits like an absolute dream, and, as if things couldn't get any better, out of the two dresses I tried on, it was the cheaper one. Need I mention that the sun is shining today and it's finally warm enough to wear a sundress? Life is good.

Ruining it for All the Cool Sarahs Out There

The Globe and Mail has a story on their site about a speech Sarah Palin gave in Hamilton. "This is such a melting pot. I love this diversity," she's quoted as saying, regarding the host country.

Obviously no one told her that Canadians have adopted the term "cultural mosaic" to celebrate their diversity, as opposed to the Melting Pot model, which promotes assimilation. I remember learning the difference between Melting Pot and Cultural Mosaic in early grade school—I think there was actually a cute little jingle about it similar to the one the teacher sang when it was time for recess, or lunch to help us remember. Basically, we're talking about standard social studies for seven-year-olds in Canada being lost on someone who came very close to being the Vice President of the U.S.A. Why are people paying good money to hear what this nimrod has to say? Couldn't that money be better spent on any number of better things? 

Can't someone send this woman back to the Alaksan bingo hall where she belongs? 

California Dreaming

A series of shots from a California road trip my dad took in the late 1960s.

I'm Getting Older Too

When I was 19 years old my family moved into a warm and inviting Tudor-style split level on a quiet street. The house backed on to a park path leading to a man-made lake where you could skate in the winter. The yard was full of mature trees and the cozy sunken family room led out to an expansive cedar deck where we used to barbecue on warm days. There was a finished basement that was soon commandeered by my younger brother as a jam space and, after acquiring his first four-track recorder, a makeshift studio for some of his first recorded music. He would go on to play in several successful bands and just returned from playing SXSW with his current project The Whitsundays (their second album will be out in May. Look for it at fine record stores and online outlets near you).
Bro wasn't just a music guy though—he played hockey and soccer mostly. One of his old friends from the teams he played on throughout his childhood recently got in touch to tell us that he and his young family just bought our old Tudor-style house. I really couldn't be happier for them. It's such an amazing place to raise kids and I love the idea of the next generation coming of age in that house, that yard, that basement. And it really couldn't happen to a better guy. Congratulations, and may you have as many good times there as we all did.

Runaways Rock

I went awol for a couple hours this afternoon to see The Runaways. Love going to see movies in the afternoon by myself. If you don't tell anyone what you're doing, for a couple hours it's like you've completely disappeared, which is rare in this hyper-connected day and age.
As for the movie, can I just say: Well-played Floria Sigismondi. Well played Dakota Fanning. And well-played Kristin Stewart—all the Twilight backlash had me believing that Bella would be the weak link in this film, but I was stoked with her performance as Joan Jett. Maybe it's just because I'm stoked with Joan Jett in general, making who played her irrelevant. No, that's not necessarily true. How do I know? Two words: Miley and Cyrus.
In any case, The Runaways is the best movie I've seen in a long long time, and perhaps the best girl movie I've ever seen. I've been watching a lot of girl-movie drivel lately. Just kind of went through a really lame-o period of bad choices at the video store: The Private Lives of Pippa Lee was no better than a Lifetime Movie of the Week; Julie and Julia was self-indulgent and superficial (Julie Powell's part, anyways, Meryl Streep was fabulous as Julia Child. Although I'm getting more than a little concerned about Norah Ephron's judgement). Whip It had about as much substance as a box of Smarties and the Lash Blast product placement left a bitter taste in my mouth. My saving grace during this run was An Education, which was decent, but not as crazy good as pretty much every reviewer would have you believe.
The previews leading up to the Runaways didn't offer much hope for the near future. There's going to be a knock off of True Lies starring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher. The trailer for a sweet-looking flick starring Amanda Seyfried trying to reunite elderly long-lost lovers gave away the entire plot (spoiler alert - the lovers do, in fact, reunite). That seemed kind of patronizing, non? Are rom-com-goers really so fragile that they have to be assured that they're not going to end up seeing something where the ending isn't conventionally happy?
After all that, it was doubly nice to see a movie that didn't pull any punches. The Runaways dug down deep and showed the dirty side of rock n roll through hazy, heavy-lidded, black-rimmed eyes. This movie is gritty as hell and exactly what a rock-bio junkie like myself was craving. The sex is mostly implied, the drugs are about as overt as I've seen in any movie, but the rock and roll is what got me in the end. Even amid all the exploitation and infighting and down-and-out nights at roach motels, I still felt that joy that comes from knowing that you're a girl and you kick a ton of ass. So again, good show girls. If only I didn't have a nagging feeling that I won't see another movie like that again...