neilandia – Page 144 – EatingLifeUp

August 6, 2008August 7, 2008

It’s F’ Fest time

I am writing this post as a tribute to my friends that are about to enjoy a 4 day festival of music in the Edmonton river valley known as Folk Fest. They all know that I am happy for them that it is Folk Fest time but at the same know that I DO NOT enjoy this festival LOL.

Sure the music isn’t really my kind of music. I tend toward dance, disco, techno, anything fast basically including some fast country. I make exceptions in my musical tastes every so often. For example if the mood is right, the song just wails (which in my books is like fast), or we are talking blues (even then I prefer the fast stuff).

You may think then what is the big deal? Live and let live right? This however is not my only reason for despising this festival. IT IS IN MY BACKYARD! Yes for the past 8 years I have lived right next to the Edmonton Folk Festival. This means that I have to deal with zero parking in my neighbourhood and the invasion of hippyesque, lawn chair toting, j-walking, pot smelling, music worshiping F’ festers.

Plus I live just far enough away that I can’t make out songs or artists. All I hear is thump, thump, thump, thump of bass (if there is any) followed every so often by WHhhhoooooooooHoooooooooo!!!!!!!

I have mellowed these past few years, I used to avoid coming home till it was over, stay at friend’s houses, or take transit everywhere so I didn’t have to move my car. I have now accepted that during these four days I might have to park a few blocks away from my home, or listen to my own music or TV a little bit louder.

Ahhhhh I feel better already just typing some of that out. LOL So Bev, Ruth, and anyone else I know that is going or working the festival I hope you have a great time! It looks like you are going to get good weather for it this year. I can’t wait to see your excitement next week and hear your stories.

I leave you all with one last thought…

Neil’s Travel Tip #2:

When visiting high traffic areas such as Airports, Train Stations, Subway/Tube stops, or sporting/concert venues you may be presented with signs or worse verbal announcements that you are in a high pick pocket zone. In the case of announcements believe it or not when they go off to warn people what is the first thing people do? Touch themselves! No not in that way, but they pat their pocket where their wallet is, touch their waist where their passport or money belt is, or feel up their cargo pocket for their camera. At this precise moment all professional pick pockets survey the crowd for the person that can’t keep their hands of themselves and they have instantly been told where to look when they rob you. Soooo next time you hear that announcement or read that sign do yourself a favor and don’t touch yourself!

August 6, 2008

J-E-S-S-I-E! Yayyyy Jessie!

LOL great episode tonight! We got to witness the Big Brother War that I talked about in my last Big Brother post. Hilarious how the war had a brief ceasefire for birthday cake and then right back to it. We got to see how Jessie is totally getting back in the game and gaining new allies. We also got to see the biggest surprise of the night in my books! Jessie was chosen by America as the house guest that Dan had to hug for 10 seconds! PRICELESS!

Watching Dan act so well, watching Jessie jump into action to console him. Dan didn’t even have to go in for the first hug, Jessie was hugging him before Dan even tried. Then did you see how caring he was for Michelle? She was so not in a good space and for a guy that is “all into himself” he did a pretty good job of being there for someone else. See everyone! Jessie isn’t just all muscles. (Though according to him “I guess I don’t play mini golf, maybe because my back is too large” and he is “just playing for the little people”) LOL

I am sure he still has enough hugs for you too Nick & Leslie

Now time for my first Blog Poll! I hear from many of you that you aren’t a fan of Jessie’s face. I thought I would run a face only poll against some other male personalities. Let’s see how he stacks up.

Jessie Godderz, George Clooney, Brad Womack, Brad Pitt

[poll id=”2″]

August 5, 2008August 6, 2008

All about Sex (and the City too)

So this post is going to count as both a post and my Sex and the City status update. As I watched Season 2 the question of anonymity came up. Ever since I started this website I have been wondering how to control (and to what extent) aspects of anonymity on my blog. So far with minor tweaks those issues have been working themselves out. Watching Sex and the City has brought more questions to the horizon though.

Most of you know that if something embarrassing happens to me I am usually the first person you hear about it from. I am pretty open and if it made me laugh I usually like to pass on the favor :-). So no problem sharing stories about my life. When other people are involved in those stories well that muddies the situation. I usually share more than I probably should and though I would love to be an open book, I have to think about security. Having family, friends, co-workers, fellow Canadians and now 12 other countries (welcome Switzerland and the reader from Hawaii!) reading this blog it can make security a challenge.

I look at how free Carrie is when she is writing her column. That column contains pretty personal, private, and very embarrassing details of many people’s lives. When the screen pans to a shot of Carrie’s computer we all see what she is writing.

However when that screen goes to print the rest of New York and the world is going to see it too. Before you get all jumpy, yes I know that this example is fiction, but I think the situation makes a good example.

In Season 1 Carrie writes about her friend’s husband flashing her in the Hamptons, friends having threesomes, a public figure and his bad breath the list goes on. Season 2 she writes about how Samantha is upset with the size of her boyfriend’s manhood. So I ask you how does Carrie get away with writing such personal details without exposing people? Has she ever been confronted because of something she wrote? I seem to recall she has but I haven’t gotten to that episode yet.

So bringing this all home what does this mean for my blog? Using fake names isn’t enough but could help in some situations. I could get utterly vague but that makes for a confusing story and often looses the original impact. Maybe I have to write down things I want to talk about and when enough time has passed I can bring them out of hiding. Leave me your thoughts, if you are as stumped as I am… well we will figure it out together as I post away and learn.

So…. Here goes with the first attempt at such a story.

Break-up rules. Are there such blanket statements or is each break-up so different that you would be foolish to apply rules? I had always heard that for each year of a relationship you require 1 month to recover before you can move on. On Sex and the City Charlotte states that you need half of the time you were together before you can get over someone. So if you dated for 1 year you would need 6 months to deal with the emotions of ending it. I posed this question to some co-workers today and one told me “For guys it takes about two days”. I very much don’t agree with that. Another girl said “Depends on what’s lined up on the other side”. That I can understand better because it lines up more with fate. However even if someone was on the other side… Are you ready or do your heart, emotions, and head need time?

August 4, 2008

Big Brother War? Travel Tip & Sex and the City

So I just finished watching the taped Sunday night show of Big Brother. I was out late last night with a bunch of friends watching the long weekend Sunday Drag show (which was absolutely awesome as usual, great job Bianca!)

First of all I have to announce that I am really starting to like Dan on Big Brother. It wasn’t until his pep talks that he gave to people on the Earthquake wall in the HOH competition. They were amazing and one of the nicest things I have seen in any of the seasons I have watched.

Second, even though Jessie is back up on the block for the 3rd week in 4 weeks it still looks very hopeful for him to pull through. April didn’t want him as the main target but also talk on the internet indicates that other forces should keep him safe.

Lastly I can’t wait until Tuesday’s show, according to sources on the net we are in for BIG BROTHER WAR. Looks like the house and alliances are coming apart at the seams. Should make for an interesting episode but you can bet that we will have to listen to Libra getting ALL UP in people’s faces.

Here are two new features I am going to try out at the bottom of each post off and on for a bit. Let me know what you think of them.

Sex and the City Status:

I am currently on Season 1 Episode 7. Surprised at how much of these first few episodes I remembered either watching in Syndication or when they first came out. I forgot how Mr. Big came into Carrie’s life though and that was awesome to see. I am loving how this show makes you look at your own life, draw similarities, and self reflect. Is that how you always feel when watching this series?

Neil’s Travel Tip:

Something I learned on my recent trip to Mexico was a way to keep your snorkel mask from fogging up. I know that you can buy snorkel mask anti-fog gel but that requires purchasing it (not very expensive), traveling with a “gel”, and bringing it with you. Your very own spit however does the same job. Just spit inside your mask, rub it around with your finger on the inner surface of your mask, jump in the water and away you go. If you start to fog up again later while swimming, simply repeat. Spit, rub, swim! I know, I know, at first I was hesitant but when I was out on the 2nd largest coral reef in the world and an entire boat of professional Mexican divers and tourists started horking loogies into their masks I joined in and I was sooo glad I did! One of the best snorkel adventures I have had primarily because of how well I could see!

August 3, 2008August 5, 2008

Heritage Days

Today I attended the 33rd annual showcase of Canada’s vibrant multicultural heritage. (Also known as Heritage Days) They have 60 pavilions representing over 75 cultures from all over the world. It is probably my favorite festival in Edmonton because it is so diverse. Also the food is amazing!

I went with my 15 month old nephew, my brother and my sister-in-law. It was awesome to experience this festival with my nephew. He was exposed to new food (he is not a fan of Spanakopita even though I am), new music (he likes fast Spanish music like I do), and new skin tones (even though Canada is so very multi-cultural if you have only been on the Earth for 15 months you are bound to see some new races with people representing 75 cultures in attendance).

My brother is an early riser so we got there super early before many of the places had even started serving food or dancing. I spoke a little bit of Greek managed to get a Spanakopita cooked especially for me before they opened. 🙂 Getting there early worked well for us because we bought food tickets with zero line up, walked around in the cool of the morning, eventually got all the food we wanted to try and were ready to go by about 1 when the crowds really started to pick up and the sun was starting to cook.

I managed to snap a few pictures of the festival to share with you . Enjoy!

Capoeira Martial Arts from Brazil (My favorite picture of the day)

Cuban Dance Class (Brought me right back to Cuba)