1. The show that Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers put on at the Marquee last Wednesday. Wow. It was awesome; especially loved the scream-along audience participation segment, very cathartic. The Marquee is looking pretty awesome too, with the Seahorse Tavern having relocated into its basement.
2. Nova Scotian Crystal. Established in 1996, this is North America’s only hand-cut, mouth-blown crystal maker, making some of the finest crystal available in the world! Now here's a feel-good story of a business that got saved from closure by a private investor coming forth to buy it such that it could continue to run without government money or similar assistance. From what I heard the business was bought by someone retired from the banking industry. Three cheers for people that have realized they can take responsibility to use their wealth to help their own community, rather than shoveling it into foreign investments or what have you. Better yet that in this case it is promoting a beautiful craft, and a landmark on the Halifax waterfront, hopefully for many years to come. Apparently the raw materials for crystal are only made in 2 places in the world. Cool.
3. The Turbine Fashion boutique in the Historic Properties. Speaking of local investing, Turbine is owned by Canadian designer Lisa Drader-Murphy and mainly features her designs as well as some really wonderful hats made by her manager/hat making expert who formerly had a very popular successful hat shop on Granville Island in Vancouver before coming home to Halifax. The shop is unique in that all the clothes in Lisa's lines are made locally by a small staff, and with that in mind the prices seem quite reasonable. Plus I believe they have another shop at the Sunnyside Mall in Bedford. Between Turbine and Nova Scotia Crystal I got to thinking that Halifax, as desolate as it seemed on a January weekday, could be on the cutting edge of a move towards a locally-based economy which would be so resilient to, and maybe even buoyed by all the global craziness going on with respect to things like oil prices and interest rates. A cheerful thought anyhow, reminding me of this video. I've posted it before but I'm not sure if it's been a favourite thing yet:
4. Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein.
5. Still digging that Infinite Waters guy and watched a tonne more videos. Here's a favourite, How to Stop and Spot Mental and Emotional Manipulators. Wish I'd seen this years ago, but better late than never! This is a favourite too: Seven Signs of a Spiritual Awakening. I like the bit about being all about "promoting what we love instead of attacking what we hate" much more conducive to stress-free living.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Thursday, January 22, 2015
This Week's Favourite Things! January 12th - January 18th 2015
1. Still the movie Case 39, here's a brief documentary I found on youtube about the making of it which explains why it's so great.
My very most favourite part of the movie seems to be around minute 59 (spoiler alert). I was able to find these quotes on subzin.com
Emily: "What is she?"
Lilith's 'father': "I can tell you what she's not, she's not a daughter of mine. She's not a 10-year-old having trouble in school. And she's not some innocent victim whose door you busted down and life you saved. She's not going anywhere soon, lady. Not till she's good and done with you.
Emily: "Done with me how?"
Lilith's 'father': "However she wants. You think it's an accident her ending up with you? She saw you coming a mile away. Kindness. Decency. That's what she feeds on. Bleeds you dry, moves on to the next."
Oh my that is some excellent script writing!
2. Bird feeders! I cat sat for a friend who has so many feeders her yard looks like a scene from a Disney movie. So, monkey see monkey do, now I have a couple too. I learned that the cheap birdseed with corn isn't as delicious to native birds as black oiled sunflower seeds. So far we've seen a bunch of chickadees, a blue jay, and a couple of woodpeckers. Plus some starlings we shooed away so they don't get used to hanging around our fruit bushes and cherry trees.
3. This super awesome Gregg Braden talk on youtube, "How To Control The Matrix". It's over 3 hours long but addresses links between spirituality and science in an excellent way, including an interesting discussion of bits that got removed or condensed from the bible in the 3rd century.
4. This entire youtube channel by Ralph Smart called "Infinite Waters - diving deep". Youtube suggested I'd like the video on how to decalcify your pineal gland (aka third eye) and I got so hooked on this guy's cheerfulness I ended up listening to dozens of his videos while sculpting - progress pics will be coming at some point. I thought wouldn't it be cool if he and Teal Swan did a video together and it turns out he did interview her in 2013, and the discussion they had is super interesting; here is the video of the interview on youtube.
5. This recipe for Crack. ... the no-bake relatively healthy coconut dessert kind - I used honey for the sweetener and threw in some cinnamon and cardamom, it was delicious.
My very most favourite part of the movie seems to be around minute 59 (spoiler alert). I was able to find these quotes on subzin.com
Emily: "What is she?"
Lilith's 'father': "I can tell you what she's not, she's not a daughter of mine. She's not a 10-year-old having trouble in school. And she's not some innocent victim whose door you busted down and life you saved. She's not going anywhere soon, lady. Not till she's good and done with you.
Emily: "Done with me how?"
Lilith's 'father': "However she wants. You think it's an accident her ending up with you? She saw you coming a mile away. Kindness. Decency. That's what she feeds on. Bleeds you dry, moves on to the next."
Oh my that is some excellent script writing!
2. Bird feeders! I cat sat for a friend who has so many feeders her yard looks like a scene from a Disney movie. So, monkey see monkey do, now I have a couple too. I learned that the cheap birdseed with corn isn't as delicious to native birds as black oiled sunflower seeds. So far we've seen a bunch of chickadees, a blue jay, and a couple of woodpeckers. Plus some starlings we shooed away so they don't get used to hanging around our fruit bushes and cherry trees.
3. This super awesome Gregg Braden talk on youtube, "How To Control The Matrix". It's over 3 hours long but addresses links between spirituality and science in an excellent way, including an interesting discussion of bits that got removed or condensed from the bible in the 3rd century.
4. This entire youtube channel by Ralph Smart called "Infinite Waters - diving deep". Youtube suggested I'd like the video on how to decalcify your pineal gland (aka third eye) and I got so hooked on this guy's cheerfulness I ended up listening to dozens of his videos while sculpting - progress pics will be coming at some point. I thought wouldn't it be cool if he and Teal Swan did a video together and it turns out he did interview her in 2013, and the discussion they had is super interesting; here is the video of the interview on youtube.
5. This recipe for Crack. ... the no-bake relatively healthy coconut dessert kind - I used honey for the sweetener and threw in some cinnamon and cardamom, it was delicious.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
This Week's Favourite Things! January 5th - January 11th 2015
1. The movie Case 39. This topped the list last week but I've since rewatched it, and yes, I find it makes a fine metaphor for not just my experience of 2014 but probably for all of 2010 - 2014 so it is now one of my all time favourite movies. Thank you, makers of Case 39, for helping me make sense of my life. It's set in Vancouver which is cool. Just to be clear I relate to the character played by Renee Zellweger. I think Case 39 is underrated and possibly full of great life lessons if it is true that demons lose their power in the absence of fear from their victims... bringing me to
2. All sorts of songs, lyrics and videos on the AWOLNATION youtube channel. What a lot of great lyrics, like the line "never let your fear decide your fate" from Kill your Heroes, "If you're feeling like I feel then run your life like it's a dance floor" from Burn it Down, and all of Jump On My Shoulders. Plus there are lots more I like, what an awesome band!
3. This TED talk about the Prison of Your Mind by Sean Stephenson which I liked so much I ended up watching his video on How To Create Powerful Connections With Anyone which I really liked as well.
4. Pranayama. Yogic breathing! I'd forgotten I used to do it after learning about it on a trip to India in 2001. It's nice so I've been watching various videos on youtube about the different techniques.
Here's an example for Kapalabhati Pranayama, and here's another video that goes over a few different breaths with a focus on Pranayama for weight loss.
5. Sprouting! I was researching what sort of sprouter to get when I found this video link from the Mumm's Sprouting Seeds Website pointing out that glass jars with screens work just as well. They do. I found a pack of paint strainers that we got a hardware store that are a perfect mesh for cutting up to put over jars.
2. All sorts of songs, lyrics and videos on the AWOLNATION youtube channel. What a lot of great lyrics, like the line "never let your fear decide your fate" from Kill your Heroes, "If you're feeling like I feel then run your life like it's a dance floor" from Burn it Down, and all of Jump On My Shoulders. Plus there are lots more I like, what an awesome band!
3. This TED talk about the Prison of Your Mind by Sean Stephenson which I liked so much I ended up watching his video on How To Create Powerful Connections With Anyone which I really liked as well.
4. Pranayama. Yogic breathing! I'd forgotten I used to do it after learning about it on a trip to India in 2001. It's nice so I've been watching various videos on youtube about the different techniques.
Here's an example for Kapalabhati Pranayama, and here's another video that goes over a few different breaths with a focus on Pranayama for weight loss.
5. Sprouting! I was researching what sort of sprouter to get when I found this video link from the Mumm's Sprouting Seeds Website pointing out that glass jars with screens work just as well. They do. I found a pack of paint strainers that we got a hardware store that are a perfect mesh for cutting up to put over jars.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
This Week's Favourite Things! December 29th, 2014 - January 4th 2015
1. 2015!! Hello, 2015! 2014 was a rather challenging year though full of good learning experiences. To sum up what I learned in 2014 the movie "Case 39" keeps popping up in my mind as a reminder that situations aren't always how they may first appear. Anyhow, onwards and upwards!
2. Jenny Jib! In thinking of "2014 in review" this shop in Lunenburg takes top prize for things I'm grateful for, it's super awesome, I'm super grateful for the relatively low consignment rate, the fact that it's close by, how low key the owner is about how awesome this shop is, and I can't wait to make lots of Jenny-Jib-specific items in 2015. In fact Lunenburg County in general is a favourite thing especially the signs about it being the Balsam Fir Christmas Tree Capital of the world. It's inspiring living near so many Christmas tree farms. As a random aside here's an interesting article about where a lot of ornaments come from in China.
3. Dried beans! Aha, so if you soak dried beans first for a day or two before cooking they actually don't take all that long to cook and have way more taste, fiber and protein than canned, plus fewer chemicals. Plus they're cheap! I had a bad experience trying to cook chick peas once without soaking them first years ago but just gave it another shot with black beans and ended with awesome soup.
4. The Supercharged Hormone Diet by Dr. Natasha Turner. I read her first book (The Hormone Diet) years ago and this one is a really good reminder of lots of stuff, my big resolution for 2015 is to turn into one of these people that goes to sleep early and wakes up really early instead of staying up really late all the time.
2. Jenny Jib! In thinking of "2014 in review" this shop in Lunenburg takes top prize for things I'm grateful for, it's super awesome, I'm super grateful for the relatively low consignment rate, the fact that it's close by, how low key the owner is about how awesome this shop is, and I can't wait to make lots of Jenny-Jib-specific items in 2015. In fact Lunenburg County in general is a favourite thing especially the signs about it being the Balsam Fir Christmas Tree Capital of the world. It's inspiring living near so many Christmas tree farms. As a random aside here's an interesting article about where a lot of ornaments come from in China.
3. Dried beans! Aha, so if you soak dried beans first for a day or two before cooking they actually don't take all that long to cook and have way more taste, fiber and protein than canned, plus fewer chemicals. Plus they're cheap! I had a bad experience trying to cook chick peas once without soaking them first years ago but just gave it another shot with black beans and ended with awesome soup.
4. The Supercharged Hormone Diet by Dr. Natasha Turner. I read her first book (The Hormone Diet) years ago and this one is a really good reminder of lots of stuff, my big resolution for 2015 is to turn into one of these people that goes to sleep early and wakes up really early instead of staying up really late all the time.
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