in case you're sad...

...it's impossible to be sad while admiring this photo of a baby porcupine.


*photo courtesy of the amazing Sharon Montrose*

bathtub envy

Check out this bathtub set-up!! I love LOVE the way they've incorporated the bathtub fixtures into the bottom shelf of the mirror system. A perfect little shelf to place your wine, your book and even a wee little bowl of snacks if, like me, you like to watch movies from your bathtub.

new york by memory

This is insane. Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire sketched the entire New York City skyline FROM MEMORY after taking one 20 minute helicopter ride to take it all in. Every single building in that drawing is not only correct but also completely to scale!! Apparently he's got drawings of Madrid, London, Rome and a pile of others.

Man, I could barely tell you the layout of the New York apartment we rented....







Thanks to Joanna for this great story.

Hot Bunny Radio Playlist for November 12th

CKLU 96.7 FM

6-8pm

* denotes Canadian talent

italics denotes a new release

CLICK HERE FOR PODCASTY GOODNESS OF TONIGHT'S SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!

• The Beau Brummels -- Laugh Laugh -- It Seems So Funny To Me B-day Comp
• Johnny Thunders -- The Wizard -- So Alone
• Arctic Monkeys -- Red Right Hand -- Crying Lightning
• Pixies -- Down to the Wall -- Bossanova
• Phantom Planet -- Jabberjaw -- Phantom Planet
• Magneta Lane -- House of Mirrors -- Gambling With God *
• Julie Doiron -- Swan Pond -- Woke Myself Up *
• Whiskeytown -- Mirror, Mirror -- Pneumonia
• Big Star -- You Get What You Deserve -- #1 Record/Radio City Remastered
• Ohbijou -- Black Ice -- Beacons *
• The Replacements -- Like A Rolling Pin -- Nothing For All
• Frank Black & the Catholics -- I'll Be Blue -- Dog in the Sand
• Rosie Flores & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts -- Halfway Home -- Girl of the Century
• Shout Out Out Out Out -- Chicken Soup for the Fuck You -- Not Saying/ Just Saying *
• The Black Keys -- I Got Mine -- Attack and Release
• Cub -- Your Bed -- Come Out, Come Out *
• The Clash -- Garageland -- The Clash
• The Raccoon Wedding -- Adelaide -- Gather Gather Bones, Rattle Rattle Truth
• Lou Reed -- Endless Cycle -- New York
• The Wooden Sky -- River Song One -- If I Don't Come Home You'll Know I'm Gone *
• Blur -- Charmless Man -- The Great Escape
• Ron Sexsmith -- Disappearing Act -- Cobblestone Runway
• Sarah Harmer -- Weakened State -- You Were Here *
• Elliot Smith -- Sweet Adeline -- XO
• Devendra Banhart -- Goin Back -- What Will We Be
• Thurston Moore -- Frozen GTR -- Trees Outside the Academy
• Death Cab for Cutie -- Meet Me on the Equinoxe -- New Moon OSR

MUSICAL NOTES THIS WEEK:

• Hmmm....unsure what direction to go this week;
• When in doubt, Laugh Laugh with the Beau Brummels!!
• When I put out my record I would like the PIne Valley Cosmonauts to be my band please. Tara & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts.
• Cub makes me so happy and yet sad that there will never be another...
• River Song One -- one more brilliant thing off of this record. Wooden Sky should bless babies they're so good.....
• I love Brit Pop.
• Nope, still bored by Ron Sexsmith.....thought I'd test it but the boredom still seems to be hangin' around;

post secret

Here are some of my favourite Post Secrets today:

I felt this way about the dogs of ex'es. You miss their dog more than you miss them.

This one cracks me up because it could have been sent in by me.

welcome home

In honour of Remberance Day, here are some weep-worthy videos of soldiers returning home to the dogs they left behind. A sure way to a dog lovers heart. Mental Floss has the original post with a bunch of these canine reunion videos. You can be sure I watched every single one of them.



And just cuz it's ultra sweet, a video of soldiers surprising their kids at school. Beyond weep-worthy...


Thanks to Jane for the heads up to this great post

wooden sky

And a couple great clips of my new favourite band this last month or so. Their new record is, as Roberta Flack would say, killing me softly. It's just the saddest/bestest....

my body's a zombie for you

Here's a great clip of my favourite song at the moment. And I suppose, also some Ryan Gosling eye candy...

weekend round-up

A whole weekend of glorious warm summer-like weather you say?? Well what's a gal to do???? Go outside of course!!!!! We soaked up every moment of sunshiney warmness as we could handle. Saturday we headed out for what turned out to be a 7km hike at the conservation area with pal Drew and wee Dakota (one of Sadie's many dog BFF's). Needless to say the dogs ran like maniacs and we hiked our legs off. Got home for a quick freshening up and headed over to help our other pal Richard get set up into his fantastic new house -- that is not only fantastic BUT a mere block from our house! I see many late night stumble homes in our future to be sure. After he stuffed us full of pizza I rolled myself home and fell into the bathtub. The plan was to go out later but obviously you can imagine how that night ended for me. I hear from Marc though that the night out was fun.

Sunday out again for more warm weather soaking in only this time we opted for chores instead of lovely bush time. Raking leaves -- normally my second least favourite yard chore to do (second only to shoveling snow -- whose idea was it to live at the "T" mark of two streets???), was actually not that bad. Warm weather really does fix everything.

Post yard work we headed down to the Laughing Buddha for their first forray into a weekly Sunday Gospel Bluegrass brunch. Marco being the resident banjo guy is, of course, in on the action and it was a great way to spend a Sunday. Doubtful if he'll head down there every single Sunday but it's nice to know that it's there should you fancy a nice ease into your day. Lots of foot stompin' and "Hallelujah -ing" to be sure.....

And nothing else is really worth mentioning -- only things involving absurdly warm temperatures and being outside.

Hallelujah!!!!!

Hot Bunny Radio Playlist for November 5th

CKLU 96.7FM

6-8pm

* denotes Canadian talent

italics denotes a new release

CLICK HERE FOR PODCASTY GOODNESS OF TONIGHT'S SHOW!!!!!!

• Dead Man's Bones -- Paper Ships -- Dead Man's Bones
• Raccoon Wedding -- Basement or the Attic -- Gather Gather Bones Rattle Rattle Truth
• M Ward -- One Hundred Million Years -- Hold Time
• Jenny Lewis -- Acid Tongue -- Acid Tongue
• Tegan & Sara -- Arrow -- Sainthood *
• The Be Good Tanyas -- In Spite of all the Damage -- Chinatown *
• Barbara Pittman -- I Need a Man -- Quivers Down the Backbone Birthday comp.
• The Hidden Cameras -- He Falls To Me -- Origin:Orphan *
• The Beach Boys -- Hang On To Your Ego -- Pet Sounds
• Flight of the Conchords -- Too Many Dicks (on the Dance Floor) -- I Told You I Was Freaky
• Beck -- Lost Cause -- Sea Change
• Belle & Sebastian -- The Model -- Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant
• Belly -- Judas My Heart -- King
• Spiral Beach -- Devour -- The Only Really Thing *
• My Morning Jacket -- Golden -- It Still Moves
• Islands -- Switched On -- Vapours
• The New Pornographers -- All the Old Showstoppers -- Challengers *
• Amelia Curran -- The Company Store -- Hunter, Hunter *
• Peter, Bjorn and John -- Let's Call It Off -- Writer's Block
• Dragonette -- Pick Up The Phone -- Fixin To Thrill
• Pretty Girls Make Graves -- The Nocturnal House -- Elan Vital
• Cuff The Duke -- The Words You Ignore -- Way Down Here *
• The Riff Randells -- Heartbreaker -- The Riff Randells *
• The Wheat Pool -- I'm Not Here -- Hauntario *
• Ryan Adams -- Desire -- Demolition
• Ox -- Unknown Legend -- Burnout *
• Sam Cooke -- For Sentimental Reasons -- The Best of Sam Cooke
• The Swell Season -- In These Arms -- Strict Joy
• Au Revoir Simone -- Take Me As I Am -- Still Night, Still Light
• Grizzly Bear with Victoria Legrand -- Slow Life -- New Moon OSR

MUSICAL NOTES FOR THIS WEEK:

• Pretty big soft spot being carved out in my heart for this Dead Man's Bones record;
• The Raccoon Wedding -- new band for me, am very intrigued and toes are tapping;
• Jenny Lewis for my friend Jody who just realized how good this record is....
• Don't you kinda wish the Hidden Cameras were the friends you had that always played music at your parties?
• I can't recall why the phrase "too many dicks on the dancefloor" has become something we say in the office more often than you'd think....
• Man, Sea Change is a record that brings back some memories for me...
• Oh "The Model," one of the great B&S songs......
• BELLY!! I friggin still love them!!
• I miss The Riff Randells -- such a fun little EP;
• I had to play the Ryan Adams cuz I was just the other day chatting with a friend about the whole Josh/Donna lovestory on The West Wing and that song is PERFECTLY used for it;
• How can Swell Season write songs that are so incredibly sweet and yet still make me cry??
• Also, how is it possible that a movie like New Moon can have such a kick-ass soundtrack?

foxtrot flats

Well hello there prettiest flats I've seen this week......

fair and square

The Fair and Square dress. Black tights and the perfect shoe? I'd wear this everywhere, fair and square.

pastoral portraits

Modcloth is selling these great 11x14 animal prints printed on birch veneer. I feel as though I must have them all...

machinarium

So I played the demo version of Machinarium today and for someone who's gaming interests are pretty limited -- I was in awe of the artistry of this game!! Created by Amanita Design and Czech designer Jakub Dvorsky, this game is adorable (our robot hero is trying to stop an attack and save his even more adorable robot ladyfriend) and stunning to watch. AND it's my favourite kind of game which is the point-and-click adventure kind.

I'll be buying the full version of this game for sure. Which must stand for something considering I've only caved and paid for one $0.99 game on my iPhone. I guess my laptop's been working hard lately, it deserves a game as pretty as this.

monsters of folk

So Monday night brought our long line of Massey Hall concerts to an end and even though I'm bummed there'll be no more concert trips for awhile, I'm pumped that we ended it all with such brilliance. Amazing in their respective solo careers, these guys leap up into a whole other musical stratosphere when they play together. I spent the entire show either furiously toe-tapping, chair-swaying, frozen in stillness or wiping wet eyes. A show 6 years in the making it really was a stellar show and in standard C.Y.G.T.S style, here are the bullet points saying why"

• They played 29 songs -- 29 songs?!?! Talk about getting your money's worth;
• They played Say Please 3 songs into the set, my fave song off the album;
• They switched from M.O.F songs to solo performances of their own stuff -- what a bargain for us concert-goers!!
• M Ward playing solo, but mostly his jaw-dropping performance of One Hundred Million Years. Talk about one guy on guitar sounding like 10. He can do stuff on a guitar that is actually physically impossible I think. And what a song to pick...
• Jim James picking Golden as his solo song -- somebody read my "I Hope They Play This" list;
  
• Marc's fave song on the record - Ahead of the Curve -- they played the shit out of that song and filled every space in that hall with the notes in that chorus;
• Mike Mogis playing pedal steel - insanity.
• Conor Oberst played a stripped down We Are Nowhere and it's Now -- a song that kills me at the best of times but, once last fall, brought me to my knees. Just one of those moments with just one of those songs. Hearing it live brought it all rushing back - bittersweet but still beautiful to hear.
• M Ward going back and busting out stuff from 2003's "Transfiguration of Vincent" record;
• M Ward being the Kelly Hogan to Jim James' Neko Case. If ever two male voices went together, it's these two...
• Hearing Jim James' echoey haunting voice come out of nowhere and fill up that hall. He was like a ghost. Nobody "Ah-woooooos" like Jim James...
• Being super suprised to hear At the Bottom of Everything -- one of my faves off that record -- made me really extra bummed I missed his Massey Hall show not too long ago. He just performs with such kickassitude!!
  
• Ending the show with Losin' Yo Head and busting it out full-on My Morning Jacket style - I was about ready to bust out of my seat.

If I had bad things to say, it's this:

• How could they not have played Temazcal?? Bummer....
• They only did one encore -- okay I know they played 29 songs but come on.....and the encoure was His Master's Voice -- kind of a snoozer to end with.
• the oppresive heat in Massey Hall - please God let someone one day figure out the HVAC in that place...
• the super boring M.O.F tshirts. As a merch fan, I was disappointed.

And okay, let's deal with this Travelling Wilburys thing -- every reviewer under the sun is using the phrase "this generation's Travelling Wiburys." Just because some solo guys get together and make a record doesn't make them the Travelling Wilburys. Although the fact that Conor and M Ward both played on Jenny Lewis' version of Handle Me With Care doesn't help anything I guess. Nor does this generation need a Travelling Wilburys -- the TWs can be their TWs I say. Bottom line for me is that although the TW's are made up of bigger "legends" (the MOF guys aren't at that stature yet --- note I said yet) I really do think the MOF record is better as a whole than both the TW records. They're just better songs -- come on, you can't tell me The Wilbury Twist is still a song you genuinely think is a great song? We all love End of the Line and I still think Handle Me With Care is a kickass song (and am secretly happy when someone covers it), I love their Rattled cover and have a soft-spot for Roy's Not Alone Anymore.

But this album is just plain better. Not to mention these guys are also way cuter than the TWs. So come on music journalists, put on your thinking caps and let's come up with another comparison shall we?

weekend round-up

Can I still do a weekend round-up on a Wednesday?? Darn right you can when you're just coming off a 5 day weekend! Wuh-hoo!!Things started off as both a blessing and a curse. The curse part? The weekend was planned fully around the much-anticipated visit of my cousin Kaili and her family but unfortunately they all fell victim to the flu and had to cancel last minute!!!! HUGE curse to the weekend as I think we were both counting the seconds until the visit. The blessing part? That did leave me with a whole Friday off of work during which I really didn't do a whole lot. Well, that's not true really -- I ran some errands, spent some time hanging out at my fave coffee joint with pals, made a yummy Indian dinner and took Sadie on a really lovely and yet rainy afternoon hike. Here's some pretty pics of the greenbelt that runs behind my house about a block away.Well this is obviously super cute Sadie enjoying the mud.

Like honestly, as if this is so close to my house downtown

One of my favourite fall things in my 'hood - when the leaves are so thick you can't tell the lawn from the road.

Later on Friday we headed over to Cosmic Dave's Vinyl Emporium for the Ox CD release party. They've got a new EP coming out called Burnout and they're heading out on tour so out into the rain we went in support!!

Saturday brought Halloween fun! First though, out early in the morning for a bush hike before the rains came and a trip to the Farmer's Market to pick out some pumpkins! Then home for warm coffee and breakfast and then -- elbow deep in pumpkin insides!!! Me, I love carving pumpkins and I think Marc has been sucked into the fun along with me.

Here's my pic - idea courtesy of Martha Stewart of course. Stupidly easy, bigtime cool factor.

And here's Marc's pumpkin -- much more labour intensive but all worth it for the after-effect. The kids were in love with it.

And here's more Sadie - having a hard time picking her fave. I was just happy she didn't eat all my rubber rats...

We spent the rest of the day cooking (slow-cooked beef stew served over gooey parmigiana polenta - perfect rainy day food) and setting up the rest of the decorations and then watched cheesy horror movies and handed out candy. My fave costumes of the night had to be the group of teens dressed as Pac-man, Ms Pacman and the little ghosts who told me they were "bringin' back the 80's" and then the wee little toddler dressed as a crocodile who, once he saw Sadie, just stood in the doorway staring at her not saying a word. His dad had to come and get him. 100% adorable...

Sunday, not too much of anything else outside of another great bush hike on a new trail with some friends and some new doggy friends for Sadie. Came home with a dog that was soaking wet, muddy, smelling like bog and full of burrs. Basically we came home with the happiest dog ever....

Hot Bunny Radio Playlist for October 29th

CKLU 96.7FM

6-8pm

* denotes Canadian talent

italics denotes a new release

CLICK HERE FOR PODCASTY GOODNESS OF TONIGHT'S SHOW!!!!

Tonight is our annual Halloween show!!!! In honour (and in tradition) we will subtitle tonight's show Dark, Scary, Frankensteiny, Sharp-Toothed and Haunted Bunny Radio....add adjectives as you see fit.

• Billy Bragg & Wilco -- Hoodoo Voodoo -- Mermaid Avenue
• Bon Iver -- Creature Fear -- For Emma, Forever Ago
• Calexico and Iron & Wine -- Dead Man's Will -- In the Reins
• The Clash -- City of the Dead -- From Here to Eternity
• The Damned -- Born to Kill -- Damned, Damned, Damned
• Ox -- Prom Queen -- Burnout *
• David Bowie -- We Are the Dead -- Diamond Dogs
• Elvis Costello -- Spooky Girlfriend -- When I Was Cruel
• Fembots -- Small Town Murder Scene -- Small Town Murder Scene *
• Gillian Welch -- The Devil Got a Hold of Me -- Hell Among the Yearlings
• Grandpaboy -- Vampires & Failures -- Dead Man Shake
• Jeff Buckley -- Witches Rave -- Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
• Jenny Lewis -- Jack Killed Mom -- Acid Tongue
• Jim Guthrie -- Evil Thoughts -- Morning Noon Night *
• Johnny Thunders -- Dead or Alive -- So Alone
• Kristen Hersh -- Your Ghost -- Hips and Makers
• Link Wray -- Jack the Ripper -- Rumble!
• Metric -- Monster Hospital -- Live It Out *
• The Rural Alberta Advantage -- Drain the Blood -- Hometowns *
• Mike Ness -- The Devil in Miss Jones -- Cheating at Solitaire
• Neil Young -- Vampire Blues -- On the Beach *
• The Ramones -- Pet Semetary -- Greatest Hits Live
• The Replacements -- Rock n Roll Ghost -- Don't Tell A Soul
• The Reverend Horton Heat -- The Devil's Chasing Me -- The Full Custom Gospel Sounds of...
• Rufus Wainwright -- In A Graveyard -- Poses *
• Sugarcubes -- Delicious Demon -- Life's Too Good
• Supersuckers -- Creepy Jackalope Eye -- The Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World
• Teenage Fanclub -- Satan -- Bandwagonesque
• Uncle Tupelo -- Graveyard Shift -- No Depression
• The Wooden Sky -- My Old Ghosts -- If I Don't Come Home You'll Know I'm Gone *
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- Heads Will Roll -- It's Blitz!
• The Beach Boys -- Monster Mash -- Live in Concert (VINYL)

NOTES THIS WEEK:

• Man, is there anything better than live Clash???
• I think we can make a case for Prom Queens being scary....
• STMS is still my fave Fembots album despite everything else they've done;
• Gillian Welch could just headline Halloween in general with a voice like that -- spooky!!!!
• I bet if Jeff Buckley had lived, he'd be in one of those bands with Jack White right now;
• The Metric goes out to Mike who must only be bothered with things involving monsters;
• Who knew rural Alberta could be so friggin great????
• I recently acquired a mounted jackalope skull that now hangs proudly in my entryway;
• Steps to follow: 1. Go on the interweb. 2. Buy the Wooden Sky record. 3. Listen to it. 4. Be happy.
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs = ultimate knickers dance party music.
• The Monster Mash you ask? I play it because one must.

roast squash risotto with sage, chestnut and pancetta

God bless Jamie Oliver for bringing this risotto recipe into my life. I've said many times that risotto is one of my all-time favourite foods and this one just shot up into the top 5 best ones I've had! Bit labour intensive but man, it's so worth it. Click here for the recipe and you won't be sorry!

quilting bee hoodie

For this hoodie, I may even try to quilt. Swoon!

*via Modcloth*

Hot Bunny Radio Playlist for October 22nd

CKLU 96.7FM

* denotes Canadian talent

italics denotes a new release

CLICK HERE FOR PODCASTY GOODNESS OF TONIGHT'S SHOW!!!!!!!

• Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir -- Death Don't Have No Mercy -- Fighting & Onions *
• Violent Femmes -- Faith -- The Blind Leading the Naked (VINYL)
• Old Man's Beard -- Tofino -- Old Man's Beard *
• Van Morrison -- Crazy Love -- Moondance
• Said the Whale -- B.C Orienteering -- Islands Disappear *
• Thurston Moore -- Honest James -- Trees Outside the Academy
• Talking Heads -- I'm Not in Love -- More Songs About Buildings & Food (VINYL)
• LCD Soundsystem -- Pilooski remix -- 45:33 Remixes
• Guided By Voices -- Chasing Heather Crazy -- Isolation Drills
• You Say Party! We Say Die! -- She's Spoken For - You Say Party! We Say Die! *
• The Monks -- Dear Jerry -- Bad Habits (VINYL)
• Ohbijou - Make It Gold -- Beacons *
• Pete Yorn -- EZ -- musicforthemorningafter
• Dead Man's Bones -- A Zombie For You -- Dead Man's Bones
• She & Him -- You Really Got A Hold On Me -- Volume One
• The Clash -- Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice) -- Sandinista! (VINYL)
• Cuff the Duke -- Need You -- Way Down Here *
• Po'Girl -- Things We Believe In -- Deer In The Night *
• Noisettes -- Wild Young Hearts -- Wild Young Hearts
• The Flaming Lips -- Convinced of the Hex -- Embryonic
• Dragonette -- Liar -- Fixin to Thrill
• Little Girls -- Youth Tunes -- Concepts *
• The Bellwoods Crew -- Staten Island Waltz -- Friends in Bellwoods 2 *
• Dan Mangan -- Pine for Cedars -- Nice, Nice, Very Nice *
• Immaculate Machine -- You Destoyer -- High on Jackson Hill *
• David Bowie -- Changes -- Rykodisc 20th Anniversary
• Sugar -- Changes -- Rykodisc 20th Anniversary

MUSICAL NOTES THIS WEEK:

• How can I not play a record by a band called Old Man's Beard?? Especially when they have a song called Tofino? When we were in Tofino Marc wore some old man's beard as a fake beard. Classic Marco...
• If the opening notes of "Crazy Love" don't make you want to take your pants right off then I worry about your loins and their ability to function properly;
• Thank god for the Said the Whale request cuz it gave me an excuse to play that record YET AGAIN!! So good!
• Something about the Thurston Moore opening instrumental part is so fitting to the snowy weather...
• Dear LCD Sounsystem: I'll have a knickers danceparty to the original 45:33 but it still won't get me to run. Break the news to Nike....
• I cannot get enough of Chasing Heather Crazy today;
• I want The Monks to live in my house and play music for me when I'm feeling down...
• This Pete Yorn record makes me blush. That is all I'm saying.
• Maybe if I keep saying it it'll happen sooner -- Volume Two from She & Him PLEASE!!
• Noisettes eh? You are fun I say...
• Dear Dan Mangan: I love that you used the word "chemise" in your song;
• Still, cannot get enough of Immaculate Machine's "You Destroyer." Somebody teach me this song on guitar...