who has $200 to spare?

al gore is going to victoria! i've seen him speak (via tv) in london and i've heard him on the radio. i'm sad i'm missing out, although i couldn't afford the $200 ticket price even if i was in victoria.

robert pickton makes the mainstream.

a few nights ago on tv, one of the CSI characters mentioned reading about 'this guy in canada who fed a bunch of women to his pigs' hence why he needed to search a pig sty.

it made me homesick.

is that wrong?

vancouver island is annexed!

there's a show called 'monster moves' on channel 5. big things are moved a variety of distances; last week a grain silo was transferred to the next town over. on this week's show...

a victorian villa is shipped from canada to vancouver island.

i love snow!

i love waking up to this! especially when i don't have to go to work!














i think it's time to get the christmas decorations out, i usually refuse until it's actually december, but i think on a day like this an exception can be made.











and then i'll go wander around the gold course once the snow settles some more and take pictures!! yeah!

a horse, a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

i've been meaning to write this post all weekend. go out and see richard III at the Phoenix theatre, UVic. it is amazing! the lead actor that plays richard, trevor hinton, is so talented. this is not an easy character to play and he pulls it off with ease. not to mention his body is a perfectly sculpted specimen...even if he is constantly maintaining the hunched, crippled deformities.

i won't even bother gushing about the other actors, i cannot find flaw with anyone.

the dream sequence when the ghosts of those richard has killed come to haunt his sleep is so magical and eerie.

the battle of bosworth field at the end is stunningly choreographed. if you get tickets, ask for front row so you can be right in the middle of the action! that was the highlight for me.

the times colonist wrote a raving review, read it!

go and see this production, it's only on until dec 2nd. to order tickets call: 250 - 721 - 8000

face the fear

i never told you about my adventure on the capilano suspension bridge with alex.


as some of you may know, i am dreadfully afraid of heights. alex, is not. he really wanted to go over the bridge and because i like him enough...i was willing to face my fear.

i was ok with the idea of the bridge. i kept reminding myself that it was no longer the original bridge constructed of hemp rope and cedar planks and that is now made of reinforced steel, safely anchored in 13 tons of concrete on either side of the canyon. i was ok with the bridge until i stepped onto the 5 stairs leading to it and the stairs started wobbling side to side. i promptly jogged back up the stairs and onto solid ground.





alex was not fussed and continued across the bridge, occasionally looking back and trying to wave me over. no bloody way. he even stopped in the middle to look over the edge and take pictures!





alex eventually came back over to be in the hopes of coaxing me across and i'm not sure how he did it, but it happened. i crossed the shaking, wobbling, rocking, narrow, bridge over the HUGE canyon. i would love to insert a lovely photograph of the view, but i can't. my eyes were clamped shut and i was breaking alex's fingers with a death grip as he led me across.

i slightly enjoyed the ewok villiage on the other side. those bridges were not nearly as high or wobbly. there were some nice trails and ponds around and about as well so it wasn't a complete scare fest. the only problem is that i had to cross the bridge a second time. you'd maybe think that since i did it once, i'd be alright...fear conquered! no, no, that wasn't the case. it was maybe a little worse the second time.

home, home on the range...

where the otters and the blue heron play...

yes, i'm home. back to the tap water that doesn't make me gag. back to roads that are wide enough for 3 cars when only 2 travel down. back to the smell of ocean and seaweed.

spending a hot, sunny week in parksville a few days after arriving did wonders for the jet lag! napping on the beach is the way forward. i've put up some pictures in my picasa web album...a new way to post my pictures to the web (link on the right, mum). if you have a digital camera i highly suggest using picasa for your organisational, storage, and emailing needs. it's free and from google.

my week in edinburgh was the most fun i've had in a long while, it may just be one of my favourite cities. the fringe is something everyone should do...check out the pictures on 23, if you like.

i've also finally posted some of the pictures from play on flickr.

country roads, take me home

hear ye! hear ye! it's official....i'm moving home.

well....i'm coming home for longer than the 3/4 weeks i've been averaging over the last 5 years.

i'll be in victoria around august time (hopefully before my birthday, so clear your schedules for the chin dig) and i'll stay for the entire season of autumn. i'll then hop a plane back to londontown for new year's eve and be ready to teach my new class in january.

maybe i'll find myself a nice little job in a bookshop or maybe i'll live like a bum at my parent's abode. either way, it'll be nice to take a short break from teaching, the burnout is starting to take hold.

so that's the plan thus far. and of course, it is all subject to change without notice.

thank you for your attention.