Canada Day moved in London so lazy officials can have the weekend off...

So. Canada was born on 1 July. We have the paperwork to prove it. Now last year, there was a huge staging of EuroPride on Saturday, 1 July so graciously, being the nice Canadians that we are, said "It's OK. We'll have Canada Day celebrations on Friday, 30 June." Of course it's not Canada Day but we were being nice.

This year, I was soooo excited. Canada Day is on Sunday. This means that there can be the Pride parade and celebrations on the Saturday and we can have Trafalger Square on the rightful day of Canada's birth. Easy. But no. Canada day this year is on 29th June. 29th JUNE!!! WHAT?! Since when is that Canada Day??

Then it hit me. The officials are having it on the Friday because they don't want to work on Sunday! Lazy f**kers. I'm still mad. And to top it all off there's no e-mail address or phone number to call to complain.

Grrrrrrrr.

HIS RIB – a new book I’m in!!

PENMANSHIP PUBLISHING GROUP ANNOUNCES

RELEASE OF ALL-FEMALE ANTHOLOGY

HIS RIB Showcases Unprecedented Literary Diversity,

Gains Immediate Popularity Among Feminist Literary Circles

NEW YORK, June 26, 2007 -- Penmanship Publishing Group, an independent New York-based and women-owned publishing house, today announced the release of an all-female authored anthology entitled HIS RIB: Stories, Poems & Essays by HER.

The collection, the title of which is a reference to the biblical story of Eve's creation through Adam's rib, boasts an impressive array of literary works by and about women from a wide range of racial, ethnic and socio-political backgrounds. Edited by writer and performance poet, Mahogany L. Browne, HIS RIB offers insights to the global feminine experience. From the fallible woman and sensitive girl-child to the fearless politically oppressed warrior, these insights are in turn piercingly honest, brutally painful, and quietly uplifting.

Said Browne of the project, "We combed several continents to find the right mix of authors to include, and it was well worth the effort. HIS RIB features women from both the literary field and the performance poetry circuit, creating a symbiotic kinship between the two art forms that is to my knowledge unprecedented."

The genres featured in the anthology range from folk tales to poems, all written by women from as far afield as Nigeria to London and New York to Colorado. The result is a multi-cultural and cross-generational quilt of prose and essays woven with skill and told with compassion, self-respect, discipline and hunger.

"Our hope is for HIS RIB to become a reading staple for all writers, awakening the young, reclaiming the old and and empowering all women," enthused Browne.

Promotional plans for the much anticipated and well-received anthology include international book tours beginning in the United States and in the United Kingdom, with talks of a second volume already on the horizon.

About Penmanship Publishing Group
Penmanship Publishing Group is an independent publishing company created as the answer to the publishing challenges faced by performance poets, writers and essayists. The Group's mission is to provide publication opportunities for the many successful spoken-word poets, live-performance artists and literary men and women of the future, many of whom already enjoy huge fan bases in the constantly evolving world of performance literature. For more information visit www.penmanshipbooks.com.

Stars in my eyes

Very exciting times in Chez Heather. Not only have I bought new frames so we can put pictures up on our walls (they are very bare at the moment) but I had some great news this week! I seem to tell others that I write films. Yes I write them but unfortunately it doesn't mean they get made.

BUT this has all changed!! My little film "The Night Before," about two sisters, is going to be made! They film on the weekend of 16th of March and then hopefully I'll get a copy of the film sometime this year. My mom has already promised they'd dress up and have a viewing at home. Even videotape it so I can see them enjoying my first short ever made. Film is much easier to send compared to theatre. Actors don't fit well in the post...

A wee little Meme…

via Hot Links & Gumbo (and Alice):

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. In the Search box, type your birth month and day (but not year).
3. List three events that happened on your birthday.
4. List two important birthdays and one interesting death.
5. List any holidays
6. Post it.

9 September - Three Events

1543 - Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is officially crowned "Queen of Scots" in the central Scottish town of Stirling.

1914 - World War I: The creation of the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, the first fully mechanized unit in the British Army.

1947 - "First actual case of (a computer) bug being found": a moth lodges in a relay of a Harvard Mark II computer at Harvard University.

9 September - Two Birthdays & One Death

Births

1873 - Max Reinhardt, German film director and actor (d. 1943)

1941 - Otis Redding, American singer and songwriter (d. 1967)

1966 - Adam Sandler, American actor and comedian

Death

1087 - William the Conqueror

9 September - Any Holidays

Eastern Orthodoxy - Synaxis of the Theopatores Joachim and Anna.
Japan - Chrysanthemum Day (Kiku no Sekku).
North Korea - Republic Day (1948).
Tajikistan - Independence Day (from USSR, 1991).
California - Admission Day (to commemorate the state's admission to the USA).

Vacation : Day 15 (Bushtucker Canoe Trip)

Day 2 on the Margaret Adventure and I found myself canoeing up the Margaret River on a Bushtucker Tour. Woohoooo! Lots of canoeing befell us as we never travelled in a straight line but rather a big old s-shape. I have come to discover that you don't get very far when you travel that way. But finally we got to a nice place in the river and docked our canoes and had a swim. Wasn't our girl a beaut?
We took to a bit more canoeing after our dip and headed to some limestone caves and a feast of foods you can naturally find in the Australian bush. Some of them - not so tasty. They even had a paste made of grubs. I did not try that.

Our final challenge of the trip was a canoe race. How do you you think s-curve 6 did? Wellllll....they said no rules, so after accidently crashing into 2 other boats (and causing them to lose - SORRY!), Dave and Scott jumped out and pulled the boat to shore. We still didn't win but it was freakin hilarious!

Afterwards the group carried everything back and that was that. Glorious! That night we headed out for a bust up meal at the pub across the road from where we stayed. Unfortunately, all there was was roast, raost, roast. Even the veggies had meat in them and they weren't cooking that night (other then the glorious meat swimming in meat). So off we went in search of another place. Now in Perth and the areas around it, they are having worker shortages similar to that of Edmonton. They can't get enough services workers in so a lot of places have to close early, etc. Jody tried calling a million places when we finally settled on what we thought was an Indian restaurant but turned out to be a Thai. It was AMAZING!! Soo good. I love food. I. Love. Food.

Vacation : Day 14 (Margaret River Bound)

One day in Perth and then my lovely, lovely hosts took me to the Margaret Wine Region! Woohoo! There is me and the grapes. We're just hanging.


It was great - we headed out there with their friends and had a weekend away. Very posh. We went to wineries and chocolate factories and olive oil makers and...and...and...it was a full weekend! At the liquoire/ coffee place they even had fake crocs in the lake. Very amusing. I'm amused by simple things, I know.



Last but not least, we played some games. And not just any game but Brainiac! (or is that the name of the British science show on TV...I hope it's the right name for both...) No one trusted Dave so they put a cloth over his head so he wouldn't cheat. And I would like the world to know that no cheating happened. And I would also like the world to know that I had to act out the word "cat flap." It was beautiful.

Vacation : Day 12 – 13 (I’m not an animal…)

But I saw lots of them. Yep...now my travels have taken me from LA to the beautiful land down under. I have arrived in Perth! Hoorah! Now I did not know this but there is this big deal made about transporting foods into Australia AND across Australia. I arrived in Perth and was greeted by Jody and Dave and a sniffer dog. He liked my bag. So much that he came back for a second sniff. And no...I had noooo food in there. Whew!

The very first thing that my lovely hosts did was take me to see some Australian animals. Look there's even warning signs!
Even with the warning signs, we continued into the park. Not only did I get to see lots of the animals but I got to talk with them too. Unfortunately, they didn't like to talk back unless I was feeding them...


They also didn't like to talk much when they were sleeping (I had the fear of what would happen if Mr. Koala woke up)...

The best ever was this little emu. Petted an emu and he didn't even try to bite me. Wayhey!

First day of Perth complete and I've met the natives...how will the next days shape up?

Vacation : Day 10 – 11 (Stuck in LA)

For some reason the airline thought it would be a good idea for me to transfer in Denver on the way to LA where I would catch my plane to Sydney. Was that REALLY a good idea? After 2 planes with mechanical error, I arrived into LA 20 minutes AFTER my plane to Sydney left! Desolete. Soooo....my trip to Australia began with a trip to LA and the Holiday Inn:

After a short sleep, I had the day to spend entertaining myself in LA. Bus tour it is! And it's signs, signs, everywhere is signs!

All the famous signs and sights in places all in one location, location, location. Not too excited by the place but I did get to take a picture with Johnny Depp's handprints:

What more can I girl ask for really? A clean shirt and underwear? That too. But the hands will do for the moment.

Vacation : Day 7-8 (Canada)

Ah Day 7 and 8. My sister's birthday and New Years. Very momentous occasions. We went out to Julio's Barrio for some tasty tasty Mexican before heading to The Black Dog (which was called both the Flithy Dog and Dirty Dog by my Mom and Sam respectively). Somehow I got out of buying the birthday girl a drink but DID buy my other sister Becky a drink...if you look in the picture below you too can see the orangy milky girly drink she chose.

You may also be wondering about the interesting pose we chose...we're just "keeping an eye on each other." Yes - there is no end of cheese to the Taylor sisters! Very exciting stuff is happening here. A momentus occasion really as by buying my sister Becky a drink I have checked off another one of my 101 things to do in 1001 days. A few other things completed so far include : Spend Christmas with my family, Hang out with Melissa's new baby Danielja, and go tobagganing (as seen below):

A bit fuzzy yes but definately me. The first time tobagganing in like 7 years. It was scary and I was left a bit bruised and frozen but I did it!! Olivier (who I met in Istanbul but who lives in Edmonton) invited us out to the hill and I'm glad he did or I wouldn't have probably done it. That night I headed to a Toga Party with my friend Leah (sans Sarah as she was a wimpy sickie) out in Fort Sakatchewan. There were tropical togas, traditional togas, teenage mutant ninja turtle togas, care bear togas and the ones we made...

Not only did we have such fetching purple polyester outfits but we were deemed the bridesmaids of the party. Not bad for being made from Leah's curtains and some Christmas Ribbon!