2011 January | The Land That Ugly Forgot

30Jan/118

Split Decision

I stepped on my own glasses. That's almost on par with dropping the cellphone in the toilet, both being embarrassing ways to ruin your own possessions.

Now where's that scotch tape...

Tagged as: accident, break, broken, clumsy, frames, glasses, lenses, mistake, prescription, sight, split in half, vision 8 Comments

24Jan/114

Gabby’s Country Cabaret; Rules are Meant to be Broken

Gabby's Country Cabaret is apparently an institution of sorts in Langley City. Having not been there before, we thought we'd check it out on the weekend. We stood in line for about 45 minutes with little on us besides some cash and our phones and keys, only to be met, finally, at the front of the line by a security guy pointing us to a sign by the entry barricade that said "photo id required". We were turned away after standing there all that time yet a) we certainly don't look like hooligans, b) we look like we finished high school many years ago so no worry on the under age thing, and c) we're respectable people there to check out the local entertainment. But the sign says a rule is a rule. I appreciate that there's rules, and I'd be more than willing to adhere to them, but when I saw these posted beside the photo identification required notice, this place lost all credibility:

Tagged as: band, dress code, entertainment, gabbys country cabaret, Humour, music, People, rules, Signs, steel toe boots 4 Comments

22Jan/113

Flooded Out

Every part of the world has its own version of a winter, and this is Vancouver's. It's been too warm for snow... imagine if all this rain had come down as frozen precipitation! If there's any farm animals living in this field, I hope they have flippers. Or at least pool noodles to float on.

Tagged as: field, flooding, landscape, pooling, post, precipitation, rain, water, wet, wooden fence 3 Comments

19Jan/116

Popping Pills

It's been this kind of day the last couple days. Cold FX, daytime/nightime cold pills and checking the temperature every once in a while for good measure. Colds are so annoying because a sore throat seems so insignificant, but it sure can hurt. I should've actually added a cup of laundry detergent to the photo to summarize the day's activities; laundering of the pillowcases is required after a nighttime of slobbering and drooling sickness.

Tagged as: close-up, cold, cold fx, fever, flu, ill, Macro, medicine, pills, sick, temperature, thermometer 6 Comments

15Jan/1110

Boston Pizza Gluten-Free

I was so excited when I heard Boston Pizza had starting selling gluten-free pizzas. To someone who can't have wheat and has to make their own pizza crust (since store-bought ones taste in the realm of paste-like slabs of uninteresting rice flour mixed with water), the ability to buy a pizza at an iconic restaurant chain held high promise. I giddily ordered one for take out, brought it home, put it on the counter, took my shoes off, put my purse away then opened the cardboard box to reveal what I was envisioning to be a delicious, juicy, tender, yummy mess of a cheesy pie.....

Disappointment. Not to say I don't appreciate large chains like Boston Pizza making an effort to cater to us growing number of gluten intolerants, but there's a Canadian two dollar coin so you can see the size of this pie in relation. Check out the awesome gluten-free pizzas you can get at Me-n-Ed's, Mainly Organics and Panago. Boston Pizza's offering only comes in this size. How does this function as a meal? And why does it have to be square-shaped? It reiterates to the person eating it that, "Hey you, you're odd and abnormal." Yes, the shape of the pizza probably is, in fact, the feature itself that distinguishes it to be gluten-free and secure the mindset of the person eating it, but can't there be some other indicator? How about make it a normal circular pie shape and put a sticker on the take out box indicating it's gluten-free, or for those eating in the restaurant they could stick a little plastic flag on the pie along the lines of the indicators they put on steaks to signify the rareness. Just my perspectives and ideas. And I'm still hungry. Sigh.

Tagged as: boston pizza, box, celiac, crust, eating, Food, gf, gfree, gluten free, meal, menu, opinion, order, pizza pie, restaurant, review, take out 10 Comments

12Jan/116

Birding and Balling

If only life were so simple as to be happily entertained with solely birds and balls (...and biscuits).

Tagged as: animal, ball, birds, chase, dog, ice, movie, pet, play, snow, toy, video, walk, water, winter 6 Comments

8Jan/116

Peaked

These mountains are part of the Golden Ears Provincial Park north of Maple Ridge. I'm not sure if these peaks themselves compose Golden Ears, but they look striking and impressive enough to have been the source of the namesake. Then again, generally any mountain range around here is impressive enough to knock your socks off.

Tagged as: blue skies, clear, dusting, landscape, Maple Ridge, mountains, peaks, range, snow-capped, summit 6 Comments

5Jan/115

Zantedeschia

For all you botanists out there that are up on your plant genera, you'll know that Zantedeschia is the genus for Calla Lily. It's a clean and simple flower with elegant lines at a quick glance, but I find it increasingly detailed and complex the more I look at it up close. Especially with the pop of magenta striations built in to this one.

Tagged as: botany, calla lily, close-up, curves, elegant, Flowers, inner, inside, Macro, magenta, petals, stamen, Zantedeschia 5 Comments

4Jan/114

Okanagan Lake Still Frame

I was somewhat disappointed after I got home and watched this video I took of Okanagan Lake because I hadn't spent the time to take a nice photo. It was quite picturesque.