the pod bay door

:: Good morning! According to Canada’s Weather Network, it is -40C in Edmonton this morning. -40 degrees is where the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales meet; if it gets any colder today, say -42C, the equivalent temperature in Fahrenheit would be slightly higher.

The parka makes it debut this morning. Brrrrrr.

:: I went to Maria Dunn’s concert on Saturday night. She performed two sets of original tunes, with support from Shannon Johnson and Dawn Anderson. In 1992-93, I was a member of The Invisible Jug Band, with Maria, Dawn, and Duke Bronfman. I had a blast performing with them at that time.

In the intervening 10-11 years, Maria has developed into a brilliant writer of historical ballads and songs. She is becoming, if she isn’t already, one of Canada’s best storytellers in song. Maria researches the history of places like Edmonton, where she (and I) live, Alberta, Ontario, and other parts of Canada. She finds stories about fascinating individuals who may have struggled for a cause, and then writes a deeply moving and very original songs about them. She is a national treasure, and I’m proud to be able to say I once performed on stage alongside her.

Maria has released two albums to date: From Where I Stand appeared in 1998, and her second album, For A Song, received a 2002 Juno Award Nomination in the Roots/Traditional Solo category. Both are recommended. Maria is in the studio now, finishing her much-anticipated third album.

:: Spam to end by 2006?

:: Nathan Sawaya makes life size Lego objects, such as Han Solo in Carbonite, the Death Star, a rabbit ambulance, a head, a dachsund, and more.

:: It’s about to get really cold around here. It’s -17C right now, and a lot of snow is falling. And the temperature? Last night, the long range forecast had a high temperature of -37C and a low of -44C for mid-week. I’m on the Weather Network’s Edmonton page at the moment, and the forecast have been revised somewhat since yesterday. The low temperatures are now expected to be in the -32 to -37C range. *whew* I’m more concerned about the snow, which is forecast to continue falling until Tuesday, and makes driving treacherous. Ah, the joys of being Canadian!

:: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced its Orange British Academy Film Awards nominations this week. Leading the pack are Cold Mountain with 13 nominations, and LOTR: TROTK with 12. Girl With A Pearl Earring received 10 nominations, and Lost in Translation received 8. Interestingly, despite 13 nominations, Cold Mountain’s Nicole Kidman was not nominated for Actress in a Leading Role. However, Scarlett Johannson was nominated in that category twice, for Lost and Girl. Sean Penn also scored a double nomination for Actor in a Leading Role, for Mystic River and 21 Grams. The complete list is here.

:: Speaking of Cold Mountain, I saw it last night, and thought it was brilliant. After reading a few reviews, I went to this movie with few expectations, almost waiting to be disappointed. Some critics felt the film was slow moving, and that Kidman and Jude Law lacked chemistry. The movie is an episodic story of a Civil War deserter, Inman (Law), who leaves the south near the end of the war to return to Cold Mountain, where the woman he loves, Ada (Kidman), waits for him, in hopes that he is still alive. The Civil War scenes are brutal and realistic (movie depictions of any war scene have changed since Saving Private Ryan moved the bar way, way up.)

The chemistry between the actors is real, and the episodic nature of the movie, which gives the movie its length, does not detract from the richness of the story, but adds to it by introducing a number of fascinating characters, keeping us interested in the story. In addition to solid performances from Law and Kidman, Renée Zellweger is excellent as Ruby, a drifter who comes into Kidman’s life, at the time she is slowly spiraling downwards, following the death of her father. The aforementioned fascinating supporting characters are portrayed by some of our best actors, including Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Giovanni Ribisi, Eileen Atkins, Brendan Gleeson, Kathy Baker, Natalie Portman, James Gammon, Jena Malone, Lucas Black, and Cillian Murphy, from 28 Days Later.

This is a long film, 2 hours and 28 minutes, but I was never bored. Cold Mountain worked for me. My Blogcritics.org review is here.

:: The Lake Superior State University Word Banishment selection committee has published its 2004 List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness. The lists have appeared regulary since 1976, and have been compiled by The Unicorn Hunters.

This year, over 5,000 nominations were received, a new record. Words that made it onto the list include metrosexual, companion animals, shock and awe, and LOL. I’m disappointed that tipping point didn’t make it.

Want to have a word banished? Submit it here, with your reason.

:: This time out, a pair of short pieces from me dear old M and Da:

Dad: One incident that comes to mind was when I was about 11 or 12 years old, in the late 1930s. We always had a big garden at the back of our house on Berry Street, in St Boniface, Manitoba. One day I was told to water the garden, but instead, I just stuck the hose in the ground and let it run for a while! Then it occurred to me that my Dad had to pay for the water, so I stopped with the hose in the ground and watered the garden! I really felt bad about that afterwards.

Mom: Whoever wrote the words to the song, “Summertime and the livin’ is easy”, wasn’t in my mother’s kitchen 60 years ago. Living was certainly not easy for her. I still picture her working in a very small kitchen, wood stove putting out the heat in an already sweltering room. She was canning food. To keep her family fed throughout the upcoming long, cold winte,r she would can somewhere in the neighbourhood of 500 jars of food. She would can corn on the cob, kernel corn, peas, peas and carrots, carrots, tomatoes, chickens, peaches, pears, plums and strawberries. She would make strawberry jam, raspberry jam, grape jelly, grape jam, blueberry jam. If you could name it, I swear my mother could can it.

I receive daily inspirational messages from Oprah. I think today’s thought is very fitting, in helping describe how my mother loved us all. “Love is that splendid triggering of human vitality…the supreme activity which nature affords anyone for going out of himself toward someone else.” –Jose Ortega y Gasset, philosopher

:: What has brightened my days in the dark of winter:

– discovering fresh blueberries at Costco last week, and buying two packages;
– receiving kind support from a friend regarding my writing;
– knowing how fortunate I am that at 50 to still have my parents around, and that they are the most amazing parents, too;
– the recent resurgence of the Montreal Canadiens, and enjoying it quietly (very few of my friends are sports fans, really…);
– Heavy G taking time from his insanely busy scheduled to stop by and help with a minor house repair;
– finishing the final draft of another blog article with the same Mr Heavy G;
– making a professor’s day simply by telling her that a new online resource she requested is now available;
– the gentle reminders of how blessed I am with amazing friends and colleagues