June is a launchpad for dreams of all shapes. They ride on sound waves of wedding bells, school bells, ice cream truck jingles rounding the corner and the ubiquitous applause for making the grade and moving on.
Read more »Monday 24 June 2013
Thursday 20 June 2013
A last peek at spring
Posted on 21:01 by rajrani
Summer officially arrives Friday but I need to pause and celebrate the spring that was. It looked for awhile like a series of Unfortunate Events ( burglary, sewage back up, basement storm flood) but I am toasting instead the bright spots that blot out the rest.
Check back here tomorrow for a proud moment but for today, here is the glory that was Spring 2013.
You only have one prom so announce it loud and proud! |
Vintage gold on my kid and the rain stopped just in time for our talented photographer, Caileigh Kyle, to snap these shots!
My first season as a rowing mom and I got to witness a gold medal race from my novice! |
I can pretend for a moment I have an English garden-if only in a pot at my front door! |
So happy to find crocuses pop on walks to offset the wine and wisdom from my women of book club at our annual Lake Simcoe getaway weekend! These tulips seduced us with their promise of colour to come and set the tone for the season ahead.
BRING ON SUMMER!
Wednesday 19 June 2013
In the garden with Joni
Posted on 19:56 by rajrani
I was at Woodstock last night, hands clasped, mouthing the words.
We are stardust.
We are golden
caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
It was a moment but, if anything the decades have taught this writer, it is the moments that we seize upon and squeeze until gasping and spent. I was just out of diapers and unaware of any cultural touchstones but last night, I was there, at Woodstock, for a moment.
It was the Woodstock conjured and penned by Joni Mitchell, here in Toronto at Massey Hall for two nights of tributes at the annual Luminato Festival. Mitchell herself wasn't at Woodstock either but her song, sung last night with help from a collection of eclectic musicians including Rufus Wainwright, Glen Hansard and Kathleen Edwards, is surely the 1969 festival's defining hymn. There on the Massey Hall centre stage, following an evening of diverse interpretations of her vast songbook, stood the near 70 year old artist, taking us all down the road to that famed farm field, holding us captive, for a brilliant moment, in her hands.
It was those hands, at one point diving into her pocket to pull out a cigarette-Mitchell has smoked since she was nine years old-, that mesmerized me, twitching in time, strutting invisible chords, swaying and spreading over keys as someone else played in this band of hand picked musical monster talent that made lush arrangements soar. Mitchell appeared delighted to be back on stage after a ten year absence and the disciples in the sold out house cheered and roared as if she'd never left.
Of course, she's never left my household, my car, my record player, my tape cassette, my CD player, my iPod, my head.
Joni is my oldest friend, my go to medicine woman and last night, she remained a voice of truth and wonder.
Her voice has the hallmark cadences of her youth, if not the high registers, and she channelled her own long musical history as she told us she wasn't sure she could sing but she thought she should try. Here were no coy showbiz shenanigans. Could this really be unfolding in front of me? In our PhotoShop Age of Branding, was it possible to see this rare bird take flight, unencumbered by industry, creating magic there on stage ? Yes, we had heard all the others do Joni, now it was time for Joni to be Joni as she became, through a poetic recitation, Emily Carr in relentless rain in the B.C woods, or the "almost feminist" as she quipped , before singing"since I was seventeen, I've had no one over me" from "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow".
No one over her. Not even close. This is the new 70. I can't wait to see what comes next.
Well maybe it is just the time of year,
Or maybe it's the time of man.
I don't know who I am,
But you know life is for learning.
back to the garden.
It was a moment but, if anything the decades have taught this writer, it is the moments that we seize upon and squeeze until gasping and spent. I was just out of diapers and unaware of any cultural touchstones but last night, I was there, at Woodstock, for a moment.
It was the Woodstock conjured and penned by Joni Mitchell, here in Toronto at Massey Hall for two nights of tributes at the annual Luminato Festival. Mitchell herself wasn't at Woodstock either but her song, sung last night with help from a collection of eclectic musicians including Rufus Wainwright, Glen Hansard and Kathleen Edwards, is surely the 1969 festival's defining hymn. There on the Massey Hall centre stage, following an evening of diverse interpretations of her vast songbook, stood the near 70 year old artist, taking us all down the road to that famed farm field, holding us captive, for a brilliant moment, in her hands.
It was those hands, at one point diving into her pocket to pull out a cigarette-Mitchell has smoked since she was nine years old-, that mesmerized me, twitching in time, strutting invisible chords, swaying and spreading over keys as someone else played in this band of hand picked musical monster talent that made lush arrangements soar. Mitchell appeared delighted to be back on stage after a ten year absence and the disciples in the sold out house cheered and roared as if she'd never left.
Of course, she's never left my household, my car, my record player, my tape cassette, my CD player, my iPod, my head.
Joni is my oldest friend, my go to medicine woman and last night, she remained a voice of truth and wonder.
Her voice has the hallmark cadences of her youth, if not the high registers, and she channelled her own long musical history as she told us she wasn't sure she could sing but she thought she should try. Here were no coy showbiz shenanigans. Could this really be unfolding in front of me? In our PhotoShop Age of Branding, was it possible to see this rare bird take flight, unencumbered by industry, creating magic there on stage ? Yes, we had heard all the others do Joni, now it was time for Joni to be Joni as she became, through a poetic recitation, Emily Carr in relentless rain in the B.C woods, or the "almost feminist" as she quipped , before singing"since I was seventeen, I've had no one over me" from "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow".
No one over her. Not even close. This is the new 70. I can't wait to see what comes next.
Well maybe it is just the time of year,
Or maybe it's the time of man.
I don't know who I am,
But you know life is for learning.
Friday 7 June 2013
24 hours with an alluring stranger and a trilogy later...
Posted on 10:12 by rajrani
Wet and damp days are hardly the prescription for summer moods to set in but a great love affair will lend some heat anytime, anywhere.
Read more »
A Very Weird And Rare Princess Story?
Posted on 05:48 by rajrani
Imagine, when you are hungry for a funny princess story, suddenly you find yourself in a luxurious bed room belonging to an aristocrat in a mansion. This man is not like those killed in French revolution, but a sort of skinny dude whose eyes look gloomy.
He is busy and doesn't care about seeing you there look like crying for help as you get confused how come, while you are in a meeting and there's no funny princess story in your mind, you landed there. You might look up at the ceiling just try to figure out where you have been before. But to your amazement there's something more fancy there to stop you from wondering why.
A red curtain covering a huge gate is drawn open slowly and there's a silhouette on a screen and a slide: It's funny princess story, a title is being shown. While this might sound silly, but you asked for it, that's why your fancy threw you away to this mansion. Now there's nothing more comfortable than watching it.
So here is the funny princess story goes: Once upon a time, an aristocrat landed in a luxurious bed room in mansion. This man was not like those killed in French revolution, but just look like you--a sort of skinny dude whose eyes look gloomy. And amazing, there appeared a man who looked just like you too, busy and didn't care seeing him there like crying for help as he got confused how come all this come into being.
Both of you and your shadow start to get away from this hallucination during a meeting lead by a pretty stake holder, but keep wondering while yawning; is it really a funny princess story?
He is busy and doesn't care about seeing you there look like crying for help as you get confused how come, while you are in a meeting and there's no funny princess story in your mind, you landed there. You might look up at the ceiling just try to figure out where you have been before. But to your amazement there's something more fancy there to stop you from wondering why.
A red curtain covering a huge gate is drawn open slowly and there's a silhouette on a screen and a slide: It's funny princess story, a title is being shown. While this might sound silly, but you asked for it, that's why your fancy threw you away to this mansion. Now there's nothing more comfortable than watching it.
So here is the funny princess story goes: Once upon a time, an aristocrat landed in a luxurious bed room in mansion. This man was not like those killed in French revolution, but just look like you--a sort of skinny dude whose eyes look gloomy. And amazing, there appeared a man who looked just like you too, busy and didn't care seeing him there like crying for help as he got confused how come all this come into being.
Both of you and your shadow start to get away from this hallucination during a meeting lead by a pretty stake holder, but keep wondering while yawning; is it really a funny princess story?
Wednesday 5 June 2013
Taste is for phonies
Posted on 10:08 by rajrani
We sang Happy Birthday to Billy last month.
To the rest of the world he is William Shakespeare, but you could forgive Stratford Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino for using a nickname in his welcome to a crowd of enthusiasts recently gathered at Toronto's Koerner Hall.
Billy the Bard was like family to this group.
We were there for the Shakespeare Slam, the launch of the Stratford Forum, a hodge podge of debates, screenings, concerts and discussions that the festival hopes will bring in new audiences.
Getting things started was a debate: Was Shakespeare a pop artist?
Both participants emphasized labels of pop and classic are forever shifting and overlapping and in doing so, losing value. Musician and cultural commentator Torquil Campbell suggested Shakespeare was the king of the pop hook, that essential grab-the-audience moment that connects them forever to the material.
New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik agreed, adding Shakespeare remains demanding, a quality all great classical artists share. For some, the very mention of ART is alienating and yet, Gopnik argued, it's OK to stand in front of a painting or in a dark theatre and not get it, to be challenged. Getting teachers who can connect the dots for contemporary audiences of Shakespeare would help and yes, most English teachers don't have a clue.
Filmmaker Josh Whedon isn't fussed about labels. His adaptation of the original rom com, Much Ado about Nothing, opens next week in Toronto, and from the lengthy cheers I heard at the TIFF screening last fall, there's little issue with connection. Whedon shot the film in his own house using a familiar cadre of actors who have been gathering in his home over the years to perform Billy the Bard's plays... for kicks. Yes, the man who brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Avengers, told the L.A Times, it's Shakespeare's hip qualities he loves."That’s why I love it. Because it’s still so relevant. Actually, I would say that’s exactly half of it. I love it because it’s so modern, because there’s still so much to learn and say and think through in the text, and every time you see a good production, or do a reading, or really read through it, you find something you didn’t see before. Every now and then, I’ll just memorize a little bit from something just to sort of feel it out, just to sort of live it for a little while. And then I’ll forget it, but it’s amazing how much you learn just from that one little exercise. On the one hand, yeah, it’s so accessible, and on the other hand, there is a remove. There is musicality in the language that is largely lost."
And that's precisely how the film feels-a hip and loose lark that celebrates the original text but is very much of the moment.
After I saw the film, I wanted to go back to my 10 year old self and the days of backyard theatre, where my pals and I did homemade fairy tales for tolerant neighbours on garden benches. Whedon makes art for everybody but especially for my kids and their peers who are struggling through June exams, thinking "just why am I studying this again?"
Here is your answer. It's also a gold star on the essay "How I spent my vacation". Whedon shot the film, in between projects, over 12 days. Summer's around the corner. What will you do?
Have a peek.
Sunday 26 May 2013
Just Peachy
Posted on 14:25 by rajrani
It's picnic season, otherwise known as play hooky and get thee to a patch of grass.
With or without companions. A book will do fine.
With or without companions. A book will do fine.
Anne's Picnic Imperatives
1. Unless you like the taste of grass, bring a tablecloth.
2. Pack ice packs to keep food cool. Nothing kills a picnic quicker than lukewarm food.
3. There is no such thing as standard picnic fare. Think beyond sandwiches. Crab salad, sushi, cold chicken, tomato salad, marinated veggie and goat cheese baguettes: be creative.
4. Don't forget cold drinks. Lemonade is a clincher.
5. Pack extra napkins, wipes, straws, utensils. A sharp knife comes in handy and no, it's not for stabbing ants.
6. Always bring a surprise treat.
Ditch anyone who thinks eating outside is icky. They're not worth knowing.
Eating outside is just peachy.
To help you get started, here's a winning picnic cake:
Read more »
Thursday 23 May 2013
KISS ballad back story
Posted on 07:23 by rajrani
For my kid brother, who once loved KISS, and my husband and others in the air guitar generation, this is for you.
Read more »
Thursday 16 May 2013
Emma Watson grows up
Posted on 18:54 by rajrani
Emma Watson may have quashed the rumours about being cast in soft porn 50 Shades of Grey but she's still determined to leave Hogwarts behind for good.
Read more »
Tuesday 14 May 2013
Make me laugh and I'm yours
Posted on 09:58 by rajrani
I'm looking for a good spring tonic. Comedy is the easiest reach, done up by some cute dudes, even better. I married a funny guy so let's just say I'm partial to cheek. It's spring. A little lust is normal.
Read more »
Sunday 12 May 2013
Wednesday 8 May 2013
5 Reasons People Should Not Hate Gwyneth Paltrow
Posted on 05:42 by rajrani
There are 5 reasons of why people should not hate Gwyneth Paltrow despite more and more links tell the contrary on the Internet. However, if the hatred has already been ingrained and scattered on the first page of Google, what else we can say? "We should respect your point of view."
If you don't go with the majority, the following 5 reasons of why we should not hate Gwyneth Paltrow might "enlighten" you people, especially, those who don't really know of such matter.
1. Hatred will bring nothing but only anger, and anger will burn off your head so that you won't have anymore head to look in the mirror. This makes people think that now we're starting to lead an animated life.
2. People usually like to find out about news of a bad side of a celebrity, and this won't make them a celebrity, whether they have this goal or no. Except, for one reason, they welcome Halloween
3.Gwyneth Paltrow is not one of a herd of mosquitoes to annoy us when sleeping, so we don't have to buy a pesticide to get rid of her.
4. When you live in China you can't hate her. This is applied also to people living in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tibet, Oman and many other countries whose, not only English is a foreign language, but also the populations are ignorant of their own domestic celebrities.
5. Gwyneth Paltrow never came to my dream asking me to write about 5 reasons of why people should not hate her, and in return she will cast me to co-star with her in the next Iron Man sequel.
_________________________________________
Stop Hatred! Let's Go To India With Celebrities!
If you don't go with the majority, the following 5 reasons of why we should not hate Gwyneth Paltrow might "enlighten" you people, especially, those who don't really know of such matter.
1. Hatred will bring nothing but only anger, and anger will burn off your head so that you won't have anymore head to look in the mirror. This makes people think that now we're starting to lead an animated life.
2. People usually like to find out about news of a bad side of a celebrity, and this won't make them a celebrity, whether they have this goal or no. Except, for one reason, they welcome Halloween
3.Gwyneth Paltrow is not one of a herd of mosquitoes to annoy us when sleeping, so we don't have to buy a pesticide to get rid of her.
4. When you live in China you can't hate her. This is applied also to people living in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tibet, Oman and many other countries whose, not only English is a foreign language, but also the populations are ignorant of their own domestic celebrities.
5. Gwyneth Paltrow never came to my dream asking me to write about 5 reasons of why people should not hate her, and in return she will cast me to co-star with her in the next Iron Man sequel.
_________________________________________
Stop Hatred! Let's Go To India With Celebrities!
Monday 6 May 2013
Chris Hadfield Update
Posted on 14:51 by rajrani
Earlier today, I directed Chronicle readers to a noon hour live webcast of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield joining children across Canada in a singalong. The point of this technological marvel was to underscore the importance of music education, under threat in some school boards. If you missed it, the webcast will be released shortly on social media but in the meantime, you can watch this earlier taping of the same song in the first space to earth musical collaboration.
Music Monday Right Now
Posted on 09:19 by rajrani
Chris Hadfield is my hero.
He's out of this world.
The Canadian astronaut takes the black space of confusion and anarchist elements from the ungoverned terrain of the digital revolution and fills it, with music. Every time one of my peers throws their hands up in defeat over the great, shifting tides under our feet ("no, I don't use Facebook. Don't get it. No, I don't use Twitter. I want my privacy. Can you figure out my phone for me?" ), I look to the simple, human connection that this highly creative guy provides from space and just point. Upward.
There.
There is proof of the possible, our future, our connected thread to a collective, great imagination. Technology working without any nuance,without any subversive agenda, a purpose we can all understand.
Today, at 12:30 pm, Commander Hadfield will take part in a live webcast from space to mark the ninth year of Music Monday, an annual initiative to raise awareness of musical education for young Canadians. Hadfield will link up with Ed Robertson ( Barenaked Ladies) and students gathered at the Ontario Science Centre to sing a song the two co-wrote for the event. Across the country, students will link up for the singalong in an effort to send a clear message to school board officials: don't cut our music programs!
Play hooky from work and school and go online right now. Here is the the link.
He's out of this world.
The Canadian astronaut takes the black space of confusion and anarchist elements from the ungoverned terrain of the digital revolution and fills it, with music. Every time one of my peers throws their hands up in defeat over the great, shifting tides under our feet ("no, I don't use Facebook. Don't get it. No, I don't use Twitter. I want my privacy. Can you figure out my phone for me?" ), I look to the simple, human connection that this highly creative guy provides from space and just point. Upward.
There.
There is proof of the possible, our future, our connected thread to a collective, great imagination. Technology working without any nuance,without any subversive agenda, a purpose we can all understand.
Today, at 12:30 pm, Commander Hadfield will take part in a live webcast from space to mark the ninth year of Music Monday, an annual initiative to raise awareness of musical education for young Canadians. Hadfield will link up with Ed Robertson ( Barenaked Ladies) and students gathered at the Ontario Science Centre to sing a song the two co-wrote for the event. Across the country, students will link up for the singalong in an effort to send a clear message to school board officials: don't cut our music programs!
Play hooky from work and school and go online right now. Here is the the link.
Friday 3 May 2013
Get Rid Of Parkinson - Make Muhammad Ali Smile!
Posted on 07:02 by rajrani
How Do You Get Parkinson's disease? A serious question, off course. It's different from when you have a cold and someone asks you about it. The first question is not the one to be answered while giggling just to show to others that you only need a minor treatment.
Most people might know Muhammad Ali, the boxing legend who suffered parkinson's disease. How did he get it? A stupid disjointed answer might be: anytime you see the man who bullies you, don't run, mock him so that he becomes irritated and then give you a black eye. If he's not satisfied, you can give your head too.
It's not about how to be like Muhammad Ali who used to sting like a bee in the ring, it's about the precaution. So how about it? We should know first the symptom, why parkinson can attack a man, at what age, and what is the best treatment for this disease.
There are a lot of information you can get from the Internet regarding this. But if you search: what causes Parkinson's disease? All will answer the same; No one knows for sure about it. No one knows what makes the nerve cells break down. What affects the way you move is this cells breakdown. Yes, it happens when there is a problem with certain nerve cells in the brain.
So, now you get the point, right? And you are invited to assist or replace the current scientists who are doing a lot of research to look for the answer. They are studying many possible causes, including aging and poisons in the environment.
A funny question today now: How to be a scientist who is free from parkinson's disease? If you can make a breaktrough over this, not only you make Muhammad Ali proud of you, you'll also answer the world's request.
One is stop spoofing!
___________________________________
Stop Eating! Bulimia is awaiting!
Most people might know Muhammad Ali, the boxing legend who suffered parkinson's disease. How did he get it? A stupid disjointed answer might be: anytime you see the man who bullies you, don't run, mock him so that he becomes irritated and then give you a black eye. If he's not satisfied, you can give your head too.
It's not about how to be like Muhammad Ali who used to sting like a bee in the ring, it's about the precaution. So how about it? We should know first the symptom, why parkinson can attack a man, at what age, and what is the best treatment for this disease.
There are a lot of information you can get from the Internet regarding this. But if you search: what causes Parkinson's disease? All will answer the same; No one knows for sure about it. No one knows what makes the nerve cells break down. What affects the way you move is this cells breakdown. Yes, it happens when there is a problem with certain nerve cells in the brain.
So, now you get the point, right? And you are invited to assist or replace the current scientists who are doing a lot of research to look for the answer. They are studying many possible causes, including aging and poisons in the environment.
A funny question today now: How to be a scientist who is free from parkinson's disease? If you can make a breaktrough over this, not only you make Muhammad Ali proud of you, you'll also answer the world's request.
One is stop spoofing!
___________________________________
Stop Eating! Bulimia is awaiting!
Wednesday 1 May 2013
leaping greenly
Posted on 16:32 by rajrani
House robbed, basement drains seeping sewage, and I've ducked outside to peer at the buds.
Can't help it, it's the default setting on this whacky '64 model. Spring is the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky (e.e cummings), love hot and bothered in the back seat ( not me, never!) and black under your fingernails.
dirt
A dump truck leaves a mound of earth on my driveway.
It sprawls there in misshapen form.
The girls abandon the bubbles and bound downstairs.
Bare and dripping on the steps, they stare,
pink bums longing to leap in the dirt
to rid themselves of clean.
Wheelbarrows later,
virgin soil cuts a black ribbon through the yard.
Moist from the dusk rain, it is an expectant bed
beckoning my toes in.
Soon too, my hands, arms,
body burrowing down, down.
I am a root taking hold,
my fetal blooms encased.
Warm, ready, I'm a lover in wait.
Sun rays ripple through the sod.
Send my colours exploding,
wild and bright against the jet ground.
Through the window,
my breath forms a steam cloud.
A garden.
Finally.
from my 2001 collection " Holding Glass"
Is Bulimia Treatment Effective?
Posted on 00:47 by rajrani
One thing for sure, bulimia treatment is for anybody who cannot stop eating in an uncontrolled way. It is how to stop them from vomiting a large amount from their body as well. And it is not for you to take if you just want to lose weight. How effective is it, anyway?
The tendency for eating much is normal for human being, but when it comes to gluttony you need to concern that you may create a serious problem later, that you may drop, and therefore you need a series of bulimia treatment if you suffer from this as you can't stop your gluttonous habit. This time, you'll find whether it is effective or no as to how to answer the above-mentioned question.
So, don't eat much. Does this sound like a warning to you to prevent you from doing your "hobby"? Like someone urges me to stop writing about parody, you and I will surely say, "no way," right? The difference is that I still can write about bulimia treatment as spoof rather than describe the effectiveness of it. On the other hand, if there's no control of your eating habit, surely you'll suffer such a disease.
Bulimia is a mental illness, something that happens because you have gone to far with your taste and it never occurs to you such a treatment when you're trapped in gluttony. So, first, what is the effective way of not getting it?
Before it's too late, you should find the way of how to lose weight as best as you can. Then you can do as I do; write a parody about your condition as if such misery had befallen you. If you think that's funny it means you are not doing your best to avoid it, you're not serious. The effectiveness of the treatment should begin as a prevention. Bulimia is hazardous and there's nothing funny about it to put down in your diary.
Except you contact and ask me to post it here in an amusing writing.
_____________________________________
Got A Problem With A Long Distance Relationship? Stop Eating!
The tendency for eating much is normal for human being, but when it comes to gluttony you need to concern that you may create a serious problem later, that you may drop, and therefore you need a series of bulimia treatment if you suffer from this as you can't stop your gluttonous habit. This time, you'll find whether it is effective or no as to how to answer the above-mentioned question.
So, don't eat much. Does this sound like a warning to you to prevent you from doing your "hobby"? Like someone urges me to stop writing about parody, you and I will surely say, "no way," right? The difference is that I still can write about bulimia treatment as spoof rather than describe the effectiveness of it. On the other hand, if there's no control of your eating habit, surely you'll suffer such a disease.
Bulimia is a mental illness, something that happens because you have gone to far with your taste and it never occurs to you such a treatment when you're trapped in gluttony. So, first, what is the effective way of not getting it?
Before it's too late, you should find the way of how to lose weight as best as you can. Then you can do as I do; write a parody about your condition as if such misery had befallen you. If you think that's funny it means you are not doing your best to avoid it, you're not serious. The effectiveness of the treatment should begin as a prevention. Bulimia is hazardous and there's nothing funny about it to put down in your diary.
Except you contact and ask me to post it here in an amusing writing.
_____________________________________
Got A Problem With A Long Distance Relationship? Stop Eating!
Monday 29 April 2013
Long Distance Relationship Problem: Just Take It Easy
Posted on 22:25 by rajrani
How to cope with a long distance relationship problem? Just take it easy. First, you know what to do, where to go and how to settle each other down and how to cope with the messed-up affair.
You do? If not, think about the second point. Second, you don't know what to do, where to go and how to cope with each other problem. Having a long distance relationship should not distress you, so that you feel as if it sucks your blood: Just take it easy
Better not feeling it alone even though you think it is too personal and it is too risky to trust someone to solve your problem. But, it's okay if that what you think, don't trust these people to help you cope with your long distance relationship problem:
1. Lawyer
You're not divorcing someone, you're not even married yet. You just need a pal around and therefore there's no need a professional to interfere with your business.
2. Security Guards
In spite of their main job to protect their clients from risks of safety, it is not recommended that you use their service for the sake of your own security. You're not keeping belongings
3. Tour guide
Is he a spiritual consultant? You're not going to India to see the celebrities and dance with them. Okay, that will make you forget your partner, but surely, it will take a lot of money.
4. Blogger
Especially the one who likes rewriting or spinning an article of your long distance relationship problem and make it a parody or spoof ... Like me!!!
What?!
You do? If not, think about the second point. Second, you don't know what to do, where to go and how to cope with each other problem. Having a long distance relationship should not distress you, so that you feel as if it sucks your blood: Just take it easy
Better not feeling it alone even though you think it is too personal and it is too risky to trust someone to solve your problem. But, it's okay if that what you think, don't trust these people to help you cope with your long distance relationship problem:
1. Lawyer
You're not divorcing someone, you're not even married yet. You just need a pal around and therefore there's no need a professional to interfere with your business.
2. Security Guards
In spite of their main job to protect their clients from risks of safety, it is not recommended that you use their service for the sake of your own security. You're not keeping belongings
3. Tour guide
Is he a spiritual consultant? You're not going to India to see the celebrities and dance with them. Okay, that will make you forget your partner, but surely, it will take a lot of money.
4. Blogger
Especially the one who likes rewriting or spinning an article of your long distance relationship problem and make it a parody or spoof ... Like me!!!
What?!
Sunday 28 April 2013
Guarding the nest
Posted on 13:33 by rajrani
It was the best of times and the worst of times.
We were robbed Friday night while at my nephew’s last jazz concert before he graduates from high school. Just another “b & e,”* so banal and ubiquitous that we waited an hour for the police to make an appearance.
Apologies to Mr. Dickens, but confronted with the urban duality of crime and community, I'm borrowing from the best.
Read more »
Tuesday 23 April 2013
Storytelling in a new age
Posted on 07:30 by rajrani
It's part of my morning ritual to wake up with another man.
My husband's ok with it.
He's lived with me long enough to understand my needs.
Read more »
Lawyer Advertisement Ideas, No Spoof!
Posted on 06:24 by rajrani
As with business, lawyers also need to advertise themselves as part of a campaign to get clients. And the Internet is one of the most appropriate media for this purpose. So what ideas would be better for the commercial?
Lawyers need to highlight their services, describe their portfolio or outlines various cases ever handled and won. Unless they have already been well-known, the advertisement does not need to be done intensively. The idea of self promotion can be put aside, just wait for "the victim" to come to hire them. Does this sound cynical?
Lawyer advertisement ideas should not promote things too dramatic or glamorous because currently you are not releasing a new movie.
The things that need to be done besides advertising promotions are as follows:
1. When shaking hands with a man you first meet. say, "if you have a case that I can handle?"
2. When the person is asking about you, say that you are not selling something but offering something
3. When the person has a problem with his marriage life say that you are not the angel of savior, you are just an ordinary person who wants to help others.
Okay, now the question is: Are you going to do as suggested above? What an idea! If yes. it means you need to advertise yourself. If not, you also need to do so. If you think it's a silly suggestion as it is straight to the point, you need to create your own narration to your ad.
Do not try me, my audience are comedy lovers.
Lawyers need to highlight their services, describe their portfolio or outlines various cases ever handled and won. Unless they have already been well-known, the advertisement does not need to be done intensively. The idea of self promotion can be put aside, just wait for "the victim" to come to hire them. Does this sound cynical?
Lawyer advertisement ideas should not promote things too dramatic or glamorous because currently you are not releasing a new movie.
The things that need to be done besides advertising promotions are as follows:
1. When shaking hands with a man you first meet. say, "if you have a case that I can handle?"
2. When the person is asking about you, say that you are not selling something but offering something
3. When the person has a problem with his marriage life say that you are not the angel of savior, you are just an ordinary person who wants to help others.
Okay, now the question is: Are you going to do as suggested above? What an idea! If yes. it means you need to advertise yourself. If not, you also need to do so. If you think it's a silly suggestion as it is straight to the point, you need to create your own narration to your ad.
Do not try me, my audience are comedy lovers.
Wanna come? |
Monday 22 April 2013
Car Insurance? Which Do You Choose: Reliable, Cheaper Or Fast?
Posted on 23:29 by rajrani
Which is the priority? When it comes to car insurance, what you need is a trust to support all facilities to make things easy, reliable, cheaper and fast. Where can you get all such services, anyway? First, do the survey and compare. Search on the Internet. Have a serious online activity to meet your need.
However, if your tour then gets distracted there, get back to your initial idea, and imagine--if necessary close your eyes first--that the car Insurance you're looking for, despite it is no more bounded by distance, place and space, comes from a trustful source . If you choose a reliable one, you don't have to ask your father in-law about it, right? Like, "What else, Papa? If it is not Cheaper? Faster?" Lol. It is more than: that everything is available online.
Again, don't get distracted. Because the Internet, on the one hand, is known as a home base for spamming, and, on the other hand, is a pleasure cage for anybody knowing no where to go. You can buy and sell car here with or without insurance. Whenever you need some reliable or cheaper stuff, things online can provide fast service whether you like to follow it up or no.
So after reading this, go, have your car insured. No matter how simple it is to presume as not reliable, cheaper, fast as what you have in mind, you should build a positive thinking.
Don't do as I do: build a dream of having a car by blogging!
However, if your tour then gets distracted there, get back to your initial idea, and imagine--if necessary close your eyes first--that the car Insurance you're looking for, despite it is no more bounded by distance, place and space, comes from a trustful source . If you choose a reliable one, you don't have to ask your father in-law about it, right? Like, "What else, Papa? If it is not Cheaper? Faster?" Lol. It is more than: that everything is available online.
Again, don't get distracted. Because the Internet, on the one hand, is known as a home base for spamming, and, on the other hand, is a pleasure cage for anybody knowing no where to go. You can buy and sell car here with or without insurance. Whenever you need some reliable or cheaper stuff, things online can provide fast service whether you like to follow it up or no.
So after reading this, go, have your car insured. No matter how simple it is to presume as not reliable, cheaper, fast as what you have in mind, you should build a positive thinking.
Don't do as I do: build a dream of having a car by blogging!
Sunday 21 April 2013
Embrace the Quirkmeister!
Posted on 20:26 by rajrani
You have to be one to understand one.
That's what I sometimes say to foreign friends who want me to get into it over Canadian culture and try to define something, anything that is essential Canadian.
Maybe I should just turn up k.d. Lang.
Really loud.
Then maybe they'd get it.
Her voice is immediately familiar and sends me to my happy place. There is just no other singer who can elicit in me such deep veins of melancholy and joy.
If you heard cheering down the street from inside that house with the red door, that was me, watching k.d Lang accept her official induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at tonight's Juno awards in Regina...me, cheering for the rightness of it all, and her fabulous speech.
"I think the fact that I'm standing here receiving this award says more about Canada than it does about me, because only in Canada could there be such a freak as k.d. Lang receiving this award. Only in Canada could there be people like Stompin' Tom Connors and Rita MacNeil. So I am here to tell you, my friends and my countrymen, that it is OK to be you. It is OK to let your freak flags fly. Embrace the quirkmeister that is inside all of us.
And I'm not even just talking artists, every single person in this nation has the right to be themselves, live life go team go. I love you Canada, thank you so much."
This is not the first time the Edmonton born singer has stolen the show at the Junos.
Here she is in 2005 singing a Canadian classic.
Go ahead and turn up the volume. I'm right there with you.
More on music: Tegan and Sara
Prince
Saturday 20 April 2013
Back at school, changing the world not so quietly.
Posted on 08:28 by rajrani
Time has chosen their 2013 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
This is the 10th such list from the magazine and one that measures future potential as much as it rewards current success in various fields. Only 35 women made the list, including Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived a vicious attack by the Taliban. Her ordeal and passionate advocacy earned her one of seven cover portraits.
"Malala, the human incarnation of the inhuman Nietzschean precept that whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, has been catapulted to prominence and handed the resources and connections to campaign on a grand scale."
I wrote here about Yousafzai last fall, hoping my children and their peers would include her when looking for heroes beyond the pop culture pin ups.
(Missing the point)
Today, the young activist is back at school, this time in the U.K., at a girls school in Birmingham.
After a week where we were reminded of the unsettling tides of the new terrorism, can I help but be cheered at this video of her tour in her new school?
(BACK TO SCHOOL TIME VIDEO)
Read more of Time profile here
Recent Chronicle posts you may have missed:
try to praise the mutilated world
We've been Newsroomed
This is the 10th such list from the magazine and one that measures future potential as much as it rewards current success in various fields. Only 35 women made the list, including Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived a vicious attack by the Taliban. Her ordeal and passionate advocacy earned her one of seven cover portraits.
"Malala, the human incarnation of the inhuman Nietzschean precept that whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, has been catapulted to prominence and handed the resources and connections to campaign on a grand scale."
I wrote here about Yousafzai last fall, hoping my children and their peers would include her when looking for heroes beyond the pop culture pin ups.
(Missing the point)
Today, the young activist is back at school, this time in the U.K., at a girls school in Birmingham.
After a week where we were reminded of the unsettling tides of the new terrorism, can I help but be cheered at this video of her tour in her new school?
(BACK TO SCHOOL TIME VIDEO)
Read more of Time profile here
Recent Chronicle posts you may have missed:
try to praise the mutilated world
We've been Newsroomed
Friday 19 April 2013
try to praise the mutilated world
Posted on 12:27 by rajrani
Spring is taking her time to arrive.
Our neighbours to the south face yet another grim reality about modern life as another president delivers a eulogy for victims of a horrific tragedy and black helicopters buzz about jittery cities.
My own hometown where I continue to live is considering adding a casino to our waterfront that would torpedo the culture of a city that I love.
I see the tips of yellow peeping through the dirt in my yard but flurries still threaten their immediate arrival.
I need a little help today. Fortunately, it's April. National Poetry Month. I hope to share some of my favourites in the remaining days of April but here is one needed today.
It is from a well worn collection on my shelf "she walks in beauty", a gift from my mom.
It was also one of a collection of poems shared in The New Yorker in the days after the attacks on September 11th, 2001.
Try to Praise the Mutilated World
Remember June’s long days,
one of them had a long trip ahead of it,
A Company With Natural Security Guards? Where?
Posted on 06:31 by rajrani
Security Guards Needed By Big Companies! Great! But, correction. Not only by the big ones, but also by small enterprises! Indeed business needs conducive situation, therefore safety should be taken into consideration. And those looking for a job for this position must also have conducive personality. Strong mentally and spiritually.
Thousands Of Men Needed To Protect Business. Your job includes fighting against intruders and protecting a sacred spiritual document from theft and threat. So prepare yourself if you like to be a tough faithful security guard, start practicing and improving your martial art from now on. Go to the gym, have your body well built, unless you lack budget, go to the river and lift the rocks and stones there instead of having a comfortable workout in an air-conditioned room. However, if this sounds silly, skip it.
But, why silly? Think about side effect advantage.
First, you get back to nature. You can feel the fresh water flown from the mountain, unpolluted and might be potable. If you're lucky you'll see a crocodile there smiling at you. The crocodile won't bite you, because it knows you are so tough. You are a security guard most companies would like to hire. Your job is so noble that not only crocodile, but also lizard and chameleon will feel touched by your nobility and sincerity.
Second, the river might keep hidden treasure, who knows after washing your clothes and drying them around the bushes, you'll hear a whisper telling you to jump to the river and search for some China. Maybe ceramics, jewelry or diamond belonging to Ming Dynasty remains there. But if you think it's a bullshit, don't bring your buffalo there and let it empty its bowel.
Business might not need such story like this. It needs protection and safety. As soon as get a job in a big company as a security guard, ignore the whisper of nature as written above, okay? But if this kind of story turns you on while having a rest, I hope you still have a sense of humor on duty while everybody thinks you are the most intolerable person on earth.
_________________________________
How About Your Office Design? Already Well Planned? Read more
Thousands Of Men Needed To Protect Business. Your job includes fighting against intruders and protecting a sacred spiritual document from theft and threat. So prepare yourself if you like to be a tough faithful security guard, start practicing and improving your martial art from now on. Go to the gym, have your body well built, unless you lack budget, go to the river and lift the rocks and stones there instead of having a comfortable workout in an air-conditioned room. However, if this sounds silly, skip it.
But, why silly? Think about side effect advantage.
First, you get back to nature. You can feel the fresh water flown from the mountain, unpolluted and might be potable. If you're lucky you'll see a crocodile there smiling at you. The crocodile won't bite you, because it knows you are so tough. You are a security guard most companies would like to hire. Your job is so noble that not only crocodile, but also lizard and chameleon will feel touched by your nobility and sincerity.
Second, the river might keep hidden treasure, who knows after washing your clothes and drying them around the bushes, you'll hear a whisper telling you to jump to the river and search for some China. Maybe ceramics, jewelry or diamond belonging to Ming Dynasty remains there. But if you think it's a bullshit, don't bring your buffalo there and let it empty its bowel.
Business might not need such story like this. It needs protection and safety. As soon as get a job in a big company as a security guard, ignore the whisper of nature as written above, okay? But if this kind of story turns you on while having a rest, I hope you still have a sense of humor on duty while everybody thinks you are the most intolerable person on earth.
_________________________________
How About Your Office Design? Already Well Planned? Read more
Thursday 18 April 2013
We've been Newsroomed
Posted on 13:25 by rajrani
"Senseless."
Justin Trudeau chose an apt word to describe the horror that broke Boston's heart this week.
We agree, shake our heads and shudder.
If we work in media, however, we will try to make sense of it.
We will scramble for sources and work the phones, the contacts, and these days, keep a sharp eye on Twitter and all the myriad new media that can make traditional sources seem to play catch up.
It is a dizzying race to get there first.
Last year, our family got caught up in this very circus from the safety of our couch. We began to watch HBO"s The Newsroom. Written by the brilliant Aaron Sorkin, the show was constructed around real life news stories delivered by an idealistic prime time cable news crew. It was hardly a hit as many critics deplored Sorkin's preachy characters and levelled charges at him of elitism and bias. True but are we to believe bias isn't evident everywhere else? I kept watching but that's no surprise. Call me a sucker for literate speechifying and witty repartee. Old movies with flinging quips have me enthralled and I don't care if no one I know talks like this. No one I know is Ironman either. The point is an idealized version of humanity, which Sorkin's The West Wing did with perfection. I fell for the cast and the romantic underpinnings and ignored the irritating low points, for few writers on television can make the heart soar quite like Sorkin.
Now it turns out from the real life coverage of the Boston bombings, that Sorkin got it right, making him a prescient philosopher king who may also be a pompous ass for all I know but that's beside the point.
Earlier in the week, we saw that race to be first result in inaccurate reporting, first from CNN's breathless announcement, picked up by other news organizations, that a suspect was in custody. By the end of the day, they were backpedalling. This is hardly new and few journalists are innocent-we've all made mistakes in the search for the story. But these days, when the method of getting the story has been turned upside down, I wonder if all that craft that went into reporting is dead.
So what? Isn't it more democratic to demolish top down business models and allow all of us to make our own news? The immediacy of Twitter is damn seductive-we are enthralled and now accustomed to rapid fire discoveries. But when you work in a newsroom, as I did a million years ago ( see here) and discover there are rules to follow and methods to mine, you understand and respect that process and craft do more for the story than just getting it out. Suddenly, I hear news reporters on radio and television, adding qualifying tag lines" this is a developing story" or a "fluid story" or introducing their show as champions of "long form journalism". Restraint has always been important in complicated news stories but now, it appears to be a choice that one makes and then announces to others as an apology or...
a triumphant line in the sand.
Or not. Here is how it played out on CNN.
Here is the now infamous episode of Sorkin's fictional but not-so-much Newsroom as they handle the news of Gaby Giffords' shooting. The episode"I'll try to fix you" has, says Salon magazine, become " prescriptive and culturally omnipresent" as the Twitter world lit up this week with references to Sorkin's show. It's worth watching the whole clip, if only to imagine a world where people actually behaved in this manner, and not just in Sorkin's imagination. While you watch, keep in mind that The Newsroom was renewed for a second season which will begin this July on HBO. I'll be watching.
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