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What a weekend. Yesterday Theo left for Buffalo to go see a Bills game with seven other guys, mostly from his baseball team (which I'm sure he will blog about later when he has recovered.) I went to help out at my grandma's Church Bazaar in the Bake Room, and hung around with my grandma and her friends until we cashed out around 2:30 p.m. Quite the bake sale -- we raked in over $2000! I should have had a bake sale to raise money for tuition!

Last night Christine and I went downtown for dinner at Mamma Grazzi's (delicious!!) in the market, and went to Patty Boland's afterwards. Fun night to get out and enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of downtown -- girl style.

I have to admit, it wasn't fun sleeping in an empty bed (though Toby- our cat - did come curl up for a bit at around 6 a.m.) I'm quite anxious for Theo to come back home tonight (hopefully within a couple hours!) and to curl up with me.

Today I slept in, cleaned up the apartment a bit, and listened to the Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean. In a few weeks I'm going to a live show with Stuart McLean at the NAC and I can't wait. I take my grandma, my parents (and this year my grandma's sister) and normally Theo (but he can't make it this year) as a Christmas present. It's a beautiful family show, and Stuart's Dave and Morley stories are so heartwarming they can bring a tear to your eye or make you laugh until your sides hurt. They are so easy to relate to. Stuart also plays the best in undiscovered Canadian musical talent. In fact, it was on the Vinyl Cafe that I first heard the incredible, original sounds of The Arcade Fire.

I watched The Take written and directed by my favorite activist couple, Naomi Klein author of No Logo) and Avi Lewis (son of another fave Canadian of mine: Stephen Lewis). The documentary was a stunning look at capitalism, the IMF, issues of power and control, and in the end, of humanity. I recommend you rent, borrow or otherwise see this film. How would you react if the Canadian banks literally took all of the cash out of the country and froze your bank accounts? Scary....

In my Avi Lewis mood -- I then watched the first episode of The Big Picture with Avi Lewis. A documentary is screened and then an hour long "town-hall" style discussion takes place with an audience. This episode dealt with what people will do when a person with authority gives them instructions that are morally corrupt. The documentary discussed the Milgram experiment, the Stanford Prison experiment
and the military culture which has led to the problems of torture and inhumane treatment at Abu Ghraib. There was a very interesting discussion afterwards including a U.S. soldier who quit in opposition to the torture of Iraqi detainees, members of the Canadian and U.S. military, authors, film makers and politicians.

I'm quite tired so I think I'll stop here for now. Will likely post more tomorrow night.

Until then....