Chief Ten Bears: December 2007

Levity Central, w/o bears ;-(

Of course it's a bit belated by now. For your perusal, a Cold Blooded Christmas.

Of all the '2girls 1cup' reaction videos around, this is the cream of the crop. Remember kids, once you've seen it you can't 'unsee' it. Be careful out there.

Finally, the Pete Schweaty SNL skit always cracks me up any ol' time of the year. I couldn't find an embed so you'll have to click here.

Icicle Porn

The Pineapple Express sweeps through in between spates of freezing cold temperatures, causing mammoth icicles to form on the eaves.

Last year they ripped off a ten foot section of eavestrough from the roof.

Another view, looking from the other side.

Let's take a closer look at that huge one...

... that is over three inches thick near the tip.

I accidentally backed into one of those icicles while chopping ice off the porch (about 26 square feet) and it slid down my neck, underneath my clothes and into the back of my jeans. Only one thing to do to get it out, take your boot off and shake your leg till it slides down.

Funny thing, I tend to lose weight in the winter and gain it back over the summer. All this snow shoveling, ice chopping, and firewood hopping takes up alot of energy and time. That's why I was AWOL over xmas on the ol' blog. It's more important right now to keep the front door from freezing shut (and it did last week) than to decorate and bake fattening cookies.

Winter's Bounty

While trudging around the back yard for more icicle pics, I noticed it looked peaceful out here. The tracks are mine. I take two stomps with every step so as not to break through too many layers of stratified snow at once.

Yeah, its my yard but I haven't a clue what is under those lumps to the right.

Snap Crackle Pop

By chance there was a sap laden log in the middle of the fire, sizzling and adding much fuel to the flames. The brief and intense fire was fun to watch.

Winter doesn't suck so bad if you have something to do

For me, the weather is a great deciding factor in regards to choosing indoor or outdoor activities. I'm not into snow or snow sports (unless you call shovelling as fast as one can a sport), so indoor all the way it is.

I've been culling my summer wardrobe and refreshing it with new homemade additions. This skirt is merely a tube with elastic for a waistband. No pattern required and a nice way to use up scrap cloth and notions.

This strappy drawstring number is not as wide as a traditional Hawaiian Muu Muu (I own a vinatge one), so I'm simply calling it the Muu. Again, made with scrap (Ikea) cloth.

A 40 year old machine woven silk tapestry quickly serged into a throw pillow for the guest room. I'll have to remember to hide it when my Mum comes to visit. She'll be none too pleased that I chopped up her souvenir from the old country. I have to say it looks much better here than kicking around in the bottom of my scrap bag for the last 15 years.

Time to clean finicky delicate bits of jewelry at a leisurely pace. Thanks to eBay, I found out there is such a thing as sandwich glass bracelets from the 40's.

Scenes of Last Summer

Just when I got used to warm weather, it turned to fall and ugh, winter in no time flat. Years ago on a day just like this, I came across a group of American tourists exiting a black limo and marching straight into Madam Cleo's. They all had huge grins on their faces and I turned to give their chauffeur a 'thumbs up' hand gesture, which he kindly returned.

A well cared for lawn at Richards and Helmcken, across the street from Madam Cleo's. That's all it is, a plot of grass with a CCTV pointed at it. This property is worth tens of millions and would normally be paved into a parking lot till someone gets around to plant a building there. Very curious.

This bronze Venus De Milo sits outside an expensive antique store in upper Granville, the kind you have to ring a doorbell to enter. Passersby have molested her boobs shiny smooth.

The summer outdoor market in Vancouver Chinatown. The number one place to get Hello Kitty cellphone charms and Japanese anime air freshener nodders for the car.

For Jon

I thought of your Dad when I found this BBC clip. Link via Netorama.

Hail, the other frozen precipitation

I ducked outside to take pics of the house for our folks in South Africa and came back inside 90 seconds later covered in breath mint sized hail. It's currently snowing like gangbusters in Whistler.

Bear Inspired

Gifts like these are sure to make your kids hate you this xmas. (click on photo for link)

Why not go further and piss off your significant other with a grizzly-inspired toilet gift set?

This Winnie the Pooh book predates the '2Girls 1Cup' stunt by 12 years. Seriously. Check it out if you don't believe me. People eating 'pooh' is not a new thing at all.

I love clever art.

An interesting article of Teller's (of Penn and Teller) House called 'The Bear Bones' that includes a metal bear that speaks and plays card tricks.

The Vancouver 2010 mascots made Dlisted's 'Hot Slut of the Day' list for Nov. 29th.

Last Firewood Trip of 2007

The loggers are clearing out of the Soo Valley for the season and taking their gigantic equipment with them. Our last day was Nov. 24th and since then, over 2 feet of snow has come down.

The sun peeked out for a minute or two, long enough to take a quick pic. These trees won't be green again till next April.

We found a new logging slash close to the valley entrance and took a little bit of firewood for the road. This stuff is very green and will be saved for the end of the winter burn season, when it will hopefully be dried out by then.

Lo and behold, the next day (25th) brought a big dump of snow. Dave deserves to feel smug beside our great supply of dry, almost bark free and predominately fir wood pile.