Pringle Can
I discovered a new reason to love Canada today: salt & vinegar Pringles. Maybe they have these in the States now too, but I never saw them when I was there. Yum.
Today I bought myself a new jacket. I already have a jacket, but I'm quickly finding that in a climate this rainy, especially when you spend most of your travel time walking around, having the right rain jacket can make all the difference in the world.
I'd seen this jacket when shopping with a friend of mine shortly after I arrived here, but at the time I'd decided that I didn't really need a new one, nor could I afford to buy one right then, and that I'd make due with my existing rain jacket for as long as I could.
Make what judgements you may, but this morning when I awoke to discover that the infection in my arm has finally subsided, and thinking back on the hell that has been this last week, I decided that I was going to give myself a little present and go jacket shopping, assuming I could find something appropriate.
My requirements included:
Comfortable and warm hand pockets Enough extra pockets that I can ideally keep my toque and a paperback tucked away in there somewhere Not too bulky or heavy A nice design Less than $150
Boy did this jacket deliver. The fleece-lined pockets alone made me very very happy.
I did have a strange realization later tonight though, when it occurred to me that the jacket (I bought the black one) and my toque are in matching colors. It's a little silly, but I guess there are worse things. At least I'm consistent in my color preferences.
* * *
I took the time today to look up a Sarah Brightman song I heard at Cafe Belaggio yesterday. I'm not generally a Sarah Brightman fan. Actually, to be complete frank, I find her kind of scary, the way she takes already sappy songs, and melodramaticizes them to the point of being downright frightening (I mean, really, who wants to hear "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" done Phantom of the Opera style? Actually, considering her record sales, don't answer that). Her rendition of "My Heart Will Go On", heard the same day, was a great example of Brightman-gone-terrifying — as if the sinking-of-the-Titanic version weren't dramatic enough, she had to go and intensify it. However, the one song I really liked, which turns out (explaining why it seemed familiar) to be a cover of the Hooverphonic song "Eden", done in a way sort of reminiscent of Delirium or possibly Enigma or something like that.
I was pleased that iTunes had the song. I was happy at the thought of acquiring it for 99 cents (99 cents Canadian, no less — add that to Pringles, above). I was not pleased to find that the iTunes store is not working today. I think they're determined to drive off as many customers as possible lately.
In other music discovery news, I was listening to Heavenly Voices, when the most intriguing song came on. "Is this the Cocteau Twins? No, it's not Eng . . . it's in Chinese! But I'd swear tat sounds just like Elizabeth Fraser, and the style of the song — that's just frightening. Who is this? Hmm, Faye Wong — never heard of her. This has to be a Cocteau Twins cover, but I've never heard this title, nor do I recognize the song itself. How very strange. . . ."
And how very strange indeed, as further research indicated that it was indeed Faye Wong, a Chinese pop singer from Hong Kong, and was indeed a Cocteau Twins song, one of two written for her specifically to sing on her album Impatience. The Cocteau Twins never wrote a song for me! (Couldn't resist that little tantrum.) Oh what I would do to find a copy of that CD, but my standard sources of music fell a little flat. If anyone out there has or runs across a copy of this, I will pay a good price for it. So good.
Today I bought myself a new jacket. I already have a jacket, but I'm quickly finding that in a climate this rainy, especially when you spend most of your travel time walking around, having the right rain jacket can make all the difference in the world.
I'd seen this jacket when shopping with a friend of mine shortly after I arrived here, but at the time I'd decided that I didn't really need a new one, nor could I afford to buy one right then, and that I'd make due with my existing rain jacket for as long as I could.
Make what judgements you may, but this morning when I awoke to discover that the infection in my arm has finally subsided, and thinking back on the hell that has been this last week, I decided that I was going to give myself a little present and go jacket shopping, assuming I could find something appropriate.
My requirements included:
Boy did this jacket deliver. The fleece-lined pockets alone made me very very happy.
I did have a strange realization later tonight though, when it occurred to me that the jacket (I bought the black one) and my toque are in matching colors. It's a little silly, but I guess there are worse things. At least I'm consistent in my color preferences.
* * *
I took the time today to look up a Sarah Brightman song I heard at Cafe Belaggio yesterday. I'm not generally a Sarah Brightman fan. Actually, to be complete frank, I find her kind of scary, the way she takes already sappy songs, and melodramaticizes them to the point of being downright frightening (I mean, really, who wants to hear "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" done Phantom of the Opera style? Actually, considering her record sales, don't answer that). Her rendition of "My Heart Will Go On", heard the same day, was a great example of Brightman-gone-terrifying — as if the sinking-of-the-Titanic version weren't dramatic enough, she had to go and intensify it. However, the one song I really liked, which turns out (explaining why it seemed familiar) to be a cover of the Hooverphonic song "Eden", done in a way sort of reminiscent of Delirium or possibly Enigma or something like that.
I was pleased that iTunes had the song. I was happy at the thought of acquiring it for 99 cents (99 cents Canadian, no less — add that to Pringles, above). I was not pleased to find that the iTunes store is not working today. I think they're determined to drive off as many customers as possible lately.
In other music discovery news, I was listening to Heavenly Voices, when the most intriguing song came on. "Is this the Cocteau Twins? No, it's not Eng . . . it's in Chinese! But I'd swear tat sounds just like Elizabeth Fraser, and the style of the song — that's just frightening. Who is this? Hmm, Faye Wong — never heard of her. This has to be a Cocteau Twins cover, but I've never heard this title, nor do I recognize the song itself. How very strange. . . ."
And how very strange indeed, as further research indicated that it was indeed Faye Wong, a Chinese pop singer from Hong Kong, and was indeed a Cocteau Twins song, one of two written for her specifically to sing on her album Impatience. The Cocteau Twins never wrote a song for me! (Couldn't resist that little tantrum.) Oh what I would do to find a copy of that CD, but my standard sources of music fell a little flat. If anyone out there has or runs across a copy of this, I will pay a good price for it. So good.