Good Things

Here are some good (indoor) things I have been enjoying lately since the weather here alternates between grey and cold. I know if you live in Alberta, you're scoffing at me saying that Vancouver is cold right now, but the wind I felt today is just as cold as the cold wind on the other side of the Rockies.

Recommended movies:
Juno
If you haven't watched it yet, what are you waiting for? My favourite part is the hamburger phone. A funny, heart-warming story.

Lars and the Real Girl
Ryan Gosling is amazing in this movie. He twitches, blinks hard, and holds his breath until his face turns red, wearing ugly sweater after ugly sweater. It all adds up to a level of acting beyond anything I've seen before. (Yes, it's that good.) The story is set in a small town not unlike the one I grew up in. There are Northern Reflections sweatshirts in it! A horse-head sweater-vest made me gasp.

Check out this paper art:
Su Blackwell is an artist from the UK. I love the simplicity/complexity of cut paper art. The media is simple, paper + scissors + glue, and the results are intricate and elegant. This is my favourite work of hers. Also check out the stop motion animation TV commercial. It's pretty amazing.

Tord Boontje is a Dutch designer based out of France. The Winter Wonderland installation is absolutely enchanting. (Click on Installations, then Winter Wonderland)

Music:
Ash Grunwald is an Aussie surfer who plays the blues. I was reading the paper one day at lunch, and I saw a picture of him swinging his dreadlocks, sitting on a box, playing a guitar. His show was $8. That was the best eight dollars I have ever spent! His energetic pre-war Delta blues has a thumping bass and infectious guitar grooves that just keep rolling.

That should help tide you over until spring. It's cheaper than a tropical vacation. (Right, Simon and Mark, and Sarah, and Bud, and Sandy? I'm not jealous. I'm too white for the tropics.)

The crocuses were here, but now they're gone.