Did someone say Instant Happy?

I'm behind in my blogging but I'm hoping to get up to date soooooon so please check back next week.

For now, I must share another Instant Happy video. I think it could be a regular thing...every Friday I'm going to post a video that is guaranteed to make you smile.

I wish I could have photographed this wedding. I'm sure it was a blast. How freaking fantastic is this couple? Love them. So much. Why be serious and traditional when you can be funny and original? More weddings (especially the ceremonies) need to be like this. And who doesn't love a dance routine?!

Happy Weekend!

Kittens! Inspired by kittens!

I feel like it's time for some Instant Happy! Here's one of my favourite videos. I can't get enough of it. This girl and her commentary can right any wrong.

Happy Weekend!

I have a date tonight with a woman named Neko.

EEEEEP!!! It's Neko Case tonight! At Massey Hall no less. And great floor seats! I cannot wait.

I'm still riding high from the incredible and magical experience that was Oumou Sangare on Sunday night in Queen's Park. Wow wow wow.

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of seeing Beirut perform live. That was such a solid show with the longest encore set I've ever experienced. Love them.

And now it's finally time to see Neko Case. Again I say, EEEEEP!
Happy Tuesday indeed.

Here's the acoustic version of one of my favourite tunes, People Got a Lotta Nerve.

Oumou Sangare

I'm so happy my friend Colin turned me onto Oumou Sangare. She's a Malian superstar with a beautiful, joyful, confident voice. Seya (which means Joy) is her latest album and I find I'm listening to it almost daily. Read more about it and listen to the wonderful song Iyo Djeli here. Needless to say, I am very excited to see her perform tonight in Queen's Park as part of Afrofest, the largest annual African music event in Canada. And it's a free concert!

Enjoying a warm, summer evening, hanging out with friends and listening to incredible, inspirational music, can my Sunday be any sweeter?

Take a look:



Copyright Ed Alcock

MMMetric

Metric is such a great band. They've been on heavy rotation as of late.

Love Emily Haines. Love this song. Makes me want to have a dance party of one.



And listen to this. Wow. Her voice breaks my heart. Love the close-up camera work too.

Have I missed Palin? You Betcha!

Yes sir ree Bob I've missed her! The way she speaks in one giant run on sentence. How she can ramble on for so very, very long and at the end of it we're still left wondering: what the *@#% is she talking about? And how she loves saying things like (and this is word for word): "So I choose for my State and for my family more freedom to progress all the way around so that Alaska may progress I will not seek reelection as Governor."

That's just one gem! There are more! So. Many. Gems.

I say instead of fearing her, embrace her. Because when she does run in 2012 then Obama is guaranteed a second term. It's in the bag. We should really all be thanking her now for making it so easy on him down the road.

Happy weekend!


Also, this is my favourite part of the whole thing. The camera pans over to this arm folding family for an awkward period of time. I love them. So white and blonde.

Happy Canada Day!

The article below is taken from the July/Aug 2009 issue of The Walrus Magazine.

Photo: Niagara Falls, 1840
How academics found the first photograph to be taken in Canada
by: The Walrus


Image courtesy Robinson Library, Special Collections, Newcastle University, with thanks to Robin Anderson.

This image of Niagara Falls (above) was discovered twelve years ago in a box at Newcastle University in England. The box, marked “Daguerrotypes,” had been languishing on a shelf in Special Collections since 1926, when it was given to the library by descendants of British industrialist Hugh Lee Pattinson. Then a student of the early form of photography just perfected by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre, Pattinson was in Canada on a business trip when he stopped at the Falls to practice his technique. It took more than twenty minutes for the scene to afx on the silver-coated copper plate inside his camera; afterward, he would envelop the plate in warm mercury fumes, slowly drawing the image to the surface. It must have been thrilling, but no more so than when, a century and half later, historians learned what had been unearthed at Newcastle: the frst photograph ever taken in Canada.