Old Business Shirt (noun): New Cat Accessory

I've got another crafty equation for you...

1 old collared shirt (check with male counterpart first)

+

Pair of Scissors

+ 

One Manly Black Cat

+

Surprisingly little restraint

=

It's Business Time!

YouTube Video Night (noun): An event for social media nerds to gather and drink free booze

Last night I visited Google's Toronto office to attend their YouTube Video Night.  It's a night...to watch YouTube videos.  Pretty straightforward.  The added perks were the free drinks, sliders, mini hot dogs, and the candy bar.  Mmmmm, the candy bar.

Oh yeah, and getting to meet some very cool YouTubers who basically make it their living to produce videos for the site.  The event was curated by 4 guests, including YouTubers/Musicians Andrew Huang and Corey Vidal.  The fact that these guys make their own videos - just 'cause - and can make a living out of it is so cool.  But it wasn't something that just fell on their laps.  Both guys have been dedicated to putting out well produced content for years and eventually they got the attention of companies looking for ways to push out their brands in creative ways.

Check out Andrew's video, where he teamed up with a jeans company and made music with denim:

Cory Vidal has made such a name for himself, he was asked to be speaker at a TEDx event at York University! (And for some reason I can't post the video, but you can check out the video here).

These guys prove that it pays to be creative and a bit of a social media nerd.

It was a fun night of watching YouTube videos (a regular Friday night at our house) and at the end of the event, they left us with one last perk:

Dog Rescuing (verb): Just your average Sunday morning routine

I woke up freakishly early on Sunday morning, unable to take advantage of not having to be anywhere in the morning.  After lying in bed for 20 minutes staring at the ceiling, I did what any normal married woman would do.  I woke up my husband.

I had a lot on my mind which is why I couldn't go back to sleep so he suggested that we go for a walk and grab a coffee at the Starbucks about 20 minutes from our house.  As soon as we stepped out of the house, our unforeseen adventures began.

We saw a border collie running across the street towards us and then back towards the park across the street.  We found it odd since our street has quite a bit of traffic and no one should be letting their dog run across it unattended.  We decided to follow it into the park and it didn't take very long to realize that the dog was without its owner.  It frantically ran from tree to tree sniffing its way around.  It almost ran back onto the street but a man walking his dog was entering the park and the two dogs stopped to sniff each other.  That's when I called out to the guy to grab the stray dog's leash.  We ran over and explained the situation and took hold of the collar.  The guy was nice enough to offer to go back to his house and get an extra leash (thanks Manuela!) while my husband called the 1-800 number marked on the poor pup's collar.

And just for the record - calling that number was a complete pain in the ASS.  It was fully automated and unless you carry a pen and paper on you at all times, it was near impossible to memorize all the numbers the message was telling you to call.

Luckily at that moment, the owner of the lost dog showed up.  He was a young guy on his bike and explained that the dog had escaped out of a window.  I wasn't really interested in hearing his story but we were sure he was the owner because the dog recognized him immediately.  He thanked us several times over and we parted ways.

Quite a stir for a Sunday morning, right?  Well, it doesn't end there.

We continued on, grabbed our coffee and talked about what a crazy morning it had been (so far).  And when we left, not even a MINUTE after stepping out of the Starbucks, we saw ANOTHER stray dog running on the streetcar tracks!  My husband and I looked at each other in  WTF disbelief, but since we were already experts we decided to go on another rescue mission.

This experience was a lot scarier since the little pup was running in the middle of the tracks and then onto oncoming traffic.  Luckily a few people on the street took notice and helped us keep the dog off the street.  And eventually we were able to corner it into an enclosed bar patio.  A young woman named Stephanie went back to her house to grab a collar while an older woman named Wendy brought her dog in to calm the pup down.  Unfortunately there was no collar.  Stephanie mentioned that she was sure she had seen the pup running on her street hours before, s it was at least on it's own for  good 4 hours!!!

Wendy offered to bring the pup back home with her to feed it and my husband and I wished her luck in finding the owner.  If the right eyes are reading this, this all happened on St. Clair near Christie.  I wish I had remembered to take a picture but I found a pic of a similar dog online:

What I learned from this experience:
- It's easier to catch a stray dog if you have a dog with you
- The Toronto Animal Services hotline SUCKS if it's an emergency
- There are some amazing citizens in the west end of Toronto
- And some TERRIBLE dog owners

I hope the second pup finds it's way back home soon but at least it's in good hands for now.

L'Oreal Privee (noun): Free Make-Up at TIFF

I love free. 

I love being pampered. 

And I got both at L'Oreal's temp set-up at TIFF. Open throughout the festival, ladies (and gents - it's a new world baby) can check out the company's new line, Privee, exclusive to TIFF. The trendy nude line includes a lipstick and nail polish inspired by some of today's leading ladies including Jennifer Lopez and Eva Longoria.

                                       

After a short wait (like anything, get there early to avoid the long lines) and a quick survey to fill, I could choose one of the three stations they had set up: one for hair, one for nails (below)...

...And a third for lips.  I decided to do the lip station because it wouldn't take as long for the application and getting a free lipstick seemed like the best deal.

I'm not gonna lie.  I actually visited the booth on two separate occasions (yay for multiple e-mail addresses) and scored two lipsticks, the JLO and Eva colours.  I figured since they were closest to my skin tone, their lipsticks would suit me best and I was right.  I'm not much of a lipstick wearer but I liked that the colours were subtle and lipstick was really creamy.  

After my second visit I had a TIFF movie to go to afterwards, so I was all glammed up to sit in a dark theatre for 2 hours. But at least I knew I looked great the whole time.

Thanks L'Oreal!

Amazonia (noun): Life through the eyes of a capuchin monkey

This week, I thought I'd write about all things TIFF.  I saw my first film, Amazonia, last Sunday with my husband, brother, sister-in-law and 2 nieces.  After three days of religiously checking the TIFF site in the morning, I finally managed to get tickets for something I was actually interested in.  There are slim pickings when you buy as late as I do.

I'm no movie reviewer but here's an attempt anyway...

The 3D movie tells the story of a capuchin monkey once raised in captivity (assuming he was a show monkey because his cage was sitting on top of a wagon marked "Circus") who is transported by a plane, only to crash in the Amazon jungle.  It's like the show Amazon " but with a better story line and way better acting...from a monkey.  And that's saying a lot considering that I was on that show.

Before the movie started, my two under-10 nieces were less than impressed that this movie would not have any dialogue or "Spy Kids" gadgets.  I reminded them that it was at least in 3D, but that wasn't helping my case.  But as soon as that plane crashed and the little buddy was left to fend for himself, I could hear the girls "awwwwe" in their seats.

SUCCESS!

The film did a great job with telling a good story and the footage was incredible.  I mean seriously, how did they get shots of some of the animals?!  And when our little hero finds another capuchin money buddy, my heart melted.

It' a great film for the whole family to see and well worth the price of admission.  It has one more run at TIFF on September 14 so if you're interested, you can get tickets here.

Cascade (noun): A group of hot dudes from France who can kick ass

Another fun show that I watched at the CNE was a performance by Cascade - a group of stuntmen from France who combine martial arts, dance, story and music in their show.  As they were being announced on stage, I was really surprised to find out that they were semi-finalists in last year's Britain's Got Talent.  Apparently even Simon loved them which means they were going to be good.

At first, I didn't know what to make of the slapstick comedy - the story was about a group of soldiers that were being disciplined by their superior.  There was a lot of "Who farted?" miming and banana peel slipping, which the kids in the audience loved.  When they eventually got more into the martial arts, that's when it really showed off their talents.

This is my favourite shot:

I checked out their audition for BGT, and I'm a little disappointed that they weren't shirtless for the CNE show like they are for the audition.  But think of the children, Inga.

Right.

Here's their first appearance on the show, complete with salivating female judges.

Granola (adjective): To be healthy only if it basically tastes like dessert

Here's a fun and easy recipe for homemade Ingalish Granola.  Double the amounts and you should have enough for an entire week.  Or a couple of days, depending on how much you love it.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees.

Combine 2 cups of rolled oats, 1 cup of Colorado Trail Mix, 1 cup of shredded coconut, 1/4 cup combo of sesame and poppy seeds, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon, 5 tbsp of honey, and 5 tbsp of olive oil into a baking dish.  If you have matching Nesting doll measuring cups and spoons, it makes it that much more fun to make.

Put it in the oven for 30 minutes and make sure to mix it every once in a while.

Take it out and let it cool.

Scoop 1/4 cup and add milk/yogurt/nothing.  Eat like a madwoman.

Tightrope Walking (verb): A stunt that you should perform only if you come from a long line of tightrope walkers.

Do you ever look up at tall trees, a couple of lamp posts, or some building downtown and think to yourself "I think I'll walk on a tightrope between those today"?

Yeah, me neither.

I've tried it before, albeit 2 feet from the ground, in High Park and it was not easy. Some Brazilian dude had it set up between two trees and left it open for others to try out.  I figured it couldn't be that hard since the the fear of falling from a high distance was eliminated.  Yeaaaah, no.  Finding the right balance was really difficult and even then when I thought I had it, I only managed to walk forward a couple of steps before I "eeped" and jumped off.

But this isn't about my amazing feat as a tightrope walker.  This is about The Flying Wallendas - a family circus act that has been performing highwire acts without a net for 7 generations.  And I had the chance to see them in action at the CNE, their first performance there since the 1950's (I didn't pay attention to exact dates because I was too busy biting my nails out of nervousness).

I'll let the photos do the talking.  And remember: There was no safety net. Nada. Nikto. Kein.  And some perspective: The guy doing the headstand and SITTING ON A CHAIR ON THE HIGHWIRE is the 60-some year old father...

The act was only 30 minutes long which was just fine by me because I was basically shitting bricks for the performers the entire time.  But it was AWESOME!