It is a sad day when Guy Lafleur....

...is found guilty of lying to protect his son. Now the Canadian Justice system wants to sentence him?

I'm sorry, but then why did the parents of the little baby Angelica that they left in a stairwell in the freezing cold receive only an 11 month sentence (for the father) and a fine of $300 (for the mother)? Something is wrong with our system. And something is definitely wrong with the family structure this century.

signed, the willow

Stop Eating my Friends!

Dear Pig Friends,

For a long time now I see you pass by in trucks that carry you to be slaughtered and every time a tear falls on my cheek as I wonder how senseless it is to take your defenseless sweet pink body and slaughter it to oblivion for some pulled pork sandwiches. The rotten flesh to be carted back down the highway for recycling and poured into some dog food creation or god knows what.

Well, hello. Now all of a sudden it has become apparent that pigs carry disease. A virus that is deadly to humans and now people everywhere don't want to eat you, be near you or even think about you. Good. Things happen on this planet for a reason. I'm not going to give you poor little piggies the God speech. You'll read my blog and be able to tell that I don't always capitalize the word god (see above) and sometimes I do believe *Steve* when he says that aliens planted life on the planet and come back to visit every so often for an anal probe or too to even up the score. See, this earth planet of ours is a closed system, it is finite. What we do here stays here and it never disappears. When we get decide to act carelessly on this planet and treat the world as if it were infinite pumping piggy poop out left, right and centre, we get what we deserve. A swine flu.

If you care enough to read more about my piggy friends and want to make a difference by limiting your bacon intake for a little while or longer, please read about this Factory Hog farm in Tewksbury, Delaware. No relation to our fine Olympic swimmer, Mark Tewksbury, who now hosts "How Things are Made" on the Discovery Channel and once shook my mother's hand.

signed, the willow

But our beaches are free from Swine Flu

It may not be the balmiest weather and the water may contain a few dead seagulls, a couple thousand plastic water bottles, a few hundred million shards of broken beer bottle glass....but after all we aren't the origin of the swine flu. Now, thanks to hundreds of Canadians who have decided that our weather sucks and wanted some warmer weather, our beaches will contain their fecal matter and their swine flu that they will bring to us from their sunny vacation in Mexico! Just another germ to add to the list that have come home from Kindergarten this year. Oh hell's bells, if *Steve* and I can survive SARS, that we brought home from Terminal 3 at Pearson International into the depths of Antarctic Hell (aka Winnipeg in January) we can survive swine flu.

signed, the willow

Swing your hockey stick

Just a little pinata I whipped up in my spare time.

signed, the willow

The Earthly Shade of Blue

When you look at the globe, an atlas, or a map of the world, what colour do you see? Yeah. Blue. Yesterday was Earth Day and I did promise another post but things happen, like papier maché. *Mila* picked out her outfit the night before and decided that since it was Earth Day she would wear an entirely blue outfit (in case you just tuned in, that is not her in the picture). Now, being a grown-up I would associate the colour green with Earth Day. Now, wait a minute, she did have a point. Sky blue. Ocean blue. Periwinkle blue. All shades of blue found in nature on our planet. After all, why do we use a BLUE box to be kind to our planet? Maybe we really should listen to children. These kids in *Mila's* class really felt that yesterday was the Earth's Birthday and we should celebrate that. They had to guess how old the earth is and *Mila* told me that her teacher said she gave the right answer when she said it was 105 years old. Wonder where that 115 year old lady was living before she came to the blue planet?


While on the dangling thought of oceans, on my PVR is the Cousteau "Call of the Killer Whale" episode from PBS yesterday.

Now, go do some good for your planet, would ya?

signed, the willow

Womanizer

Lately we've been listening to the Top 40 songs on the radio. I'm in love with Lily Allen, who is not played enough. Nope, instead the radio loves to play Lady Gaga and her "Disco Stick" song. Britney Spears has made me explain what a "Womanizer" is to my 5 year old daughter. Do I really want to even touch Lady Gaga's topic in her "Love Games" with a ten foot long disco stick? No thanks Lady GAGA. Her name says it all.

Earth Day post to follow....

signed, the willow

My Newest Internet Fixation

You will rarely hear me talk about music. I'm out of the loop and find that Britney Spears is the newest artist on the block, next to New Kids on The Block or NKOTB to you youngings.

Funny thing is I am addicted to iPod commercials. Yeah, I know! I don't even own a &*(^%&$&$%'ing iPod. Mostly because my dear husband, *Steve* took me to Bargain Basement for Cheapos one weekend and bought me a virus infested 2 GB mp3 player for $9.99 (Canadian dollars). I have that stashed in a bin now and I'd like to resurface it and fill it up with some latest hits. One I am particularly fond of is by Yves Klein Blue called "Polka".

What I love most about Yves Klein Blue is the way they go the name for their band. Yves Klein was an artist who invented a paint colour IKB, a blue paint that looks freshly painted ALWAYS and never loses its brilliance! They anticipate that their music will never fade with age. I just love a good little story like that. Go ahead and click on their website. You might just love their tune.

And what is happening in Winnipeg?

signed, the willow

Personalized

For a long time I've admired the Before & After. Anyone can appreciate what Colin & Justin have done here. Who doesn't want some wall decor flower petals from Umbra on their wall? Unica home carries the Tord Boontje light shade that I so desire. For 2 new living room chairs, how about these Barcelona chairs? One slight problem, Polly Pocket is the only one who will be sitting in these 5" tall chairs.

signed, the willow

Uh Miss-us-uh-Wiggins Could You Come in Here?

*Mila*: "I want to watch old fashioned songs on You Tube."

Me: "Like from the 80's? Because I know that's old fashioned for you."

*Mila*: "Yeah, really old old fashioned songs."

Me: " What would my grandmothers say? Okay, let's see what we get when we search for old fashioned songs? I know, how about 'I Love Lucy'?"

Was I born inside a television set? She clearly said songs, not tv shows!

*Steve*: "She clearly said 'old fashioned songs' so give her what she wants."

And I'm the one letting her have everything she wants?

Me: "Okay, I'll be putting my conductor hat away now."

*Steve*: "How about Gene Kelly in 'An American in Paris'?"

This would be where *Steve* tries to appease both of us, knowing full well that AAIP is my all time favourite movie and besides who doesn't enjoy a little Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the faux streets of Paris or in the rain?

*Mila*: "Yeah, like Gene Kelly!"

- Interlude with "I Got Rhythm" goes here. Hum the tune in your head. -

*Steve*: "Maybe she'd like to see some old episodes of the 'Carol Burnett Show'?"

Me: "Oh, Mr. Tudball! Do you re..."

*Steve*: "And Miss-us-uh-Wiggins?"

- canned laughter goes here -

signed, the willow

Yo! Crazy Russian Guy!

On the way to the park today *Mila* and I met up with a nice little girl, her sister, their broken-legged brother and their au pair. The au pair was Russian and he reminded me of a Crazy Russian Guy (CRG) who once resided in a basement apartment of a house I went to peruse while I was looking for a house in Winnipeg. It would seem that this CRG was renting the basement apartment in this huge house. The upstairs was sparse and filled with vinyl flooring. The basement was filled with newspapers and was holed in. It was as if the CRG didn't leave the house...EVER! So, the real estate agent said "Let's look in the basement". Since it had a separate entrance we knocked. Good thing we did. This CRG answered this door peeking thru a crack that he managed to create by pushing aside stacks of Winnipeg Free Presses. His one right eye was glaring at us. After the real estate agent explained that we were looking at the house, CRG asked "Why you looking at the house?" And that was when it all began.

Agent: "The house is for sale and I'm the agent showing this young lady through the house."

CRG: "The house is for sale? Who's selling my house?"

YO! Crazy Russian Guy! There is a Re/Max sign on your lawn that says "FOR SALE". To sum it up, both of us being scared by the human pitbull, we scampered out of there as fast as a 210 lb real estate agent and a prospective buyer can run.

signed, the willow