World of Shorts: Fairy Tale Reux

So a friend messages me about some short film festival.. adult version of fairy tales at the NFB: National Film Board and sends me a link to where I can email for FREE tickets for two! Gotta love that! Score! I got 2 tickets!

So it turns out we are seeing.. A World of Shorts: Fairy Tale Redux. A very adult version of your popular fairy tales. Some were very obvious, some I had not heard the story so was a little lost and some were so subtle that i was like: which fairy tale is that?! Some were very literal and some were very artsy.
http://wx.toronto.ca/festevents.nsf/591df5f4e9bb95b0852572ff00502015/2334a18254614c2a852578d900486ab8?OpenDocument 
 
At the NFB which has this summer program, each week the theme has varied:
http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/medias/download/documents/pdf/NFB-Mediatheque-summer-calendar.pdf

So it was 80 minutes and we saw about 6 short films. "Ella" which I know I saw at the Short Film Festival a few months ago was screened here as well. The actor, Anthony Head, playing the father was the teacher in the TV show "Buffy the vampire slayer" and he was the Nescafe Gold Blend coffee (in the UK) and Taster's Choice (in the US) commercial guy in the late 80's!! Gosh that makes me feel old!! haha!! Well apparently this short is in the works of becoming a full length film!

http://worldwideshortfilmfest.com/

Then I grabbed a slice of the "Godfather" deep dish pizza from Pizzaiola.. my fave! Of course with some garlic dipping sauce!
http://www.pizzaiolo.ca/

Happy freebie movies folks, Steph :0)

This old dog can learn a new trick!

So I had a couple of friends come down from Ottawa for the Becel: Ride for Heart, which I can see from my balcony as the cyclists ride up and down the DVP: Don Valley Parkway. My friend Stef and her friend Chris dressed up as Thing 1 & Thing 2 and rode Chris' homemade two-seater incumbent bike which the two people are back to back and pedaling forward!

Stef as Thing 2!

I hope you can see them from this picture.. look for the two red & blue mini blobs on the DVP!

Thing 1 & Thing 2 are headed north on the DVP!

So our friend Harris also rode in the ride and was kind enough to stop to help people out that had flat tires or chains that fell off their bikes. He is Mr. Bike-fixer-upper!! So he did me a huge favour and pumped up my tire.. yes I'm getting to the point of my blog now!! hahaha!!

Well the next day I hear this HUGE explosion! At first I thought it was my bookshelf crashing down and even Mysterio jumped up to investigate! But my living room looked normal. So then I thought it must be the construction on Pottery Rd.

Then next day my friend Andrew comes over and we go on the balcony so I can point in the direction of where some Geocaches are down by Todmorden Mills. Andrew says: Steph, you have a flat tire! I'm like: what are you talking about Harris just pumped up my tire yesterday! Ding, ding, ding!! 1 + 1 = 2 or in my case.. pumped up tire + explosion = my blown inner tube!!

Blown inner tube!

So now what do I do? I am broke, literally, so I cannot afford to go to a bike shop for them to fix it. Well then I remember there are the Bike Pirates near Lansdowne & Bloor. That's too far to lug this bike. But recently I have been on the 504 King streetcar and have seen this shop near Broadview & Dundas. Bike Sauce. My surfer drives me and the bike down to the shop but it was not open so I locked up the bike nearby. The wheel was so messed up I couldn't walk the bike cuz the wheel would not move.

http://bikesauce.org/

So I check out their website and someone will show you how to fix your bike and you offer a donation towards your time at the shop. As well, you can buy supplies there to fix your bike. In my case an inner tube cost me $4 and I donated $10 for my time in the shop and I brought them some yummy vegan berry muffins I had made that day.

There was only one volunteer in the shop and a few of us newbies! It was a bit slow going as the guy had to bounce from all us but eventually I got my wheel off, stripped the rim of the old bike tape and tube, reapplied some new bike tape and got the inner tube on, then I put the tire back on.. ha.. luckily the volunteer came back in time because I had put the tire on wrong! haha! Once it was on correctly I learnt what amount of air needed to be pumped up to (I think that was the problem, Harris put too much air in) and last but not least I was shown how to put the brake pads back and lock in the wheel. Voila! I was done! About 45 minutes of my time and a heck of a lot cheaper then a bike shop and I learnt how to do it myself!

Here's to old dogs learning new tricks! Steph :0)

2 of my many distractions!

Here are my 2 furry children! Both rescue cats. Milo is fatty mcfatty! He takes after me, his mama and is 14 years old. Mysterio is my bubba and takes after my skinny ex-boyfriend who rescued him! ha! He is 9 years old and is out the door before I get in the apartment because he has to go do security in our hallway!

My Boys!

As you can see they like to take up my entire desk area! What I don't understand is I could be sitting on the couch for hours while being ignored by them, yet the minute I sit at the desk to to some work, voila! there they are! But ya gotta luv'em!

When I figure out how to rotate this picture I will. I took it on my cellphone then emailed it to myself but nowhere along the way of uploading, saving did it give me the option to rotate!! ha!

Meow, Steph :0)

Summer Festivals!

So I have been a to a few Summer Festivals this year. There are so many!!! We must have anywhere from 2-5 festivals a weekend here in TO! I am thankful that Scotiabank and TD have stepped up to sponsor these wonderful city events!

I saw kd lang at the Illuminato festival. I saw Aretha Franklin at the kick off to the Jazz Festival; both in David Pecaut Square (formerly Metro Square, next to Roy Thomson Hall). All for FREE!!

Taste of Little Italy, South East Asia (the old Taste of Little India), "TIFF in the Park" in the David Pecaut Square. Dundas Square is doing outdoor movies as well. Harbourfront has stuff going on every weekend as well. I had not been to the Beaches Jazz Festival in years but Carol Pope was playing! That's Carol in the neon yellow/lime top!

Carol Pope at the Beaches' Jazz Festival

If you want to do something different and kind of hidden somewhere near Cherry Beach.. is the Promises party. When I went last month it was more towards Coxwell below Lakeshore.. I believe the street name is Unwin.. behind the old chimney stacks! You'll see an opening along the road. $5 to get in, hide your beer in a plastic cup or reusable portable mug, bring a picnic and enjoy some beats! Watch people dance, hula hoop, fire spin and more! Make sure you bring some bug spray! ha!

So take a walk through an old neighbourhood you have not seen in ages, enjoy some ethnic food, have a cold one while enjoying some music! It's summertime.. enjoy it while it lasts!

Cheers, Steph :0)

I kinda like exercise! Who woulda thunk it??!!

So I have never been a gym rat. I am a plus size girl and I love my body! With all its curves, lumps and bumps! But I hurt my back on the job this past winter and finally got the diagnosis: herniated disc; lower back right below the fused area of my spine! If you look at the x-ray it is on the right side 2 vertebra below the fused area! That thing sticking out is my herniated disc! Ouchies! So the chiropractor said the dreadful & dirty word: Exercise! To strengthen my core, back muscles and abdominal muscles.

My spine!

So I belong to those various daily deal websites and I had bought a membership to Good Life for $20 for one month and one training session. But I unfortunately let it expire :0( It took 6 months to get my head into that frame of mind of going to a gym.

http://www.groupon.com

So via Teambuy I got a gym membership for Extreme Fitness: 2 months with 2 personal trainer sessions. $24!! Great deal! And my first week at the gym I had a great conversation with a friend who goes to the gym everyday and I guess something stuck in my head because I actually like going to the gym now!

http://www.teambuy.ca/

I did not like the staff at Extreme Fitness from day one of my membership, can we say sizeism!! But I had to focus on me and my back and just as I was starting to think if they give me a good enough deal maybe I will stay on... No! My last week there I asked the trainer who did my last session if he could take a picture of me doing a squat. He had told me I had been doing them incorrectly for 6 weeks so what's the harm in getting a photo of me doing one properly?! He said no and went on about if I feel the pain here and there then I am doing the squat properly. Oh well.. I guess I will move on to somewhere else!

Wagjag offered a 2 month membership at Curves for $24!! Guess where I am going next week??!! ha!

http://www.wagjag.com/

But I digress. Here is a picture of me learning how to nerve floss! My chiropractor has me doing this one in particular to help with the herniated disc! So head up and foot pointed towards the ceiling, then head down and foot relaxed x 15 - 2 sets, in the morning and at night. It's working! When I first started this the pain would shoot straight up into my big toe, now it just goes to about my shin.

Me nerve flossing!

OHH! If you are looking for chiropractic care and cannot afford the full price of a licensed chiropractor.. then I have a suggestion for you.

CMCC: Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, they have 9 external clinics throughout the city. Their 4th year students are supervised by a fully licensed chiropractor and a much more affordable rate. At the Sherbourne Health Centre is their Annex Clinic: $20 for your first assessment (which is about 1.5 hours) then $10 for your regular visits which last 20 minutes. If you are on a fixed income like Ontario Works, Employment Insurance or Ontario Disability Supplement Program or Self-Employed you can ask the clinician for a reduced rate. I am now attending the South Riverdale Community Health Centre's Annex clinic. They have different rates but again you can speak to the clinician about a reduced rate.

http://www.cmcc.ca/Page.aspx?pid=396

Here's to good health; body, mind and soul! Steph :0)

Free Hugs @ Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market

My CSTO group after Free Hugs!

The last Sunday of each month from May-October, Kensington Market has Pedestrian Sundays where there are NO cars in the market! My CSTO group do Free Hugs at the corners or Baldwin & Augusta Aves. from 3-5pm. So come on down for a free super hug! What I love is some of the international surfers are writing their free hug signs in their native language! So far we have countries representing France, South Korea and the Philippines.

Hugs, Steph :0)

I got side tracked!

I have been writing Yelp reviews lately then that died off to.. so busy lately! No time for more than three online social networking sites for this girl! ha! I still can't figure out how to organize all my info for my blogging profile. 

http://stephaniemuise.yelp.ca  

Sad thing is my windows crashed and the kind soul who fixed everything for me saved all my documents and pics but I lost all my bookmarked pages :0( Including NYC, Philly, NFL and more! But as I start to reorganize my life and online files I promise to add them here as well. I hope you are all having a great summer filled with amazing friends, wonderful food and breath-taking views!

The Canada Pride weekend I organized with the help of my CSTO friends was a great success! I was so busy running around hosting events and up to 10 people one night that I forgot to take pictures! ha! Luckily my friend Paul took this picture of Liz and I on Canada Day!

Cheers, Steph :0)