What I’m Listening To… November 08
Sunday being what it is, I’m getting ready to embark on the monthly chili cooking endeavour. This, of course, requires some quality tunes from my iTunes, which never manages to disappoint.
Decided to go for a 90s shuffle and voila! This is what my lovely computer gave me:
The Wallflowers
Rasputina
The Proclaimers
Smashing Pumpkins
Nirvana
Daniel Lanois
Goo Goo Dolls
U2
Marilyn Manson
Gin Blossoms
James
Barenaked Ladies
Aerosmith
The Offspring
and…
Moist
The kids are not impressed. Perhaps I’ll reach even further back next Sunday and throw some 80s at them 
Homemade Irish Cream liqueur
Anyone else love Bailey’s? Anyone else NOT love the price of Bailey’s? I haven’t bought ready made Bailey’s in over 5 years and this recipe is the reason. Tastes just like the ‘real’ thing and is pretty much goof-proof.
Ingredients:
1 cup light cream
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 2/3 cup Canadian Club whiskey (of course Irish whiskey works beautifully but I’m a patriotic Canuck thusly CC it always is)
1 heaping tsp instant coffee granules
2 tbsp chocolate syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
Directions:
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Bottle and store in fridge until ready to use. This has never lasted in my fridge long enough to go bad (whoops) so I am unable to give you a definite length of time it is safe to drink before expiring. Exercise common sense.
Yield: 4 cups
How to fireproof your Christmas tree
That time of year is rolling around… the time of year when some of us set up Christmas trees, some artificial and some not. I’ve had this recipe for the method of fireproofing ‘real’ Christmas trees for some time now and thought sharing might be a good idea.
You will need:
1 litre warm water, divided
1 cup alum
1/2 cup boric acid
2 tbsp borax
medium sized bucket
spray bottle
How to:
Combine 1/2 litre warm water with other ingredients in bucket and stir well until powders dissolve. Add remaining water and mix well. Fill spray bottle and take outside where your tree is waiting, preferably on top of a tarp or plastic sheeting. Generously spray tree, refilling spray bottle as necessary. Be sure to thoroughly coat branches and trunk. Allow to dry completely before decorating. Dispose of any leftover mixture immediately.
If you have pets or small children who are inclined to put pine needles in their mouths (yikes!) or lick the tree then this recipe is not for you, sorry. Safety first people 
Lost and Found
A rather strange thing happened this week. I lost an old friendship and found an old friendship.
The older I get the less inclined I am to tolerate behaviour I at one time found amusing, or tolerable. I’m 31 *choke* and have weathered some truly horrible experiences. I’ve lost everything only to earn it all back, I’ve faced homelessness, serious illness, loss, betrayel, and universal animosity, and I’ve done so with as mmuch grace as I am able to muster. However, with adversity comes change and while I am fairly happy to continue growing and changing, there are those of my acquaintance who would prefer that we all remain frozen in time.
I found myself unable to mollify a woman I was once fairly good friends with. To be honest, our friendship was really one of convenience; we had our daughters at the same time and had both moved from the same small town to the big city at approximately the same time. It made sense to be friendly and to lean on each other.
However, as time went on I became less inclined to listen to her browbeat me for the decisions I’ve made and even less inclined to tolerate her staggeringly egocentric personality.
I’m sorry to say that this week we ended our friendship officially. Actually, no, I am not sorry. The feeling that swept over me when I realised I would never, ever have to hear her voice again was relief. Relief that it was over, relief that it was done in such a way so as to make reconciliation impossible, relief that I now have one less uneducated know-it-all to justify my decisions to.
Curiously, I found my best friend from high school in the same week and had an amazing conversation with him. Realised, as did he, that time and difficult experiences haven’t soured the bond that we had all those years ago (and oddly, still seem to) and began making plans to get together in the flesh and tear it up just like we used to. Needless to say, the feeling that swept over me after reconnecting transcended relief!
I am filled with joy and feeling so good about both this week and the future.
As to my former friend, well, to be truthful, we haven’t been friends for a long time. I just think neither of us wanted to admit it. I wish for her a life that gives back to her everything she puts out in this world.
Take that whichever way you will.
*drumroll please* The Inaugural Top Ten!
Sooo… after yet another delightfully wasted afternoon perusing YouTube, checking out some of my favourite fight clips, it occurred to me that there are some REALLY kick-ass film scraps out there!
Thought I would share them here, in no particular order, from the last 25 years or so.
Yeah, I’m a geek with no life. Deal.
10. Highlander (1986)~ Connor McLeod vs The Kurgen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2p0TEpSysk
The series was loads of fun and goodness knows Adrian Paul was a treat to watch, but IMHO the franchise was at its best with Clancy Brown as the baddest of the bad: The Kurgen!
9. Romeo Must Die (2000) The Football Fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygWFISePdjo
Jet Li vs Isaiah Washington, Anthony Anderson and Co.? Freakin’ awesome! There are so many great fight scenes in this film but this one is my favourite.
8. Fight Club (1999) Edward Norton vs himself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnlm3-tadeI
Edward Norton beats the crap out of himself! Have I mentioned that I love this man?
7. Kill Bill vol 1 (2003) GoGo Yubari vs The Bride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUURwgk_hJg
While this movie is LOADED with some seriously kick ass fight sequences, I had to go with this one for my fave of the bunch. I have a real fondness for Chiaki Kuriyama and watching her and Uma duke it out is sheer bliss for me. Does that make me disturbed?
6. True Romance (1993) Alabama vs the Hitman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X55lxtFJ9_4
Patricia Arquette and James Gandolfini mixing it up. Classic.
5. The Matrix Reloaded (2003) Neo vs The Smiths
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ0T59qKK-s
Anyone who knows me knows I am NOT a fan of The Matrix franchise. Didn’t live up to the hype for me at all. However, this fight is pretty damned good, and since I try not to discriminate, it’s worthy of a place on my list. GoGo could kick the shit out of them all though. Just sayin’
4. Ultraviolet (2006) Violet vs a bunch of guys in the library
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRMbX8Henks
Who woulda thought back in the days of Return to the Blue Lagoon that Milla would end up being such a consummate ass-kicker?
3. Resident Evil (2002) Alice vs the dogs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQG2buCXigM
See! Milla again!
2. Serenity (2005) River Tam bar fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81YNfpyXeMo
Summer Glau. Is there really anything else I need to say? Hell, Summer Glau working with Joss Whedon! Every geek’s wet dream, LOL!
1. Star Wars Episode II (2002) Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda vs Dooku
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UQ-pHa87Gc
THE best of the best right here! I may have said no particular order, but this one is, and always will be, number one with me.
Enjoy!
