Rendezvous

Once again, another Yukon Rendezvous has come and gone. My favourite part lately is the snow sculptures. At this point, I don't know which one won 1st place, but here are my favourites.

Above is the entry from Finland.

And this is my absolute fave, The Snow Queen, an entry from the B.C. team. She has an icicle crown and earrings.

This is why we Yukoners are tough. Even the wee ones have to brave the cold to celebrate Rendezvous.

Today, the final day, was beautiful as you can see from the blue sky in the above photo.

Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman

Now, I loved watching Joaquin Phoenix in movies. I believe he should have won the Academy Award at least for WALK THE LINE. Apparently he's now into music and if you missed him on David Letterman, here's a real eye opener onto the NEW Joaquin:



P.S. Now I love David Letterman!

Cousin Joe still trippin'

They've rounded Cape Horn and are in the final stages of the cruise. If you're interested in such a cruise, or in the area visit his blog by clicking here. He has outlined his trip complete with photos.

Yukon Visitor

We do get visitors here in the winter (other than my mother and Jennifer!). Sues left the blustery snowy New Brunswick winter to visit the snowy and extremely cold Yukon winter. And she's still smiling!
But you can't beat our blue blue skies of the extreme cold.

Deb had some "book-clubbers" as well as former Hawaiian ship cruisers over to her house for a lovely luncheon including champagne and orange juice. (now you know why we laugh so much!)

Cousin Joe's Cruise

My cousin Joe and his wife are on a cruise aboard the Star Princess sailing aside Patagonia and through the Straight of Magellan. He is keeping me up to date on his travels and I thought I would share some of the photos with you. Above: He says, "We are on our way to Ushuaia, Argentina via the Beagle Channel named after the ship sailed on by Darwin. At 8:00 am this morning we entered a section of the channel that has glaciers and hanging valleys."

Above and below photos: "The highlight of the day for me was seeing the Osorno Volcano and some of the rapids and waterfalls in the area. For most of the day, the volcano was shrouded in clouds and it was only late in the day that we finally saw the peak. The volcano is a classic example of a cinder cone just like the famous Mount Fuji in Japan. Of course when you think of Chile llamas come to mind and you see a few on the country. We also came across a Monkey Puzzle tree which I have to admit is one of the strangest plants I have ever seen. " (as you can see I didn't include the Monkey Puzzle tree - if you want to see it let me know)

Snow, Snow and more Snow

I don't know how many cm's of snow fell yesterday but it was definitely whiteout conditions driving to attend the shower. Between my neighbour and I, we shovelled the driveway four times and it was still snowing. Being in a semi-arid climate, we shouldn't be getting that much snow. As you can see from the photo above, I have to heave each shovelful of snow high into the air to get it to stay on the huge snow bank, which I have already pushed back many many times.

There was a snowfall advisory issued yesterday and they weren't kidding. Only two more months of snow, then it can start to melt. On a brighter note, our daylight hours are increasing (sunrise now about 9 AM, sunset about 5 PM). That is something everyone notices. AND you can now feel some warmth when the sun shines. Spring is coming!!!

Shower / Meet 'n Greet

Cody-Anne had her baby shower yesterday - correction, she had her Meet 'n Greet yesterday. Showers involve making silly paper plate hats with all the bows and ribbons and playing silly games. A Meet 'n Greet involved coming to meet the new baby and bringing a gift or not, just enjoy. There was a full age range in attendance, from one month (Ella) to 62 years (or there about). Also in attendance was Cody's step daughter Sam and step son David (who stayed hidden during the affair).
Little Ella slept through the whole affair even though she was passed around to everyone. She awoke at the end, only interested in food, to which Cody obliged, and fell asleep once again.

The proud Grandmother hosted the party and did get to hold her new grandchild, at least for a bit.

Sue & Iris come north

Paulette is having her hip replaced in YVR, Nuge is having his fused spine checked out at the same time, so Sue & Iris came north to look after the house, kids, and invalids (when they return). I was lucky to catch a bit of their time and we had a lovely luncheon today at my house. I've known Sue & Iris for over 40 years (!!!) so it was fun to get together and "chew the fat".

Lego Inauguration

Legoland California has created the inauguration of President-elect Obama and his family along with Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and his wife as mini-figures in Lego bricks.
Invited dignitaries include Lego versions of President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Lynne Cheney, former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush and Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Here is Jennifer's favourite part. Interested in seeing more? Check out this site, click here, or watch on Youtube by clicking here.
(Thanks Jenn for this info)

Movie Review

With only 2 double theatres here (one with a hole in the screen!) I often have to wait and wait for a good movie to come. Recently there has been a rash of horror movies (I'll pass thanks) and kids movies (unless it's Shrek or similar, I don't really want to go). I've been waiting for MILK, not yet here and waited and waited for some in the recent past which never did make it here. But in the last two weeks, I did see two movies.

TAKEN: with Liam Neeson. I like Liam. I didn't think this would be a blockbuster movie from the trailers, but thought it would be worth seeing - WRONG. Full of spy killing, cars rolling and bursting into flames action, it is so bad and unrealistic. Liam escapes at least 5 machine guns and hundreds of gun shots and yet can shoot his attacker with one pull of the trigger. The IMdb website gives it 8 of 10 stars. I give it 2 of 10 and that's being generous. Click here to see movie details .

GRAN TORINO: with Clint Eastwood. Again, I like Clint (other than the fact that he has five children from five different women), but I'm not big on muscle cars, so I wasn't expecting too too much from this movie. He played a bigotted old man in a multi-cultural neighbourhood (lots of fuel for the fire). I LOVED the movie. Definitely worth seeing. IMdb gave it 8.5 out of 10 stars. I'd give it 9 of 10. Click here to see movie details .

MILK: Coming soon to a theatre near me - I hope.

Need a new Job?

I'm sure you've all heard of this job being advertised in Australia, toted as the Best Job in the World. Click on the link below to see the Job (click on the links at the top to find out the details of the job and see picutres of where you would be working, should you be the successful applicant) and see one of the applications from the north:
http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/applicants/watch/_gpv6kO1WY4

Just want to see the northern applicant - here he is:



If winter is getting you down, you still have 20 days to apply! Good Luck.