I Feel Better

Oh how I love Joe Goddard of Hot Chip fame (featured here), especially when he is just beebopping around in a puppy tee and jammy bottoms like it was Christmas morning.  They just never disappoint! 

Enjoy,

xoxo Amarina

Tuesday Tunes - Best Coast (on Thursday, natch)

My ears have been lusting after Best Coast all summer and I finally got to see them when they rolled through Toronto last weekend.  The sold out show at Lee's Palace turned out to be really! fucking! amazing! despite singer Bethany suffering from what appeared to be the flu.

Already a road veteran at the tender age of 23, she powered through almost puking several times on stage stopping only to sip water and smoke a joint that a bold (and clearly awesome) audience member passed to her in between songs.  Bethany even announced that it was the first time she's ever smoked on stage much to our surprise, since 90% of their songs talk about being in love and being high.

This is their new video for "When I'm With You", which I can't watch due to my coulrophobia and added hatred of Ronald McDonald.  But I imagine it's good anyway, plus the song is amazing.

Dance, dance, dance!

xoxo Amarina

Tuesday Tunes - Chromeo

I have a strong memory of the first time I heard Chromeo. There is a possibility that I had been smoking a bit of grass when I came across their music video for Needy Girl, and I realized what love at first sight could truly be. Now, they are on the verge of having the recognition they deserve with their forthcoming album Business Casual and they release this totally mental and completely terrifying yet somehow sexy but nightmare inducing music video. It makes me feel weird and I love it.

Dance dance dance!

xoxo Amarina

All I Want for Christmas is...

This crazy fellow right here.

Land of Talk steals my heart one more time.

Here's the goddamn gorgeous new video from one of my favourite bands, Land of Talk. This also happens to be my favourite song from their last full length album Some Are Lakes, I swear it casts sunshine on the cloudiest of days.

xoxo
Amarina

So long summer, hello autumn

Alright, I don't usually share pictures of anything other than weird shit and jewellery. To honour an awesome summer that felt too short, I thought I'd share some of my favourite pictures that my man and I took over the course of the last few months.



"The Spaghetti Incident" - Oh man, I was so excited to celebrate the last days of this past Spring by turning on the oven to bake delicious! chicken! meatballs! yum! In anticipation of d.c.m.y., I had had an early lunch and was ravenous. I was also suffering from Class A Butterfingers, which reached a comic/tragic/sudden end when I smashed my newly plated dish of food INTO EVERYTHING. Tears, laughter and more tears ensued; this level of clutzy-ness is not foreign to me.



Just one of many beautiful shots Ron and I took on our long drive around Central California and beyond with my family this summer. Trip of a lifetime.



A major discovery: leaving Lake Tahoe felt like abandoning a home before you've moved all your stuff in. A return visit ASAP is in order.



I don't even know where to start with the ridiculous setting of this picture. Curiosity, BBQ corn on the cob and too much sun led my man, my brother, his girlfriend and myself into a "Classic Films on Ice" performance starring none other than former Canadian figure skating champion/grannie heart throb/aspiring singer/karate enthusiast Elvis Stoijko. Together with some extremely theatric singers and a bunch of amateur skaters, this solid gold team paid homage to such classic films as Top Gun, Moulin Rouge, Slumdog Millionaire with seemingly random choices like Shrek, High School Musical and my personal favourites Ghostbusters and Kill Bill, in which Elvis sported Uma Thurman's yellow unitard and went through a karate routine on ice. It didn't seem crazy at the time to honour one of our favourite overdone movie moments: Blue Steel!



Meet Yma. She's our darling cat who too often enjoys curling up on the couch with a hot cup of coffee, the morning news and the remote. All I ask of her is that she washes a dish to earn her keep around here. Do you think she does it? Absolutely not.



I came home from a long day to a smiling owl on a steaming shepherds pie. Yet another reminder that I found my soul mate at a young age.



Ah! A mapless driving adventure led us to a beautiful and enormous flower garden on the lake. We decided to give our afternoon snack of muffins to the overfed and ungrateful squirrels who were clearly after something more decadent! I don't know how their tails remain so perfect when they're off doing squirrel things all day, my tail would end up all covered in tree sap.



Ron is the Tree Whisperer. He can negotiate the branches of any monstrocity, regardless of it's size.

It's been such an amazing summer, let's hope for an even better fall.

xoxo Amarina

Feel Good Right Now

Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele has been quite the summer obsession for me. It's one of those albums you can listen to when you're working, drinking, feeling blue or dancing in your living room like a crazywoman. I also listened to it last time I was getting a cavity filled and I have to admit, it made the overall experience much better than it could have been!

Check this out. If you're disappointed, I don't know if I could ever love you.

xoxo Amarina

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

I have to say that Wes Anderson has directed my most favourite movies of all time...in particular, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Needless to say, I've been experiencing a ridiculous amount of impatience while waiting for The Fantastic Mr. Fox, written by Roald Dahl whose immense talent for storytelling has been inspiring me since I was a little kid.

We have to wait until November for it to be released, but here is the trailer that was released this morning. Looking good Wes, looking real good.

xoxo
Amarina

Amarina Galafianakis

Dear Zach Galifianakis,

I honestly can't remember the first time I laid eyes on your delightful face, but you have been at the top of my fantasy to-do list for years. You were also on my mind when I acknowledged a pattern and discovered that my "type o' man" is typically a little chubby, a little beardy, maybe a little boozy and totally hilarious. Other men that I found jumping into this mix but didn't stay long include Richard Karn (of Home Improvement fame...he didn't meet the "hilarious" requirement) and my Grade 12 German teacher who liked to wear lederhosen-inspired khakis and button up collarless dress shirts.

Now that I've been thinking about this much harder than I probably should be, I'm pretty sure the first time I saw you was in Out Cold, which must have been airing on TV one night at 3am. I have to say that I was super excited to see you in a leading film role that was not Out Cold. After seeing a few different previews for The Hangover, I decided to go opening night. Not only was the flick significantly better than what I had been expecting, but we got to see [spoiler alert] your ass and junk. I highly recommend it if you're into masculine douchebaggery and gross-out jokes.

Not About Love from Zach Galifianakis

In honour of The Hangover being funny enough to recommend to you guys and in celebration of determining my Man Type after 27 years of crushing on the guys no one else crushes on, here's my hubby's take on Fiona Apple's Not About Love, which I am about, but only when it comes to chubby, beardy comedians with a bit of a lush streak and unruly facial hair.

xoxo
Amarina

Toronto Air Sex Championships

Oh man, so excited that it's finally consistently lovely outside and my partner and I feel like we've broken the hermit cocoon and are venturing out into the world again. One of the things I'd been looking forward to for awhile is the Air Sex Championships that rolled through Toronto last night. A perfect mix of sexy slow jams from the 70's - 90's (hello Color Me Badd!!) and epic film instrumentals (maybe a ditty from Harry Potter?), the brave souls that ventured on stage wiggled and moaned and stripped and were generally sweaty and hilarious.

I like to think it takes a lot to shock me, but I was genuinely surprised to see the very first contestant light his prop dink on fire. This must be the ultimate sign predicting one hell of a summer and I'm so ready for it.

xoxo
Amarina

Amarina Bird

OK Andrew Bird,

I'm going to publicly state that I know we're meant to be together. What's that you say? You've known all along and have been dying to reciprocate my sultry glances? This must be love.

Now everyone else,

I've decided to add some weekly music video love. This week, to commemorate my new relationship with one of my many fantasy true loves I'd like to share "Imitosis" by none other than Andrew (Amarina forever) Bird. It has lots of wonderful gem insects. And Dosh on drums. As I have not figured out how to add a youtube video to my site, click here to see the genius...or click on his picture for the magic!

xoxo Amarina