Minutia

This is my submission for PhotoFortnight's current theme ('symmetry'). These broke-open cattail pods were snapped from the boardwalk a few minutes' walk from the building where I work. There's not a whole lot of beauty there in the dead of winter, but once in a while it does show up.

I don't use the blog to discuss movies anymore, unless something astounding comes along – but over the past few weeks we've been having incredible luck with our choices, checking such fare as Capote, The Squid And The Whale and Brokeback Mountain in the theatres and solid rentals like The Sea Inside, Grizzly Man and Crash. The Squid And The Whale probably ranks as my favourite movie from 2005 – director Noah Baumbach is good buddies with Wes Anderson, and this flick shares some eerie structural and dialogue parallels with Anderson's movies (most notably The Royal Tenenbaums). I'll be the first to admit that last year saw a lot of crap being released, but 2005 came to a strong close with some of the aforementioned movies. After Squid, the films I enjoyed most last year were a diverse pack – including Kung Fu Hustle, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, A History Of Violence, Capote, March Of The Penguins (natch!) and Good Night, And Good Luck.


The day after New Year's Kerry and I experienced our first homeowner nightmare – a leaking pipe. Only this pipe sprayed hot water for half an hour between the bathroom floor and the main-floor kitchen ceiling before we learned just what to do in such an occasion (turn the water off, yes, but also the hot water – d'oh!). Regardless, the leak eventually cracked open the ceiling (above left) and showered the kitchen with an iron-red wet funk and sent me spilling down the basement steps in a race for the mop. Fixed since – the pipe and my bruises, not the ceiling gash (above right) – and lesson learned: if one hears a noise like running water underneath the floor, chances are it is running water. We're lucky we were home though; had it happened the next day it would have poured its sweet heart out for six hours before anyone would have noticed.

I'd also like to say hullo to Kerry's sister Kath, who just moved to Toronto to study at the U of T, and now lives a block from the actual Degrassi Street (how cool is that?). Advice: watch out for that Joey Jeremiah ... he's a total shyster.