Well, isn’t today the most perfect of Saturdays.
A picture perfect day.

We’re headed to Ambleside Park for a little picnic.
I’m making this awesome maple cornmeal biscuits to take with us.

These maple cornmeal biscuits are super yummy!
It’s quick and easy to make with ingredients I have on hand.

They come out of the oven buttery and crunchy on the outside.
The grittiness of the cornmeal really makes that maple flavour pop.

There’ll be popcorn and drinks too!
Now we just have to leave the house

Anyone remember this song? It mostly reminds me of Trainspotting which I was mildly obsessed with.
I leave you with this and hope you’re having a perfect day where ever you are.
And yes, I know the song is possibly about drugs

I was listening to Nikki (the ‘I Believe’ girl) Yanofsky’s new album this morning on my way to work.
The songs are beautiful jazz, with a little bit of pop and soul, and she has an amazing voice.
I’m almost tempted to go see her during the jazz festival but I’m afraid my fascination is because she’s young and so talented.
Maybe my admiration is the kind reserved for child prodigies.

Someone suggested I listen to the album – because it’s ‘music to inspire travel’ as I’ve been a little obsessed with traveling lately.

It’s just a few months till September.
I spent the last week planning my vacation.
I usually take my vacation in September.

September is not a (very) high travel season, it’s also not blazing hot and I get to spend the summer in Vancouver which is the only time our weather is awesome.

When planning, I started off wanting to go to the same places I’d always gone, doing the same things I’d done.

But then I decided I wanted to try something different this year.
I’m going to rent a tiny apartment in Paris, and for a few weeks live out my Parisian fantasy.
I already have my days planned out; my days will be filled visiting open markets, boulangeries, little neighbourhood cafés, museums, sightseeing, brocantes and puces.
I’ll take a long scenic train ride to London one weekend to visit with friends and family.
It’s all I’ve been working on for the past while and it’s very exciting, I think waiting is going to be the hardest.
And when I finally return home, I want to have changed a little – because for a few weeks I lived a different life.

I also saw K’NAAN live at the Orpheum as part of the Cultural Olympiad last February.

It seems like ages now and I’m not sure I remember every awesome detail about the show.

When I first got K’NAAN’s sophomore album Troubadour – I listened to it again and again.

“Wavin’ Flag” soon became one of my favourites, I had it on repeat, and knew it was going to be a hit.

I was excited at the chance to see him live.

The show at the Orpheum was great and thrilling, the atmosphere electrifying.

He and his band were incredible!

“Waving Flag”

The set was inspiring and� fun – the crowd danced and sang along to all the songs.

Almost everyone in the crowd sang along to the choruses.

He did an extended freestyle version of “Wavin’ Flag,” where he gets into a little bit about his life.

There were a lot of actual flag waving too being that it was during the Olympics and folks were feeling rather patriotic.

“Waving Flag” Freestyle

My favourite part of the show was “Fatima”

He had us all sing along to the chorus, it was moving, but in a totally fun and stirring way.

More pictures…

“That’s Exactly How I Feel…”

This was the first time hearing this song, it’s not on the Troubadour album.

I’m not even sure what the ‘official’ title is but I really like it.

This is what a wore for the concert;

Diesel jeans, J Crew tank, purple Uniqlo shirt, a brilliantly thrifted Alexander McQueen jacket and Clarks shoes.

The necklace is from Foxy Originals although I love it so much I’ve decided it’s my personal crest.

I fell in love with a Tuareg man once, a Kel Tamasheq who called me his Tamedrayt (sister).

He had beautiful kind eyes, a wide smile and the smoothest gorgeous skin

I was in awe of him, I’d listen to him talk about this striking, vast and arid land he came from.

A land so colourful, harsh, beautiful that the sun shone so bright it sparkled into the horizon.

He’d speak of his people; strong, proud warriors who loved the land and the freedom to roam it.

I cried the day he left, big sad heaving tears; he wiped them away smiling and said

“Aah… Tamedrayt, One of these days you’re going to love something so precious you wouldn’t be able to trust yourself with it”

I smile through my tears. I, of course didn’t understand what he meant then.

I mentioned this to my therapist; that I believe the Kel Tamasheq man was the love of my life.

She thinks I’m romanticizing again, and a little surprised… “love of your life?, really? – What about the potential French husband”

“Have you considered life living on the desert?” She asks

I ask her if she knew� the Tuaregs were matriarchal.

It’s the men who wear the veil, not women.

I could have been a matriarch; I would have been revered…

Video 1

It was he who turned me on to Tinariwen and they’ve since become one of my favourite bands.

I saw them live for the first time back in February as part of the cultural Olympiad.

There were incredible, like everything I expected.

Their songs are a mesmerizing trance-like mixture of blues, rock and punk set to African rhythms.

Their sound has been described as desert blues, Afro rock, indigenous rock and roll and everything else in between.

Video 2

Their songs evokes magical places I’ve only dreamed of.

Songs that make melancholy sound beautiful, hauntingly beautiful words I don’t understand.

If you ever get a chance to see them live, do it! They are awesome!

I hurried home from work on Friday to catch the opening ceremony of the 2010 Paralympics on TV.

It was a lovely and inspiring show; I look forward to the next two weeks

The Paralympics are going to be a mellow and calmer affair than what the Olympics were

I’m sure this image has been making its round on the internet.

The boss sent this in an email; the first picture is Granville Street on the last day of the Olympics and the one beneath is Granville Street a week later.

Pretty amazing huh?

One other thing to come out of the Olympics is this video for Haiti recorded in Vancouver during games.

A group of Canadian artists dubbed Young Artist for Haiti recorded K’naan’s Wavin’ Flag.

Proceeds from the song will go to Free The Children, War Child Canada and World Vision Canada.

Here’s where you go to find out more about getting the single and contributing towards a worthy cause.

PS: I have a picture and video heavy post coming soon from the K’naan concert last month.