Strange Props and Odd Scenes

I'm going on a naughty vintage photography bender! ( Someone stop me! )

The Preying Mantis

Someone asked me to post a review of The Preying Mantis once I went there, so here goes!

Last night, I finally had my chance to eat at The Preying Mantis, Fredericton's newest Asian restaurant. First off, please note their Interac machine isn't yet installed, so make sure you bring cash. The restaurant is fairly small, yet the tables are amply spaced out, giving lots of room. The decor is simple and elegant, with paper lanterns, beige curtains, and pottery and katana on the walls. Normally, when I see a restaurant with this sort of look, I expect high prices, but the menu is very reasonably priced, with many items under eight dollars.

The dinners for two are about $24.00, and come in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese varieties. I split a Japanese dinner for two with f00. We had miso soup, tuna and dill sushi rolls, some sort of ginger stir-fry, and a chicken curry. The food was both tasty, well-presented, and the sushi rolls were generous in quantity.

The restaurant has a decent variety of Asian loose tea, and the desserts look intriguing, if not wholly Asian. The Preying Mantis doesn't yet have doggy bags. They don't want to use styrofoam containers, and are still awaiting something more friendly to the environment (like paper, which only kills trees and doesn't clog up landfills too much. Heh...).

I have every intention of going back to this restaurant again. It's nice to see a nice new restaurant in the culinarily-challenged Fredericton.

The Preying Mantis is located on Queen Street, close to the Fredericton Playhouse.

Cabin Fever

So last night I watched Cabin Fever, and I think my life is the smaller for it. The movie is a pretty lame paean to the horror genre, with nods to such films as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Evil Dead, Cujo, The Stand, and plenty more. All the clichés are present, with sex equalling gory death, teens making foolish decisions, and rednecks going on rampages.

The movie supposed to be a dark comedy, but I didn't find it to be terribly funny. There were a couple of parts that did get me, though. The kid that plays Dennis, the boy who bites, rocks out. In the DVD extras, he really shows his stuff when he does a highly energetic, head-banging, kung fu staff-handling routine. The DVD is worth watching for this scene alone.

Literally.

I wouldn't bother watching the movie itself--just the Dennis "pancakes" scene.

Linkage, and a New Kind of Fetish

Hoo boy! It's been a while since I've had a pervert send me this sort of email. I am vastly amused....

Pete Jones writes:

Hi :) I loved that pic of you climbing the pole in the park on your webpage. I've loved climbing poles since I was a kid to get that "funny feeling", I used to call it (didn't know it was an orgasm till years later). I think it's brought on by the stomach and thigh tension while climbing.........but who cares!! It's just soooooooo nice. How far up the pole did you get? Have you ever had that "funny feeling" from climbing? Great pic. Thanks. Pete.

It must be nice, being able to get so much pleasure out of the most mundane things. Well, if it's not nice, it's most assuredly messy.

And now it's time for me to clear out all of my bookmarks again. Enjoy!

God Hates the Scene: Bitch, please. God hates the scene (so do dead rappers). An unapologetic bastardization of a Jack Chick anti-evolution tract.

A Tattooing "Artist": A 1902 newspaper article on why amateur tattooists practice on schoolchildren.

Diva Milkshake: Trust me, you don't want to be watching this at work. You probably don't want to watch it at all. Don't say I didn't warn you.

You Are What You Eat: A collection of oddly-packaged and oddly-named foods from around the world.

Street Arabs and How the Other Half Lives: A moving portrait of street urchins in the 1890s.

The Gift of Magnetic Vision: It's not such a big step from wearing quacky magnetic shoe insoles to having magnets implanted in your fingers. It must be hell on the guy's credit cards, though.

Safe For Work Porn: I'm not so sure of this, but there certainly are no pink bits showing (thanks, Daze Reader).

Chewy Spice Cookies: I made these the other day, and they're really good. I substituted two teaspoons of rum for the teaspoon of rum flavouring, though. These cookies have a nice zing to them, and aren't too sweet!

The Questioning of John Rykener, A Male Cross-Dressing Prostitute, 1395: I wish I understood Latin (thanks, curtana).

Chasing Beaver: An awesome Canadian beer commercial for a not-so-awesome Canadian beer (thanks, Dead Corpse). Quite worksafe!

The Passion of Christ: Blooper Reels: Hee!

I'm Wearing a Giant Grin

I just received an invitation to perform with the Bellydance Superstars! Unfortunately, the show is in Montreal, which is a rather long bicycle ride away. Even still, I'm stoked to have been considered! I still remember when this whole phenomenon was still in its planning stages, and Miles Copeland had told me about it. I was still the music director at CHSR-fm, back then, and he wanted me to come dance for them then.

Excuse me while I glee my way back to my much more mundane work....

Tomorrow, I'll be performing at the local Legion. It's not so glamourous, but I can pretend.

Just Call Me Hippolyta

I want to be a shield maiden. Jeanne d'Arc was a righteous virago of a babe, aside from all the schizophrenia, betrayal, torture, and burning at the stake and stuff. If I want to emulate her, even if just in photographs, I guess I'd better make myself some armour, hmm?

( Check out these awesome photos from the 1920s. I love 'em! )

Hoorah For Frogs!

Have I ever told you how much I like frogs? Well, I like this guy three times as much as a regular frog! I like toads, too, but I haven't seen any that can sing in three-part harmony.

A year or two ago, I went to my parents' place, and a fat little toad sat on the road out in front. I leaned down to look at him, and he stared up at me without blinking. I reached down to scoop him up, and the poor little guy screamed in terror! I apologized to him, set him back down, and let him continue sitting there, unblinking.

But getting back to frogs, have you ever heard of a purple frog? I hadn't until just a moment ago.

This summer, I definitely want to go frog-watching and frog-catching. It's been far too long....