I Feel Honoured

I skipped Vini yoga today, partially because I don't like Vini yoga, and mostly because I really wanted to go kayaking, instead. So I went, and Dmitri and Linda accompanied me. It was their first time, and man oh man, do they ever need practice! Watching them made me feel pretty darned smug. They knew they were comedy gold though, so it's all ok.

While we were still laughing over a seriously wrong turn on their part, a bald eagle soared high above us, then swooped down and hauled a three-foot eel out of the river. It flapped away carrying its prize and landed on an upturned tree about a hundred feet upstream. I could see its mate sitting there, as well. I wanted a closer look, so I zoomed ahead in my fast little one-man kayak. The bird without the fish jumped up and flapped its way to a nearby tree, but the hunter bird stayed put, picking at its hard-earned meal.

I paddled until I was adjacent to the eagle, and then held my position, about fifteen feet away. The bird watched me warily, but continued eating the eel. I felt honoured to be allowed to watch him dine. As he ate, he turned around on his perch so I could get a good view of him from all angles. The haughty turn of his beak, his piercing golden gaze, and his precision of movement filled me with awe. I also got a kick out of the way the plumage on his legs make him look like he's wearing oversized pants.

Dmitri and Linda finally caught up to me, and crashed their kayak into mine. The eagle wasn't too impressed with this, but still kept eating until we drifted a little too close for his liking. Still carrying his supper, he flapped to a spot that was both higher up and closer to us. He ate some more of the eel, then finally decided he'd be happier further away from us crazy boaters. That's when he beat his huge wings and climbed up higher and higher, then turned off into the woods.

Later on, as we were heading back to the pier, he circled high above us and cried out.

That was one helluva sexy bird!

I want to get a month pass for kayaking. Maybe I'll get to see him more often if I kayak every day. I'll certainly beef up my upper body, at the very least!

Essential Cellulose

thatnickguy suggested I follow his freshly-made meme, and I decided, sure! Why not? So, here goes my top ten list of movies. Now, I really don't have ten all-time favourite movies, so this list will contain whatever springs to mind right now. And no, these aren't in any particular order.

1. The Butcher Boy: This is an overlooked gem. It's the story of a stark, raving mad Irish boy during the Cuban Missile crisis. It's both hilarious and horrifying, and Sinead O'Connor cameos as the Virgin Mary. The kid deserved an Oscar. Why didn't he get one?
2. Aliens: I want to be Vasquez when I grow up.
3. Anaconda: One of the best worst movies, ever! It made me laugh about as much as I did while watching this next flick:
4. Species: Two words: prehensile nipples. What more could you want! I laughed so hard, it triggered a terrible asthma attack. It took me three hours to watch this movie, because I kept laughing so hard that my asthma made it impossible for me to breathe. So I'd pause the movie, suck on my inhaler, and when my lungs started working again, I'd watch the movie until it killed my lungs again. It was a vicious, hilarious circle!
5. The City of Lost Children: Gorgeous and surreal. I need to watch this again.
6. A Clockwork Orange: Vicious, unsettling, and insightful. How did Malcolm MacDowell go on to act in dreadful films after starring in this masterpiece?
7. Dangerous Liaisons: This has the wittiest dialogue I've ever encountered in a film. It's a strong adaptation of the most excellent book, too!
8. Jason and the Argonauts: Harryhausen rocks the casbah!
9. Clash of the Titans: I must have watched this cheesy movie about forty or fifty times when it first came out. It is quite possibly one of the reasons I went on to become a classics major in university.
10. Léolo: Just your typical disturbing movie about the bastard son of a tomato. If you liked The Butcher Boy, I think you'll love this.