It's The Most Overrated Day Of The Year

It's New Years Eve and that means some combination of  work, food, drinking, drugs,  music, dropping balls, making out, free ttc rides, and sleep.

I really can't stand the pressure people put on new years. It's going to be so amazing blah de blah blah blah bla. 

Come to think of it new years has never really been that amazing for me. One year I had plans to go to one of those classy dinner dance events and the promoter cancelled it at the last minute.

Another year I went to time square and stood in the cold for 5 hours to watch the ball, which was probably a kilometer away from me drop. 

Last year I went clubbing and was standing in line at coat check at midnight...wooooooo fun. 

So this year I'm not doing anything. I'm hanging out with my room mates, having a few drinks and seeing where the night takes us. Maybe we'll wander down to city hall, maybe we'll watch movies, maybe we'll dance around in our underwear or maybe we'll fall asleep by 10.  All of these options are fine by me because they will all be fun without the expectation of being great. 

2010: Epic Epicness

You know that saying that implies that how you spend new years will be how you spend the rest of your year... Yeah, I always thought that was bullshit but in 2010 in tuned out to be true. Indulge me as I pay tribute to 2010…the best year of my life (or just stop reading, your choice).

Highlights in chronological order according to my memory:

New Years: Circa night club with Steph and Ray – I’m pretty sure that place doesn’t exists anymore.

new years

End of January: The Diva’s (my group of amazing girl friends from high school) all get together for the first time in 5 years. I truly miss them and it’s sad that we aren’t super close anymore but I’m thankful for cellphones and facebook which let me keep in touch with them as much as possible.

Beginning of March: Muse concert with “obstructed seats” which turned out to be amazing seats and cheap. Matt Bellamy and co knocked my socks off and I bought all their albums that I did not already have (which was most of them).

Middle of March: One of my best friends and I had a big falling out. We didn’t speak for 8 months but on her birthday I sent her a message. A few days later were hitting a dance floor on St. Patrick’s day and now we’re like two peas in a pod again.

End of March: Steph and I went to see David Guetta at the Guvernment. This event marked a big shift in my life. It was the first time I was truly exposed to house music/dj/rave culture and I fell in love. The Guv plays a role in many happy memories in 2010.

April: hey look there’re leaves on the trees and Kaskade is at This is London. Tickets are $35 bucks so Steph and I are there. Took some great photos of us that night.

May: My favourite late night talk show host was prohibited from appearing on television but that didn't stop me from seeing him at Massy Hall. 

I'm With Coco

June: Finally finished classes at Humber. I decide to take an internship at a music school. This is probably one of the best decisions I have ever made. I love that school, the staff, the kids, and what it stands for. Music means the world to me and I truly believe everyone should have access to high quality music education.

July: July was going to the be the most epic month ever. It didn’t go exactly as planned but it was still amazing!

July 1^st: Steph and I see Deadmau5 for the first time ever at the Guv. The cube was there and in full force. Unfortunately we got separated so while we didn’t get to experience it together but we still had an amazing time.

Deadmau5 on June 30th

One week later Steph and I are back together at the Lady GaGa show. Girl puts on a wicked show and Elton John was there.

Lady Gaga

The week after that I was supposed to see u2 three times but Bono’s back injury pushed the entire north American leg of the tour back a year. Whatever, 2011 will be full of u2 goodness.  I was also supposed to see Simon and Garfunkel but that got cancelled all together. I’m truly disappointed about that, it would have been a great night with my father.

End of July: I must say I’m not a fan of Bon Jovi, but I have friends who are in a Bon Jovi tribute band. I went to every one of their shows for almost a year so when real Bon Jovi rolled into town I figured it should see the real thing. It sucked. Concerts should just not happen at the Roger’s Centre unless the roof is open.

Bon Jovi @ The Roger's Centre

Middle of August: Freya and Claire return from India after 8 months. We celebrate by going to see John Mayer at the Molson Amphitheatre. He’s such a douche bag and it really distracts from his talent. Maybe next time you're here you should spend more time playing music and less time on twitter and talking about how hot you are. That’s not what I paid for!

End of August: I win free tickets to a private Brandon Flowers show at the modclub. Thanks Virgin Mobile. Crossfire is one of my favourite songs from 2010.

Beginning of September: The girls and I move into our new apartment in Chinatown. I LOVE LIVING DOWNTOWN.

Middle of September: The kids at RPSM get asked to perform Another Brick in the Wall with Roger Waters for 3 sold out shows at the ACC. I was lucky enough to play a small role in making a dream come true for our kids and watching a legend at work.

Fear Builds Walls

End of September: I make a decision to get a personal trainer for a year instead of paying off my student loan. This is the best decision I have ever made. My trainer pushes me not only to be a better athlete, but a healthier and happier person. I’ve never been as consistently happy and I’m sure that  exercise  plays a big role in that.

October: Yo October, you were more amazing than July.

First week of October: Steph and I drive out to London to see Deadmau5 at Western’s Homecoming. This tent party was sweet. Getting into a minor accident with my dads car and asshole western boys were not. $500.00 later the car is fixed and I can say deadmau5’s mom likes my shirt.

Deadmau5 @ Westerns Homecoming

Second week of October: Thanksgiving turkey and Calvin Harris at the Guvernment. Got love for you if you were born in the 80s.

Third week of October: Kaskade was at the government. I was there, but I don’t remember it and that’s why I won’t drink that much ever again.

Kaskade takes over the Guvernment

November was pretty laid back. The biggest highlight was graduation.

December: Happy 23^rd birthday to me. Jodi made me an amazing Deadmau5 cake. Then on boxing day I saw the mau5 himself at the guv and the last show of 2010 was definitely the best.  

I can’t wait for a relaxing new years. 2010 you were amazing. I hope 2011 is just as great or even better. 

A Year of Deadmau5 - Part One

Kendra's Talents:

1) extreme fandom                    

2) playlist making

3) internet procrastination

In 2010 my extreme fandom, playlist making and internet procrastination took a new direction as I fell in love with house music. This has resulted in Deadmau5 joining the ranks of U2 and Nine Inch Nails the musicians who define my existence. 

It's hard to believe that just a year ago I was among the masses that ask "What's a dead-maow-five?"

The brilliance of name like Deadmau5 is it allows the army of fans to immediately discover and initiate the new person who doesn't know it's pronounced dead-mouse. This is normally done by making fun of them to the point that they will a) never pronounce it wrong again and b) always make fun of others who do. 

Thankfully, I received my initiation from my good friend Stephanie Hannah. She's been listening to house for years, the influence of her british fiance. Unlike myself, she doesn't try to force her taste in music on others but when you've been friends with someone from almost 10 years the influence is inevitable. 

I had been taking the Ballet Bootcamp class at Flirty Girl Fitness for a couple months by January 2010. Just like most exercises classes the music was the same every week and  fell into the house/pop genre.  

I always looooved the first song of the class but I could never remember the lyrics to google when I got home. One day I asked the instructor for the name but the simple concept of writing it down eluded me.

A small miracle happened and I remembered a sole piece of identifying information. 

"Hey Steph, I'm trying to find this song...it's pretty and it's by someone and someone else who's name ends with five" 

"mmmm it's it 'Move For Me by Kaskade and Deadmau5?"

One simple youtube search later and an obsession was in its infancy.

Birthday Turkey

Today is Christmas Eve and in my family that means it's turkey day! 

Christmas Eve also happens to be my Father's birthday. So we do our big family Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, then presents in the morning and everyone goes to the significant other's family for dinner on Christmas Day. In my case this often means watching movies in my basement and chowing down on all my stocking chocolate. Personally, I think this is a better option then in law visiting. Yey, spinsterhood. 

My Dad and I both have December birthdays. I was actually due on Christmas Day, but my mom was going to stroke out if they didn't rip me out of her. So on December 9th she had a C Section and I entered the world as a fussy, vomiting Christmas gift.  

I am so thankful that I almost killed my mother as a fetus. Two weeks before Christmas means that people acknowledge my birthday as its own event. As a selfish child that meant I got two sets of presents. As a selfish adult that means I get to choose what I want for my birthday dinner. On the other hand my poor father has no say. Every year it's the same: Turkey, Chocolate Cake and Apple Pie. Don't get me wrong, our Christmas dinner is probably the most delicious meal we have all year, but I somehow doubt it is the meal he would choose if his birthday was June 24th instead of December 24. 

Unfortunately your birth date is the one thing in your life you have zero control over. So happy birthday Daddy. May we have plenty of turkey dinners in our future!!

Much love, 

Kendra.

Am I A Bitch?

Asking am I a bitch is like asking a rhetorical question? The obvious answer is yes.

Don't get me wrong I am an incredibly kind and caring person, but I'm also opinionated, kind of awkward and oddly confident. That combination often gets mistranslated into "bitch."

This most often comes out when someone gives me complements.

some examples:

friend: "hey Kendra, you look really good today!" "
me: "Yeah, I know eh. Thanks..."

friend: "I really like spending time with you."
me: "Good. You should."
(side note: this one is particularly bad, because as the words come out of my mouth I already feel bad for not saying 'I really like you too' and then continue to feel bad for not saying it a while but do not express this because the moment has passed.)

friend: "did you change your hair?..It looks good"
me: "Obviously."

trainer: "That was a great set!"
me: "I think we can all agree, 'great' is a bit of an overstatement...let's just say 'better'."

Most people have problems accepting complements. Sometimes I feel like I'm almost too good at accepting them. I'm always thankful and appreciative of the complements I receive, but I wonder if other people recognize it. I think I need to work on having more grace and poise when responding.

What's My Age Again?

Today is my 23rd birthday. To celebrate I'll be editing my bio and listening to some blink182.

Winter Time Is Here

On Saturday morning for just a brief few hours snow fell on city of Toronto. Throughout the day the ground was dusted in white. It provide for some nice pictures in Grange Park. Later in the day we also took some pictures in the beautiful Distillery District.

The One Thing Tim Horton's Does Right

It's not fancy like Starbucks or Second Cup and sometimes the coffee tastes like cigarette buds, but there is one thing Tim Horton's does right.

They still follow the long forgotten tradition of putting lids on their hot beverages before handing them to the customer. What a simple yet ingenious thought. How many times have a been burnt by extremely hot water as I carry my cup of tea over to the "milk/sugar/lid station."

I'm paying $2.50 for a tea\you could at least put the milk in for me.

Russell Peters Entertains The Grads

Here’s a portrait of your standard graduation ceremony:

Pomp and Circumstance.
Boring introductions.
Boring academic charging of the graduates.
Bad public address by the honourary graduate.
Awards that I never win.
The granting of the degrees/diplomas/certificate.
Joyous relief that you can leave the room.

Simply put 2-3 hours of torture so you can spend two seconds walking across the stage and take a million photographs of yourself in an unflattering cap in gown.

A few months ago I received an email with a date of the ceremony and one other small minor detail.

Lots of very talented performers come from the Greater Toronto Area so it should not have been a surprise that one of them was chosen to receive an honourary degree at my graduation from Humber College.

Russell Peters would be there.

At first I thought he wouldn’t come. I was sure that my professional fandom luck wasn’t that good.

But there he was on the stage providing the comic relief as only he could.

Being from Brampton and getting kicked out of college after a month, I guess it was quiet a special thing for him to receive a degree for doing absolutely no academic work.

His message to us was stereotypical yet inspiring in its unique delivery.

“Never do anything only to make money, do it because you love it.”

And as the graduates of the Comedic Performance Program received there diplomas Russell stood and shook the hand of every one of them.

Some random other graduates stopped to greet him as they walked across the stage and I had planned to do the same.

I do describe myself as a professional crazed fan. How could I pass up this golden opportunity to be meet a celebrity without being a total creeper?

Well, the truth of the matter is I chickened out. As the girl before me walked across the stage a voice from the audience yelled “THAT’S MY SISTER” and under his breath Russell said “why don’t you get your sisters name then” in a annoyed tone.

My nerve was gone. He was probably itching to get off that stage, and we were only half way through the graduates.

I settled for some solid eye contact and a smile from Russell. I made my way across the stage and back to my seat just thankful that the comic didn’t find something to make fun of me about.

I regretted my decision as soon as every one of the PR grads got a hug from him. A HUG. Suddenly, a handshake didn’t seem like such an inconvenience.

I made the right decision. He was on stage with 20 other people who I felt no need to interact with. Russell Peters may be a world famous comedian, but for those few hours he was just another Humber graduate. I’m glad that I treated him as such.

Welcome To Graduation

Training Torture.

"Good job," he said to me with a smirk and a slight laugh.

I'm hunched over trying to catch my breath and resisting the temptation to collapse on the floor. I've just lunged the length of the gym and back with 70 lbs on my back. I want to die. I hate lunges. He knows it and he takes great satisfaction in making me do them.

I think you have to be slightly sadistic to be a personal trainer. How many other careers can you think of where the sign of a good job is your clients pain filled groans as they push their bodies to move large amounts of weight?

I also think you have to be a slight masochist to want a personal trainer. While there are great payoffs to working out this way that hour can feel like absolute torture at times. Especially when the words "drop set" are mentioned in the first five minutes of the session.

I've committed to do this for a year. The goal - "dream body." Whatever that means. I better look hot and toned, but not scary toned like Madonna.

The first six weeks were a warm up. The foundation stage , as it was called, was composed of exercises that followed "primal movements." Last session we entered a build period. Let the real training begin. Heavier weight and less reps will start to build my muscles and I should start to see results.

I might overdose on protein getting there though.

The New Work Out Plan

a sign you spend to much time at the gym.

when walking home from the lcbo with a six pack in each hand you must resist the temptation to do lunges down Spadina Avenue. 

Growing as a Professional

So there is a school of thought out there by the "corporate professionals" That you should censor your online presence to make you appear responsible.

By this I mean no posting party photos on facebook and having limited profiles and only using linkedin for work connections.

I completely reject that notion.

I don't want to feel like I have to hide anything from anybody, including my boss and potential employers. Yes, I like electronic music, raving, concert going, dancing, drinking and general night life things that apparently make me look "unprofessional." However, I challenge someone to show me how my love of night life makes a bad employee?

Clearly, I have the capacity to make rational decisions.

For example.


Deadmau5 (or Dead Mau5 as the promoter called him) is playing in Kingston on Nov. 19th. My graduation is on November 20th. Now, as much as I love Deadmau5 and am dying to visit Kingston I made the responsible decision to attend grad. I'm not really happy about it but I suppose there are plenty of Deadmau5 shows in my future.

Steph is still going so at least I'll be represented in spirit.

I feel like I've failed as a professional crazed fan and excelled as a professional.

I'm not so good at this blogging thing.

Alright Blog, I admit it, I suck.

I've outright failed at my attempt to blog on a consistent basis.

but when one fails you must pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again.

So here I ago. with an attempt to blog more often.

In September I nabbed a six month internship funded by the CCCO (otherwise known as Work in Culture).

Little did I know that another Intern at Canada's National Ballet School would have the bright idea to host a little conference to get all us interns and mentors together.

Yesterday we all gathered at the beautiful NBS on Jarvis and I was fortunate to meet some pretty cool people.

One being Karen Whaley, who inspired me to start blogging again by talking about her own blogs http://www.sayitwithpie.com/ and http://www.bemoreblog.com/ the latter which is about her personal training journey. I will be reading it with interest since I've also recently started on that journey. I'm sure we'll share some laughs.

To networking and forming meaningful connections (Margaret would be proud).

There's a gooda blog a brewing.

EFFFFFFF

This has been the move from hell...plus it's a heat wave.

just wait for this blog of epic ranting proportions.

soon.

It's been a while.

Hey Blog.

I've missed you. But I've been incredibly busy.

I had billed July to be the best month ever. Well it didn't go exactly as I had envisioned but it was still pretty awesome.  Here's a brief recap.

Concerts

• bad news first:  I was supposed to go to 8 concerts this month but only went to three: all 3 u2 concerts were rescheduled for next summer, Simon and Garfunkel was cancelled and I sold my black eye peas tickets.
• Good news: I got to go to three concerts! 
• Deadmau5 at the koolhau5 on Canada Day eve! PS: Joel Zimmerman is my future husband!
• Lady Gaga 
• Bon Jovi

Career

• I'm enjoying my internship and have a few solid job prospects for September. Can't ask for more then that.
• I got an article published as well! goo me. Read it Here

Personal

• Moving to Chinatown in September!
• Was on two radio talk shows and in the newspaper. Why you ask? Click here

So blog. I'm sorry I've neglected you. I'll try to write more frequently in the future. I'll make it up to with sharing a video from Lady Gaga!

Perez Hilton One Night In Toronto

I won tickets for Perez Hilton One Night in Toronto. 


GREAT, except I don't really like any of the acts and only really want to go because it's free.


Problem is it's Sunday night. So aside from having to leave the family fathers day get together early, I'd also have to go to work hung over in the morning.


Is it worth going? 


I can't decide.

I'm Very Angry at my Blackberry!

Oh spinning hour glass of death how I hate thee!

In general I hate my Blackberry. But I'm under contract with Virgin Mobile Canada and up until recently the only smart phone you could get through Virgin were Blackberry's and iPhones. I choose Blackberry to buy Canadian even though I am a mac loyal for everything else.

I was planning on switching to the new iPhone in a few weeks. So I venture over to virgin's website to see if they have the pricing up for the new phones in advance. However I get distracted by the giant HTC Legend promo on their home page.

What's this? Virgin has an android phone now! For me that's perfect since I organize my entire life through my Gmail Calender and use google services like they are a religion.

Did I mention it's only $350.00 to buy out right which is probably about $300 cheaper than an iPhone  - meaning I can get a new phone for way less without having to sign a new contract. AMAZING.

Discovering this  after waging battle with that blasted spinning hour glass all day means I am so ready to buy this phone it's not even funny. I go to my closest Virgin store. They have one!

There is only one problem. The manager hasn't entered it into inventory yet so the cute Aussie sales clerk can't sell it to me. nooooooooooooo.

WTF Virgin. Does anyone ever walk into apple 3 days after a product is released to be told that they don't have it in their inventory? NO, because they have their shit together. Unlike you, Virgin,  who send out wrong bills and can never answer my customer service questions because my phone is on the "old system".

Anyways, I was so distracted by the Aussies' cute accent and all around hotness that I could do was sadly wimper "I'm very angry at my Blackberry."

Even more angry now, because that would have been a half hour of listening to that accent as he set up my new phone.

I'm very angry at my Blackberry!

Sexually Frustrated Kitty.

Meet Felix.

Felix is my room mates cat who we first fostered than adopted from Toronto Cat Rescue.

He is pretty much the most awesome cat ever. With One exception.

He is the most sexually frustrated cat I've ever met. He's fixed yet still randy all the time. To make matters worse he's developed an attraction for my right arm? whhhhhyyyyyyyyyyy?


He's constantly trying to hump my arm. I'm constantly (gently) throwing him off. It's weird! I guess it's good practice for when I eventually have a boyfriend to reject?

Anyways, in December, as always, I got a stuffed animal in my stocking. At 22, I'm a little old for stuffed animal, but hey it's a nice tradition and they are normally Christmas themed and are good decorations.

This year I got a polar bear. ahhhh idea! I'll give it to Felix and he'll hump it instead. 

Crazy enough, the idea worked. He moved on from my arm. That was until I cleaned my room at put the bear  away. Clearly,  I wasn't thinking.

The other day, I'm chilling out on my bed, surfing the internet as usual, and felix attempts to mount up.

"Felix. STOP IT. I gaaaavveee you a stuffed animal for that!"

But as I look at the floor of my room I realize the animal is not there. I get up, go to my closet, pull it off the shelf and throw it on the floor.

Felix goes from looking sad and lonely on my bed to ecstatic as he jumps off and goes to town on poor polar bear.

Is it wrong that I've given my cat a masturbatory aid? I just feel bad for the poor guy.

Grace Inside A Sound

16th of June, nine o' five, door bell rings
Man at the door says if I want to stay alive a bit longer
There's a few things I need you to know.

Three coming from a long line of traveling sales people on my mother's side
I wasn't gonna buy just anyone's cockatoo
So why would I invite a complete stranger into my home
Would you?

These days are better than that
These days are better than that

Every day I die again, and again I'm reborn
Every day I have to find the courage
To walk out into the street
With arms out
Got a love you can't defeat
Neither down or out
There's nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now

16th of June, Chinese stocks are going up
And I'm coming down with some new Asian virus
Ju Ju man, Ju Ju man
Doc says you're fine, or dying
Please
Nine o' nine, St. John Divine, on the line, my pulse is fine
But I'm running down the road like loose electricity
While the band in my head plays a striptease

The roar that lies on the other side of silence
The forest fire that is fear so deny it

Walk out into the street
Sing your heart out
The people we meet
Will not be drowned out
There's nothing you have that I need
I can breathe
Breathe now
Yeah, yeah

We are people borne of sound
The songs are in our eyes
Gonna wear them like a crown

Walk out, into the sunburst street
Sing your heart out, sing my heart out
I've found grace inside a sound
I found grace, it's all that I found
And I can breathe
Breathe now 

Learn Fundraising with 30 Rock.

Fundraising lessons can be seen everywhere... apparently, and slightly to my dismay.

Anyways, I stupidly set myself a goal to read Keep Your Donors, which is a 400 page text book on good donor relationship building, before Tuesday. This is definitely an unreasonable goal.

Realizing that it's impossible I decided to slack off and watch 30 rock with my room mate. WELL, this particular episode of 30 rock featured a charity golf tournament and a great example of how not to ask a group of people for money followed by a good example of how to ask a group of people for money.

If only my actual classes were as entertaining as this. Maybe I would have paid more attention.

The scene of reference starts at the 14:30 mark, but you should really just watch the whole episode because it's awesome.

MUTEMATH for Music Monday

If it's good enough for twitter it's good enough for Defining Smaller. I hereby declare all Mondays to be Music Mondays. I promise I will try to keep the U2 down. I do have other musical interest, although so far they haven't come out much.

Do you listen to New Rock or Alt Rock? Have you heard of MUTEMATH? If you haven't, check them out.

I had the unexpected pleasure of seeing them preform at VFEST Ontario last year. They were on the same bill as Nine Inch Nails and played a short mid afternoon set. In fact, I think that they only played four songs. I'd never heard of them before that day, but that set ended up being on of my favourite performances of the whole festival. 20 minutes was enough to convince me to buy both their self titled debut album and their follow up Armistice.

Of course, I listened to the albums a few times and never really got into either of them. Plus, the new rock station in Toronto doesn't play their music so I kind of forgot about them. (Yo, Alan Cross - I know you know who they are. Play them on The Edge).

Fast forward a few months. My father purchases a new car and with that comes a free subscription to satellite radio - What's this? MUTEMATH is all over the alternative stations. I guess they are kind of popular. And they should be.

I started listening to Armistice again. Articulated on it is the anger and devastation that all New Oreleans residents are feeling post Katrina.  It's a beautiful, interesting and engaging album that leaves you wanting to replay it over and over again. If you a twihard you'll recognize Spotlight from the first twilight soundtrack.

Tracks by them you should check out include: Spotlight,  Typical and The Nerve.

Getting Into The Spirt

I'm not going to lie. I'm not feeling the world cup this time around. I don't have cable and I'm just not into soccer enough to put up with a buffering live stream or drink at 10am in the morning.

However, I might be able to get more into the spirt with the help of some creative advertising on behalf of ESPN. In 2006, ESPN used the music of U2 to create different ads which featured the members of the band narrating a short story. In 2010 ESPN is again using the music of U2 in their advertising campaign. However, If you missed the originals I can't think of a better time to take trip down memory lane:

Bono on the Ivory Coast:


Adam Clayton on the Tartan Army


Edge on sick days - I think this one screams the truth!!

Goodbye Hotmail?

That is if I can figure out how to delete my account. Windows Live makes it impossibly stupid to delete your account. 

When I attempt to do this with my account it says I'm linked to a points system and a billing account. When I click on the link for the billing account it says that I don't have a billing account. So I don't know what Windows Live is talking about.

As for this points account: It's from when I lived with people who had an xbox last year. I don't play video games very often and I can't figure out how to delete this point accounts from my computer. Wouldn't it just be easier for them to say "when you delete your windows live account you will also be deleting your points account"?

Yes. But instead they say you have to go and delete all the other accounts that your Windows Live account is connected to. Really annoying. I've had this account for almost 10 years, I can't remember everything I've signed up for with it. 

Yet another reason to hate Microsoft! 

I Have A Professional Athlete Addiction

Growing up I was always playing or watching sports.  Baseball, in particular has been a main stay in my life for as long as I can remember. It was how I bonded with my dad. We'd watch Blue Jays games at home and if I was lucky he would get tickets from a client, and we'd make the hour trip to the SkyDome to see them in action. I would not change those memories for anything.

As a child my favourite players were always picked by who was the "best" on the team or who my dad like. However, as I got older this began to change.

Being female it didn't take me long to realize that professional athletes tend to be, ummm, rather attractive. My interest in sports suddenly was very swayed by this fact. In fact, I became obsessed with a new sport when I was 14 - Basketball.

Yup, the raptors suddenly became my centre of my universe, because Morris Peterson, became the centre of my crazy fantasy love life. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Morris Peterson and everyone knew it. I was devastated when he left for New Orleans as a free agent in 2007.

But, I quickly got over it.

My fantasy love life switched back the Blue Jays as Troy Glaus, followed by Alex Rios became the objects of my unrealistic desires. But then they both left and now all I'm left with is outdated jerseys and memories of my crazy fandom.

My problem is I feel no particular attraction to any of the current Blue Jays or Raptors. But the Raptors seem to get around 7 new players every year, so there is hope. And I think Travis Snider shows promise on the Jays side. Plus we're the same age - hello not so completely unrealistic fantasy.

So with the World Cup starting today, don't be surprised if my allegiance switches from Germany to which ever team has the hottest player. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a cute smile, hot body and millions of dollars.

A Rant about the G20 Summit

Last time I checked over 3 million people lived in Toronto. However, During the last weekend in June the thoughts, feelings and plans of these people matter less to the City of Toronto and the Canadian Government then the bug Steven Harper squashed as he walked into work this morning.

Why, why, why would any city choose to host the G20 Summit? It feels more like a punishment then a privilege.

• Those who live downtown need security passes just to get into their homes. 
• $2 million spent on security fences.
• Cell phone jammers.
• We can't fly kites.
• The Art Gallery of Ontario is shutting down for the weekend.
• The CN Tower is closing.
• Traveling out of Union station will be a nightmare.
• The lack of insurance coverage for riot damage.
• The Bluejays had to move their games to the opposing team field denying fans the chance to see Roy Halladay pitch in the SkyDome again.
• The $57,000.00 fake lake. ummmm will the real Lake Ontario please stand up?

Can't you world leaders just meet on Skype and save everyone a lot of time and money?

I would protest, but the delegates won't notice. However, the rest of the world will see Toronto look more like a war zone than the city I love. No marketing pavilion will fix that.

For Your Consideration: Conan O'Brien

Once upon a time I used to love both Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. Once upon a time I used to love NBC.  I even travelled to LA and went to two tapings of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I stood on The Tonight Show stage with Jay Leno.

Once upon a time I tried to attend a taping of Late Night with Conan O'Brien in Toronto. 40,000 people entered the lottery for those tickets - I've never been to lucky.

I now shudder at the thought of even watching Jay Leno and would never watch NBC if it wasn't for Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

But, I'm still with Coco.

I've never felt as bad for a celebrity as I did for Conan O'Brien. The demise of the Tonight Show with Conan was one that thousands of people around the world could relate too. While I'm sad that he's not currently on tv...in some ways Conan getting his ass booted out of NBC like a drunk out of a bar paid off for him and his fans.

The last few weeks of the Tonight Show were some of the funniest moments in his career. I personally loved when he put the tonight show up for sale on craigslist.  Plus now that he has a twitter account, twitter tracker has exploded and my day instantly gets better every-time he tweets.

I got to see Conan do his thing live when his "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television" tour stopped in Toronto. It was definitely sorta worth it.

For him, well, he got to realize that his fan love him enough to rally behind him and pay to see him preform (something they've never had to do before). And now, In my opinion, for the first time in his career Conan is finally getting to be the star of the network, like he should have been at NBC.

TBS isn't going to let NBC forget the mistakes they've made. Conan maybe legally prohibited from being funny on TV, but TBS isn't prohibited from reminded everyone of just how funny he was and will be.

They have launched an aggressive advertising campaign to get Conan an Emmy. To me this would be the ultimate ironic ending to the whole Conan vs. NBC fiasco.

The Emmy's air on NBC on August 29 and Conan's TBS show starts November 8th.

I think we know how Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman are voting!

Give this man an Emmy. He's legally prohibited from being funny on television - hasn't he earned it?!