Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 10:30AM HUGE congrats to Zaac Pick! His song, My Century, just won the Shore 104.3's Sounds of Summer song search, judged by Vancouver music bigwigs Sam Feldman and Terry McBride and Bruce Allen. It's a well deserved victory and I can't wait to see where it takes him!
[image via Shore 104FM]
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 2:29PM A little promotional piece I wrote for uber-talented musician and friend, Zaac Pick, appeared in the Surrey Leader today. The Shore closed voting early for some reason, so while you can no longer vote for My Century in the Shore Song Search, you CAN still download his album from iTunes!
Front Lawn Creative, friends, music Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 3:38AM 
On a cold and foggy Sunday afternoon, three kids set out to see one of Oxfordshire's oldest unsolved mysteries - the White Horse.
For fans of crop circles and other pastoral quirks: the White Horse is said to be roughly 3000 years old. No one knows why it's there, or if it's even a horse, but at least since 1072 it's been referred to as one.
Dean, Tenelle and I donned our wellies to go check out the phenomenon. The fog rolled into the Vale of the White Horse at the same moment that we did. And fog aside, we discovered that it is nearly impossible to see the full white horse from land. (Scroll down to see the full creature in an aerial shot.) An airplane not at our disposal, here's the best we did (that's a tail, hind leg and back you see): 
Tenelle, expecting a truer depiction of a horse, was a bit mystified. Later, when we stopped for lunch we discovered that she wasn't the only one who envisaged something that looked a bit more horse-like:
To be honest though, horse or no horse, this was one of the most beautiful British landscapes I've seen outside the Lake District. We made a short walk of it, but on a sunnier day and in better shoes, I might have taken up the Guardian on this suggested 16km route.
Given the conditions we did have, the highlight of the day was a stop at an Uffington pub for Sunday dinner - fish and chips for Dean, pork roast for me, and for Tenelle, that British pub favourite: ham, eggs and chips!
The White Horse from above:
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 6:05AM 
The other night we were showing some friends the trailer for a film that one of our most super-est talented-est friends has spent the last three years creating. It's like, the fifth time I've viewed this clip , but somehow it still always gets a reaction out of me.
Trevor made multiple trips to Rwanda with the help of his other super talented friends, to capture the story of a Rwandan couple who inadvertently found themselves on opposite sides of a tribal war - he is a Hutu and she is a Tutsi. They do an amazing job of capturing both the horror of those days, and also the hope and healing that Rwanda is experiencing now.
After years of watching latest edits and hearing about the evolution of this film, I'm happy to say it's finally available on DVD. I've already reserved my copy and highly recommend you do the same!
Watch the trailer below and click here to learn more about the film and the production of it.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 5:51AM I'm home! or rather, I'm back! When you live far from home it's hard to know what to call each place. My recent emails to family must surely be confusing as I use the word to describe the place I've just come from and the place I've just arrived. The very nature of the word seems to imply that home can only be one place, and that does resonate with me.
So what's what? Can home actually be just the place where you pay rent and store your things and have the contents of the pantry memorized, or is it always going to be the place where you became you alongside the people who helped make you that way, regardless of whether or not you still have a bedroom there? Dean likes to remind me that home is where your heart is, so I guess my home covers a thin line connecting Oxford to Vancouver/Island via Swift Current.
My heart must be pretty stretchy.
Since I returned to the UK, I've been submerged in a cloud of jet lag, but have also managed to get out and about to welcome my friend Jeremy to his new life in Oxford and to chat Orwell with my fantastic bookclub girls. I also started a new gig at St Aldates where I'll be offering up my communication skills once a week from here on out! And what did I get up to in Vancouver? Well, plenty. Here are some photos from the few times I actually remembered to pull out the camera!
Nathan's world-class Asian-fusion in Victoria
Three-year-old Rowyn's Tai Kwon Do bow in Parksville
Two of my favourite city girls braving the Van Island outback for a day
Kelly, myself and Nina celebrating Julie's 29th birthday!
A couple of Scots in Vancouver after a record-breaking downpour
Me and cutie Josh in Coquitlam
A HUGE thank-you to the many people who hosted me, treated me to coffees, lunches, dinners and belly laughs. I love you kids.