Wet Back

This movie will make you realize how lucky we are to live in a decent place.


The film was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and written and directed by Arturo Perez Torres.

It was released by the independent studio Open City Works and distributed by the Ironweed film club.

The filmmakers follow Nayo and Milton (whose surnames are not given), migrants from Chinandega, Nicaragua as they cross through Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States in their attempt to reach Canada. Along the way, other migrants are interviewed as they are detained by Mexican authorities. Catholic human rights workers in Chiapas also offer their perpectives, particularly on the abuse of migrants by gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha.

It also features interviews with United States Border Patrol agents and Arizona Minuteman Project organizer Chris Simcox.

A cool personality test

A cool personality test

Here are my results:

You are a Creator

Your imagination, confidence, willingness to explore, and appreciation of beauty make you a CREATOR.

You are independent, and you enjoy your self-sufficiency.

Defying convention, you are very innovative, and you have a vivid imagination.

The look of things is important to you, and you have a keen eye for aesthetic beauty in multiple arenas.

You have a strong interest in what is new and exciting—and that includes forging ahead with new ideas, not simply discovering what is already out there.

Your eagerness to seek new and varied experiences leads you into many different situations.

You're not set on one way of doing things, and you are creative when it comes to finding novel solutions to complex problems.

You trust yourself to be innovative and resourceful.

Your confidence allows you to take your general awareness and channel it into creativity.

If you want to be different:

Appreciate the earthly, practical elements of things—there is beauty in form as well.

While you are good at thinking abstractly, focusing on details a bit more may help you discover things about the world.

how you relate to others

You are Benevolent

You are a great person to interact with—understanding, giving, and trusting—in a word, BENEVOLENT

You don't mind being in social situations, as you feel comfortable enough with people to be yourself.

Your caring nature goes beyond a basic concern: you take the time to understand the nuances of people's situations before passing any sort of judgment.

You're a good listener, and even better at offering advice.

You're concerned with others at both an individual and societal level—you sympathize with the plights of troubled groups, and you can care about people you've never met.

Considering many different perspectives is something at which you excel, and you appreciate that quality in others.

Other people's feelings are important to you, and you're good at mediating disputes.

Because of your understanding and patience, you tend to bring out the best in people.

If you want to be different:

You spend a lot of time taking care of others, but don't forget to take care of yourself!

Sometimes you can get overcommitted, and when you sacrifice spending time with those close to you, it can make them feel unimportant.

Paisley

I bet you this will be in style soon.

Archie Digest

I was having a night to myself and decided to pick up a few things at London Drugs. While I was waiting in line I managed to take a look at the Archie Comic next to me.

Nostalgia overcame me. I thought about the times after school on a Friday night when my mom and I would hit up Safeway for a fun night in. I would grab as many Archie Comics I could get my hands on. $2.95 was the digest and $1 something was other format you could get. I had boxes upon boxes of them. I decided to purchase the digest and sink back to when I was a kid.

5 bucks! Wow things have sure changed and now they have a website - they got to keep up with the times hey? They even blog now - ha ha!

Salt Tasting Room

This place is the best ever in the city!

Great service, great food, great atmosphere, and great times!

Salt is a tasting room specializing in artisinal cheese, small-batch cured meats, and great wines.

The menu is simple. Guests assemble a Tasting Plate from their selection of 10 cheeses, 10 meats, and 10 condiments. The selections change constantly -- so often, in fact, that the menu is a giant chalkboard which is re-written daily.

Salt's goal is to source out small suppliers and do business with them directly. They like to know the first names of the people whose products we serve.

Feature a rotating selection of cured meats from producers like Oyama Sausage Co., J,N, & Z Deli, and Salumi (in Seattle). They offer a diverse selection of local and imported cheeses, from cheesemongers like Neal's Yard in London, and producers like Moonstruck Organic Cheeses on Salt Spring Island and Farmhouse Cheeses in Agassiz (among many others).

Condiments like Guinness grainy mustard, spiced peach chutney, honeycomb from Similkameen Apiary, rosemary-marinated olives, and Spanish Marcona almonds create great pairings with your cheese and meat selections.

To the Dogs at Presentation House Gallery

This presentation of photographs of dogs looks at the relationship between humans and canines. The exhibition includes historic photographs from the late 1800s by Eadweard Muybridge, classic images by the famous French photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue from the early 20th century, well-known contemporary photographers Elliott Erwitt and William Wegman, and many others. “To the Dogs” will reveal the diverse ways that dogs as domestic pets and wilder animals are part of society – as companions, helpers, labourers, even performers. A film series of classic dog movies will also be presented.

Gonna go check it out today. Should be fun.

My next purchase if not a mini..

Nissan S Cargo Van

Sunset in San Juanico

The last spot in the Baja to surf - a hidden spot - opps!

Scorpion Bay is a primitive recreation destination 650 to 889 road miles south of Tijuana depending on the route. Look on the west coast of Baja California Sur, north of Magdalena Bay, South of San Ignacio Lagoon. San Juanico can be found near Punta Pequeña, a south facing point with a lighthouse. La Purísima is the closest town inland. San Juanico is a Mexican fishing village in transition. In addition to the flow of visitors, some Americans have built palapas, set-up trailers and built cottages or houses in the town. Just to the west along the coast is the Scorpion Bay campgrounds, restaurant and cantina. Travelers from around the world camp along the cliff edge and make the cantina and restaurant their center of activity.

Tequila

Surfing Cabo style

Check this site out:

Road an amazing wave that day!

Characterized by year-round surf, long-ride waves and barely-there line-ups, Southern Baja is the fairy tale surf destination of which little surfer boys and girls dream.

Rarely a cloud in the sky, enchanting natural landforms, a wide range of waves for every kind of surfer, moderate marine temperatures and shark-free waters are just a few of the things that make Los Cabos a surfers’ paradise.

“Growing up in San Jose del Cabo, I always knew this place was special,” said Alejandro Olea, owner of the Costa Azul Surf Shop. “I’ve surfed all over the world and Los Cabos has my favorite waves. According on your mood and skill level, you can find a little bit of everything here.”

For surfers for whom one coast is not enough, and for visitors who want to learn to surf on their own schedule, Los Cabos is the place to go. Baja California Sur offers two bodies of water on either side of the peninsula, so when the seasons change, the surf doesn’t disappear. Instead, it drifts between the Pacific Ocean in the winter and the Sea of Cortez in the summer.

Depending on the season, the hottest surf spots span from just north of Todos Santos on the Pacific to the East Cape on the Sea of Cortez. From big right breaks at the Pacific’s La Pastora to fast reef breaks at Shipwrecks on the East Cape, and from Punta Palmilla’s 20-feet swells to The Rock’s fun reef breaks in between, Los Cabos has a wave for every kind of surfer.

Pets and Friends

Did you know that people living in long-term care facilities can go months without meaningful social contact? Even with the best care, they may struggle with powerful feelings of loneliness and frustration.

Pets and Friends is working to ensure that people in facility care don’t have to live without the comfort of companionship. Our long-running and highly successful pet visitation program touches thousands of lives each year—but there are still many elderly, sick and disabled residents who need our help.

Sekoya made the cut and will start bringing joy in a persons life next week.

China

China was reincarnated into a dog. Her spirit is of a lost little girl. I have never met a more human dog in my life.

China and Sekoya

Goose

We found Goose in a small cage full of 10 puppies at our local vet in Loreto, Mexico.

She was the only tan looking of the bunch. I wanted a puppy so bad. There were so many street dogs where we lived that it just torn me apart. So when I saw Goose I fell in love. We already had 2 dogs we brought down with us but having the extra addition has brought so much joy into my life. She is a true trooper and an inspiration.

This was the group I was volunteering at in Loreto. There is a very big story to this group but I will get into it another time. It was the reason why we left Mexico. But Animalandia was a true inspiration. They are doing a very good job at keeping the pet population down in Loreto.

Check out Animalandia's fundraiser, I helped promote and organize it.

Black Gold

Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

Against the backdrop of Tadesse's journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world's coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.

Manufactured Landscapes

Edward Burtynsky is internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of nature transformed by industry. Manufactured Landscapes is a stunning documentary by award winning director Jennifer Baichwal – follows Burtynsky to China, as he captures the effects of the country’s massive industrial revolution. This remarkable film leads us to meditate on human endeavour and its impact on the planet.