My little man (see picture below) comes home next Friday and I couldn’t be more excited!! He’s my first Frenchie so I’m a little nervous because I understand they can have some health issues/sensitivities but mostly I’m just counting down the days until the 12th.
Dan and I have purchased a lot of supplies (toys, food, doggie home…etc.) but we’re stuck on the name.Any suggestions?
I love shark week because I love sharks (well I like all animals). But I gained a special fondness for sharks after seeing the film Sharkwater (Warning: film will make you cry/disgusted with humanity) sometime a few years ago.
The documentary examines the popularity of shark finning and it's impact on sharks/the eco-system. Each year 73-100 million sharks are killed for their fins. Shark population has dropped by 90% and almost 1/3 of shark species have been finned to near extinction. In China, the shark fin soup is considered a delicacy and to serve the soup is considered a sign of respect, honour, and appreciation to your guests. Shark fins are also used as an 'herbal' supplement of sorts because they believe that since sharks are immune to cancer, ingesting the fin will improve health (wrong!) Shark finners can earn around $300/pound and it brings in a lot of revenue (in the documentary it shows the Costa Rican authorities turning a blind eye to shark fin poachers)
I really don't like the idea of any animal being killed however the manner in which the sharks are finned is particularly cruel. The process of shark finning involves: catching a shark, removing all of the shark's fins, throwing the shark back into the water (most often still alive) and the fresh blood will attract more sharks to catch. That's right, poachers are not even using the whole shark. Remember that warning before? I could not stop crying at this part because in the documentary there is no shortage of of horrible footage of sharks being stripped of their fins and tossed back into the water. It's the equivalent of cutting a human's arms and legs off and tossing him or her into the ocean to drown or bleed to death (shark's will drown if they can't swim).
Reasons to not murder sharks:
- Duh! They're awesome
- Murder is wrong
- Sharks are incredibly old -- definitely older than humans. They're been around for 400 million years, pre-dating dinosaurs by 150 million years
- They're not dangerous if you respect them. Shark attacks are few and most are adolescent sharks who are confused as to what constitutes food (seals) and what does not (humans). According the the International Shark Attack File, your real odds of being attacked by a shark are one in 11.5 million and 0 in 264.1 million of being killed by one. (Only 38 people have died of a shark attack between 1580 and 2003)
- We depend upon sharks to survive. As in all ecosystems we need a top predator (sorry humans, that can't always be you.) In the ocean there are tiny plants called Phytoplankton, an important plant that consumes carbon dioxide and provides more than half of the oxygen we breathe. Being tiny, phytoplankton are not on the top of the food chain and are consumed by other marine populations, which in turn are consumed by sharks. Therefore sharks = oxygen.
- Shark meat and shark fin contain mercury and other toxins; some fins have been found to contain over 40 times the permissible limit of mercury for human consumption. So it would be healthier just to leave the sharks alone
Toronto is not yet Shark Fin free -- here is a link to the petition asking the City of Toronto (where I'm from) to put a ban on shark fins: Fin Free Toronto
Here is the trailer for Sharkwater. I think you can watch the whole documentary on Youtube.
Once again I’m posting another belated Tuneage Tuesday post HOWEVER I’m hoping that by revealing an embarrassing secret we’ll overlook the fact that it’s Thursday.
My Musical Guilty Pleasure? ---- is Demi Lovato.
As a soon to be 28 year old (next week), I find it more than slightly embarrassing that I think this little 18 year old rocks -- I also follow her on twitter *hangs head in shame* – but she totally does.I’m not really into “popstars” to begin with but the part that makes it even more embarrassing is that she’s one of those Disney products (ex. Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers…) and while some of her earlier songs (when she was like 15) have pop-y ridiculous lyrics, there’s no question that this girl can actually sing.She’s also the least promoted “tween” sensation however she’s the only one with actual talent (she also composes some of her own music).
The reason I decided to post about Demi is because she released a new single on Tuesday called Skyscraper, which I’ve just heard today, and it’s just such a beautiful song.Demi was admitted to rehab last year for a slew of issues after suffering an emotion breakdown on tour (she totally punched one of the backup dancers…which makes me like her more) and it has since been revealed that she suffers from bipolar disorder, eating disorders and had been cutting herself….there’s a reason I’m telling you this.This song was recorded before her breakdown, while her voice was still raw from her eating disorder, and the producers have left her voice un-produced.So when you listen to this keep in mind, nothing has been done to digitally enhance her voice.Talent.
Anyways….I think I stop this post right here.Enjoy skyscraper.
This is why I love my new condo. It's extremely close to the Ossington vintage area (it's a block away)
I haven't yet visited the ones that, surprisingly are the closest to my condo, and it's my goal to go today or tomorrow. I'll need to visit: I Miss You, SilverFalls, Badlands Vintage Clothing and Vintage Mix 1. I'll post some photos once I visit and I'll definitely post pics of anything I buy.
On Saturday I made a raw strawberry pie using a recipe from Jonsi and Alex's cookbook. My blender isn't as great so I was unable to achieve the same cream like texture therefore mine really looks nothing like theirs PLUS I ran out of agave so I used honey and had to use a tiny bit of sweetened coconut, both of which aren't raw. But it still tasted pretty darn good.
Here's the video of Jonsi and Alex making their raw strawberry pie. (As mentioned in a previous post, I adore him)
And here's my version.
I really want to try A Dash of Compassion's raw vegan ice cream sandwiches (I actually want to try all of her raw recipes. Everything looks so yummy!!). I think I might try the avocado mint first but I'm definitely going to make both!
