more wedding pics

I've updated Saturday and Sunday with pictures from the wedding. If you can't get enough and want more, do check out the cool wedding Web site that Larkin and Rick had asked Jeff to set up so that some of Rick's relatives who couldn't attend the event could see what was happening. Jeff updated this site throughout the weekend...not an easy task considering the slow connection speed and the fact that he kept being called away for wedding-related activities like family photos. :-)

The photo at the top of today's Blathering is from Larkin's and Rick's wedding. My nieces Brittany and Olivia are at the far right.

There was a special table just for the kids during the reception, and a babysitter was hired to keep chaos under control. Each table setting at this table had crafts and toys, and the children were served hot dogs around 6:30 pm rather than having to wait until later in the evening with the adults:





The food, as I've mentioned before, was wonderful. Here's a photo of the lobster bisque appetizer:





Dinner was a buffet of food prepared by the groom and his helpers, and included roast beef, salad, scallops, small stuffed potatoes, other side dishes. Dessert: Haagen Dazs ice cream bar (perfect for the muggy weather), Rick's famous almond tiles, strawberries.

At each table setting was a jar of Rick's raspberry vinaigrette or his homemade salsa:





Each table also had a disposable camera and a small spray can of citronella. The latter came in handy since the mosquitoes starting coming out after sunset.

Here's a picture of the wedding ceremony site beside the pond:





Daniel LaBrash and his partner provided music as guests arrived. Flower petals had been scattered along the procession path and ceremony site.

As I mentioned earlier, Larkin had asked Debbie and me to perform a song after the exchange of the rings:





I had also written a song to surprise the bride and groom with during the reception; Debbie and I sang it during the speeches. By the end of the song, the whole room was singing along with the chorus, which was very cool.

For your entertainment, I've enclosed the lyrics to the song below. Insider jokes: Larkin and Rick help run a restaurant called Oasis, Rick always wears a baseball cap and tends to get up super-early to cook, crashes by 9 pm or so. Brittany is Larkin's daughter, from her first marriage.

LOVE OASIS
By Debbie Ridpath Ohi
(For Larkin & Rick, 2002-06-22)

We're here to celebrate the joining of Larkin & Rick
It's obvious these two are quite in love
(This is no movie trick)
If you're not sure just look into their faces
They have found their Love Oasis!


CHORUS (singalong):
Love love love Oasis
Love love love Oasis here

He's almost always cooking yummy things with a
cap on his hair
And it kinda makes ya wonder what he's
hiding under there! He works so
hard by 8 pm he looks like he's in stasis
Good thing they've found their Love Oasis!


CHORUS (singalong):
Love love love Oasis
Love love love Oasis here

And don't forget about a special little girl
Who has a sunny smile, the biggest in the world
(hey Brittany)
She shares her love and she shares her embraces
The three of them in their own Love Oasis...


CHORUS (singalong):
Love love love Oasis
Love love love Oasis
Love love love Oasis here

manhattan sleeps

My copy of "Manhattan Sleeps" arrived yesterday after I posted my Blathering about it. I really, really love this CD. Jeff and Maya are both SUCH talented songwriters and performers. Jeff, by the way, produced, engineered AND mixed the CD.

I was surprised (and deeply touched) by a mention of my name in the "Thanks" section of the liner notes. When I was visiting Jeff and Maya last year, Jeff played me a guitar riff he had worked on. I loved it, and told him so. Apparently my encouragement helped convinced him to finish the song when he had almost given up on it, and it became the last song on the album, "Not Now".

And after hearing how the final song turned out, I am REALLY glad he decided to finish it. :-)

Looks like Alisa Garcia got her CD as well. Her Blatherchat entry: "Debbie - got my copy of Manhattan Sleeps today, too! Have been doing the same thing with playing it over and over. It's so good! Forgot to turn it down once when I answered my work phone and got laughed at by a co-worker. Can definitely echo your recommendation to have people get ahold of a copy."

You can order a copy RIGHT NOW, if you'd like, since DAG has received their shipment.

Manhattan Sleeps has all original songs:

Road To Jerusalem
Never Mind
Manhattan Sleeps
Scarecrow
Dance in the Darkness
Lord of the Dawn
Shiraz
Wounded
Turn the Page
Spirit and the Stone
Persian Rose
Not Now

Jeff wrote the words and music to most of the songs. Amazing instrumentals. They also have some really talented guest musicians on some of the tracks.

My personal favourite is "Road To Jerusalem", but I reserve the right to change my mind a zillion times as I listen to the CD a zillion more times. The title track, "Manhattan Sleeps", has always made me teary-eyed. The song was written before Sept. 11th; I find it even more moving now.

Wow, does Maya ever have a gorgeous voice (Jeff doesn't sing, for those of you who haven't heard them perform before), incredibly versatile, multi-textured. I could listen to it forever.

Okay, I promise to stop raving about this CD now.

At least for today.





So I packed up my harp in its case last night in preparation for the trip to Orangeville. This is the first time that Gwyneth Paltrow has travelled anywhere since the move home from Philadelphia! And of course now I'm paranoid about strings breaking at the last minute, Gwyneth not liking the Orangeville air and deciding to crack, bla bla bla.

I feel like an overprotective mother about to send her child off into the world for the first time. Except I can pack my child into a nice soundproof case during the journey, unlike other mothers. (Debbie ducks as mothers bristle in horror, including her sister who will probably decide never ever to let me babysit her daughters again)

I will probably not be posting Blatherings until Sunday, but will catch up on Saturday's when some photos from Larkin's and Rick's wedding.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

(and if anyone's going to Contata, please do tell Tom and Dave that I yearn for them tragically)

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Annie peeking in the window at Fune.
	Me, Annie and Sara waiting in the North York Public Library for Sara's recital.
	Me, just after packing poor Gwyneth Paltrow into her case.

poll: childhood candy

(Update 10:05 am EST: Hey, the new Harry Potter trailer is online in its entirety! Thanks to Allison for the URL)

My sister-in-law Larkin and her fiancé Rick are getting married this weekend. Jeff and I are heading up tomorrow morning for pre-wedding festivities. Larkin is treating the Ridpath clan women to some pampering at the Millcroft Inn spa. I'm getting a "Nutritious Exfoliating Body Wrap".

I've been practising harp in preparation for playing during part of the reception, and am excited about my first public harp playing! My other sister-in-law Debbie and I will also be performing a song together during the signing of the register. Originally we were going to do John Lennon's "Grow Old With Me", but a few weeks ago Larkin decided on Shania Twain's "You've Got A Way" instead. I'll be playing guitar accompaniment since there isn't time to work up another harp arrangement.

To all of you going to Contata in New Jersey this weekend: hope you have fun! Sounds like it's going to be a wonderful convention, with Dandelion Wine as GoHs, Steve Brinich as Listener Guest, Solomon Davidoff as Toastmaster, and Andrew Eigel as Interfilk Guest.

Today's Blatherpics are from the JUST RELEASED CD from Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff. I am super-excited about getting hold of a copy. I was lucky enough to hear some unmixed tracks while visiting them last year, and was completely blown away.

"Manhattan Sleeps" will be available very soon (they were just shipped on Wednesday) from DAG productions, from Southern Fried Filk, from Bill and Gretchen Roper, from Random Factors, and Cafe Annick. You can also check the soon-to-updated Mystic Fig Bohnhoff site; Jeff and Maya won't be selling directly, but will be putting up links to the sites that do. If you want to contact Jeff directly, you can send him e-mail.

I highly urge you all to go out and order/buy one of their CDs right away! You won't regret it. You can find out more about the Bohnhoffs in this Dandelion Report interview.





Finished my July column for Writing World yesterday, sent it in. It's amazing how much more productive I am without the audit hanging over my head. I still can't believe it's over; I think part of my brain is still waiting for another phonecall or letter requiring me to drop everything and spend more time hunting through old financial records and phoning accountants and tax lawyers.

Made lemon chicken schnitzel last night; I felt like making something with a "z" in it. I also was overcome by a craving for Jell-O, so made some. I've always associated Jell-O with my childhood, as well as church potluck dinners. Remembering those potluck dinners made me dump in some canned mandarin oranges to complete my culinary nostalgia trip.

Which prompts me to ask the following new poll question:

What were your favourite childhood desserts or childhood candy?

Answer in Blatherchat

I liked anything with Cool Whip. Another church potluck dinner dessert I always liked was a recipe involving melted marshmallows and fruit. Can't remember the name of it, but I'm sure it was wonderfully unhealthy.

Speaking of wonderfully unhealthy, I can remember making a weekly trip with friends (sometimes Ruth and Jim) to a neighbourhood candy store, clutching my allowance. My favourites included:

- Lick'n'Dip (or maybe it was Dip'n'Lick? Fun Dip?), where you take a piece of candy, dip it into sweet powder, suck it off.

- Wax pan pipes. The thought of this grosses me out now, but I remember loving this. I'd play the pipes first, then chew up the wax. I don't think we were supposed to actually EAT the wax, just chew it and then spit out. Eugh, even more gross. What was I thinking?

- Candy necklaces. We used to walk around for a day or two afterwards with sticky bits on our necks from nibbling on the necklaces while we wore them.

- Lolas. I think they were called Lolas. Big frozen things in different flavours.

- Pop rocks.

- Pixie Stix. Long paper straws full of sweet, flavoured powder.

- Bag-O-Gold. Small cloth bag full of "gold nuggets" made of chewing gum.

- Candy Cigarettes. The one with Popeye on the front. I notice they've replaced the word "cigarettes" with "sticks" nowadays.

Dear lord. It's a wonder I have any teeth left.

buskerfest

Cathy and I went out for dinner at Milestones, then to see "The Bourne Identity" at the Paramount. I always order the same thing at Milestones: the Maple Cider Salmon Salad. Jeff Bohnhoff and Rand Bellavia have both had this when they were in Toronto; I was going to get Cathy to try it, too. It's my all-time favourite salad, ever. I could eat this salad for dinner every night. Lunchtime and breakfast, too. Okay, well maybe not.

Anyway, to my horror, Maple Cider Salmon Salad HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF THE MENU. I asked our waiter, and he confirmed this. AUGH.

I'm going to write a letter to Milestones pleading for them to put this dish back on the menu. We'll see what happens.

Both Cathy and I enjoyed The Bourne Identity, an entertaining flick that passed two hours quickly enough. I still liked Minority Report better, though.

Today's Blatherpics were taken at Buskerfest this past weekend. I dropped by during a run, paid my donation to the Epilepsy Foundation as an entry fee.

I had expected to find more music; I guess I had always figured the word "busker" referred more to musicians than general entertainers. Instead, there were a lot of booths selling crafts and other merchandise, some craft areas for children, and different performance areas for entertainers.

Just before I was about to leave, I noticed an athletic-looking trio setting up a high wire. Intrigued, I sat down to wait with other curious onlookers. The group, High Strung, put on an entertaining acrobatics and high wire show.

At one point, I even got recruited to be part of their act (on the GROUND, not the high wire, thankfully). They picked out three others in the audience as well. I barely had time to stuff my digital camera back into my waist pouch before we were instructed to sit on chairs arranged in a circle, each of us facing the back of the person in front. Then we were told to lean back so that our heads were resting in the laps of the people behind us. Everything happened pretty quickly. THEN they took our chairs away!

The resulting sight must have been impressive since I could hear gasps of amazement from the crowd; sure wish I had someone in the audience with my camera. After a few seconds, the performers came around and tickled us so that we all collapsed in a heap on the ground. At the end of the act, they took our hands and raised them while we all stood in line, basking in the enthusiastic cheers and applause from the crowd. :-)





I'm running 4-5 times a week these days. Sometimes first thing in the morning, other days in the late afternoon. I like running in the rain, and prefer it to running in the full heat of the sun.

I've noticed that many times that when my running comes up in conversation, the first thing people tend to ask is, "How far do you run?" Geez, I have no idea. 3 miles? 4 miles? Maybe not that far, maybe farther, I have no idea. I usually run down to the lakefront, then west until I get to Ontario Place, turn around and go back. Sometimes I run the entire way. Sometimes I mix up walking and running.

I usually measure by time, not distance, trying to keep my workout to an hour max., same as when I worked out at the gym. The hour includes warm-up and cool-down. I do my abdominal "crunches" and weights sometime during the work day when I need a break from the computer.

I've pretty much decided that I'm not interested in running races, at least for now. A few of my Toronto friends have been trying to convince me to participate in various 5-k races later in the year, saying that it will give me something to work towards, help me set goals.

Thing is, I don't need extra motivation. I like running. Every few weeks, I raise the bar for myself a little by going a longer distance, or pushing myself harder during a run. The reward of achieving those self-imposed goals means much more to me than finishing a race. Overall, I'm working toward gradually increasing my fitness level and for me, that's enough of a personal goal to keep me motivated.

But the main reason I'm not all that interested in racing (or even running with other people) is that I like running on my own, without anyone telling me how far I should run or how hard I should run. I get a tremendous amount of enjoyment from this selfish hour of solitude, away from phones and laptops, unreachable.

I remember DESPISING cross-country running back in school. I hated the whole competitive aspect, hated being forced to run, hated how I felt when I was running, how I felt after. I usually came in last or near last, of course. Some days I was sorely tempted to run off the regular track and just keep running until I was far away.

Maybe if I did, I would have ended up liking running more back then.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	Artist at Buskerfest on the weekend.
	High Strung acrobatic group.
	A girl trio at Buskerfest called The Limeybirds.
	This group called themselves River Tribe. Really interesting instruments. The guy on the far left kept opening and shutting the door of his keyboard instrument like an accordion. Does anyone know what kind of instrument this is?

meeting oscar peterson

It was a VERY good day yesterday.

For one thing, I got a letter from the CCRA. The first paragraph reads:

"We are writing to advise that our audit of Mrs. Debbie Ridpath Ohi is now complete. The audit resulted in no changes to the previous assessments."

WOOHOO!!!! The audit is over!

The ominous-looking manila envelope came in the mail yesterday; I picked it up when I was coming in from my run. Unable to wait, I ripped it open in the elevator before getting to the apartment. When I realized what it was, I actually did jump up and down. Good thing no one else was in the elevator with me. :-)





Other good things that happened yesterday:

I shook hands with Oscar Peterson!!!

Jeff set up one of the new Nokia phones for the jazz musician, so was invited to the official launch event. I am immensely grateful to Jeff for asking the Nokia people for an extra ticket. Thanks to Nokia too, of course. I nibbled on pecan chicken, coconut shrimp, sushi, other finger food delicacies.

Not only that, but the launch event was combined with a special preview of the new movie, Minority Report. Some of the futuristic computers had a Nokia logo on them. I got to sit in the special media/VIP section and attempt to peer over the shoulder and read the notes of some tv personality reviewer guy. Even more exciting, I GOT TO SEE MINORITY REPORT WITH OSCAR PETERSON. Okay, so maybe Mr. Peterson wasn't exactly sitting beside me, but he was in the same movie theatre.

Don't worry, I'm not posting spoilers about the movie. I will say, however, that I plan to see the movie again.

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Today's Blatherpics:

	My media/VIP badge for the Nokia launch event.
	Speeches at the event. The figure in the wheelchair is Oscar Peterson.
	Yay, free stuff!