Presented without comment: Ain't it good to be alive

Supernatural on location, Season 7: Bring. It.

Friday morning, another Supernatural filming notice (yay) for late-night filming in New West. That day during my coffee break, I called the show's production office to ask if either the boys or the Impala would be there, and if they would be filming interiors or exteriors (so important for stalkers to know). I was put through to location manager Russ Hamilton (the Supernatural production office has, unsurprisingly, awesome hold music; I listened to AC/DC's 'Back in Black' while waiting) and was assured yes there would be the boys, the car AND filming exteriors (what freaking good does it do me if they're filming inside a building? Can't see! CAN'T SEE!). Wahey!
So, even though I was a coughing, shivering ball of phlegm (summer colds FTL) I nutted up and re-did my makeup, fluffed up my hair and busted out my lucky bra, the one that pushes my boobs up so high they block my nasal passages. It's what Dean would do, if Dean had boobs. Amirite?

It's no wonder it takes 9 days to film an episode; in the 4+ hours I was there, 2 scenes were shot; one where Sam has a brief conversation with a blonde outside "Neal's Tavern", then walks over and kneels to something on the sidewalk she'd pointed out; and one where Sam ganks a demon-y type guy who was trying to kill a redhead (I'm guessing the redhead was also some kind of angel/demon, since Demon Guy had his hand on her forehead the way angels do just before they vaporize one of their own.

Red walks out to her car outside the "tavern", drops her car keys and is surprised by Demon Guy, who is in turn surprised by Sam, who skewers Demon Guy with a huge crescent-shaped piece of wood or bone. It didn't exactly go down like that, although that's how it will appear on the show; first they did the scene with Sam just pushing his empty hand against the demon's back (while doing the trademark out-of-breath "GAH! HUH!" that accompanies every Sam fight scene). Then they did the same thing without the car, and with the "handle" of the weapon sticking out of the demon's back, and then finally just with Sam and the demon and a stunt mattress, where the demon fell to his knees apres-gank, stayed upright for a few seconds, then toppled over face-first into the mattress, with CGI (demon skeleton lighting up inside/flash of light as angel vaporized) to be added later. On the second take the demon stayed on his knees for a long few seconds, head flung back and making all kinds of O-faces (Maybe it'll look less orgasmic on the show. Whatever, I'll never look at a demon-ganking the same way again) before toppling over, after which Sam said emphatically (to Red, and gasping as if he'd just run a marathon) "I seriously suggest you (unintelligible; could have been "wear sensible shoes" or "work out your issues")". I'm going to have to wait for the ep to find out (which is either episode 3, or 4, or 5, depending on which crew member one asked. But still, coolness. Absolute coolness.
In between takes? Everybody had a job to do but there was still some joking on the set; at one point Jared said, "Hey, Jimbo? That guy in the white shirt with the (unintelligible)...fire him, would you?" "Jimbo" turns to the guy and, pointing for emphasis, roars, "Yer fuckin' fired!" which got a laugh out of the entire crew. Also, Jared was doing some high kicks and stretches to limber up (mmm....extra bendy) and he can kick higher than most people's heads! I shouldn't be surprised given those long long legs....
So, the pictures didn't turn out great...would you like to see some blurry set pics of Jared? You would? Okay!
Pictured below: Sam & blonde random victim and two of THREE 8-foot metal fences between me and mah boo Jared.




Also, keeping things "cinematic": Making Streets Look Like It Just Rained Co. and using tree branches for dappled shadows. Did I mention the not one but three 8-foot metal fences between me and salty goodness? I did? Okay.

I'm a freaking cookie genius: Sugar-free pot-infused peanut butter chocolate bombs

I'm a goddamned cookie genius. Seriously. I tweaked this recipe from food.com with the addition of cannabis and chocolate. How could this possibly go wrong?
I subbed pot-infused olive oil (thank you, BC Compassion Club) for the vegetable oil in the recipe and added 200 grams of chocolate. Yes, half a pound IS a lot, that's the point. The peanut-y dough is basically just a delivery system for chocolate, just as it should be. At 200 grams, this is the closest I've come to the perfect peanut/chocolate ratio found in a Reese's cup. Heaven. Totally worth getting fat over. And any herb taste in the oil is totally undetectable in the cookie. WIN.
One word: these are sugar free, made with Splenda/granular sugar substitute, and to be honest, you really DO need sugar for a chewy cookie. The texture of these is a little sandy, but they are freaking DELICIOUS.
Yields 24 cookies.

Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup Splenda granular
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup creamy natural-style peanut butter
1/8 cup pot-infused olive oil
AND
1/8 cup vegetable or olive oil (plain)
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup/200 grams chocolate chips

Whether you make this with cannabis-infused oil, or straight vegetable/olive oil, the total amount of oil used should be 1/4 cup. Got it? Good.

Directions:
Set oven to 375 degrees.
Put parchment paper down on a cookie sheet.
In a bowl combine flour, Splenda and baking powder.
In a separate bowl, blend together peanut butter, oil, egg, water and vanilla; mix well to combine.
Mix wet with dry ingredients. I had to get in with my bare hands and squidge the wet and dry ingredients together....what?
Add the chocolate chips to the dough. Don't worry if it looks like the dough is barely holding the chocolate chips together.
Shape into 1-inch balls and place on the cookie sheet.
Gently flatten each cookie slightly with a fork.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned (I went 14 minutes)
Let cool on wire racks. You will be tempted to eat them all. Resist it.

Perfect day

If 2011's lack of posts here has taught me anything about myself, it's that I'm apparently really big on "If you don't have anything funny to say, don't say anything at all", but with school

Community college: ain't no shame in attending one; the shame is for when the college can't spell "invalid" on their fucking official stamp.

and a new job - yippee, hurray!

...that pays 30% less than it should [UN-yippee, UN-hurray]

I had nothing funny left to say. Period.
Which made Saturday's breakfast with Miss M at Sophie's Cosmic Cafe in Kits even more full of win. We hadn't hung out in what felt like forever, found a parking spot right around the corner [savour the little victories] and not only was there no lineup, we had our pick of spots [patio, yay!] My camera battery picked a terrible time to crap out, but their eggs benny is amaaaazingg; there was almost no conversation after our food arrived, just serious eating. And then a trip to a shop devoted entirely to candy and then Zulu records. Much-needed good times.
It's just nice to win one, you know?

'Supernatural' bucket list: Hilltop Cafe

For what seems like ages, I've wanted to visit the Hilltop Cafe (a teeny diner in Abbotsford that we always drive by). I mean, it's only a 40 km drive and the sign promises "The home of Famous Pies". But mainly because Supernatural's Sam & Dean met their half-brother Adam there in season 4. Forgot? Here's a link to a 1:43 youtube clip where Dean suspects Adam is a demon and tests him with a silver knife and fork and a diner glass of holy water. The place has been used heavily for TV and movie filming, so much so that it's been closed for the past few years to be used only for film work, it's so authentically diner-y (source: Katgurl). But now it's open, turning 65 and under new management. And there's pie. Did I mention pie?


Obviously, I HAD to go.


Five minutes from the diner, a new townhouse development: Winchester Townhomes. I took it as a sign. Well, it was an actual, literal sign reading "Winchester Townhomes", but I took it as a good omen re: bacon cheeseburgers and pie.
We got there at noon, but the place was only a third full - and TINY. I was ready to wait for the end table by the window on the left, determined to eat a bacon cheeseburger and pie in the exact same spot where Dean had sat. Fortunately it was vacant, which didn't stop me from sprinting to it as if someone else had their eye on it.


I swear there is a burger underneath that somewhere. But there's also Thousand Island dressing. On the burger. WTF.
No bacon cheeseburger on the menu? That is the basic, classic, default setting for a burger. I went with the Hilltop's Classic Burger (no bacon, no cheese. Sads.) with gravy on the fries. Unfortunately, the burger had "Hilltop sauce" on it, which is Thousand Island dressing in disguise, which is GROSS. Miss M would probably disagree since she loves Big Macs like a fat kid loves cake, but for me it's always been gross. Ketchup and mayo on a burger? Mouthgasm. Thousand Island should have stayed back in the 70's on a wedge of iceberg lettuce, where it belongs. Barf barf barf. And I can appreciate a juicy burger, but this was way too messy to eat. Like, lubed-up handjob messy. And as I think I have made clear elsewhere, I am a delicate goddammed apple blossom of Canadian fucking womanhood.


So, mission NOT accomplished; we'll be back for pie in summer when a trip to nearby Driediger berry farms takes us out there. But it's more for the sense of accomplishment than anything else..and maybe for the triple chocolate bacon cookies. Definitely not for the burgers.

lamest girl in blogland breaks radio silence, part deux

So, you know how you can sorta lose touch with friends, and the longer you go without saying "hi", the more awkward it becomes ? So....
Hi. I'm back.