Il y a longtemps que je t'aime

There is a lovely, short scene in this movie that personifies the difference between a very good film and the run-of-the-mill garbage you get here at our local outlet-mall cinema. Juliette sits on a park bench, her reading glasses halfway down her nose, reading the last page of a book. She takes in that last sentence, straightens a little, closes the book and, with that gesture that is so familiar to a lover of books, rubs her hands affectionately over its cover. She thinks for a second, looks around, and returns to caressing the book with a slight smile. That's it. Less than 30 seconds.

Kristin Scott Thomas is inspired in this subtle character drama about a woman who has spent the last 15 years of her life in prison for a mysterious crime. It's also about forgiveness, trust and hope, and is surprisingly uplifting considering the tragedy at its core. I know, I know—this will not appeal to everyone, but I was very moved.

Nocebo/Placebo

In The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan, there is a remarkable story about Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, a 16th-century Spanish explorer who spent 8 years travelling on foot from Florida to Mexico. His account, La relacion, describes extreme hardship, as well as a detailed and sympathetic portrait of the Native American tribes he lived among. Many tribes believed the strange white foreigners to be capable of great healing and begged them to cure their sick. In this way the explorers became reluctant faith healers, and progressed to curing cripples and raising the dead. Soon they could not move for the press of eager villagers and the explorers became very angry. Then,

a strange thing happened… [M]any of them fell ill, and eight men died the next day. All over the land, in the places where this became known, they were so afraid of us that it seemed that the very sight of us made them almost die of fear.
They implored us not to be angry, nor to wish for any more of them to die; and they were altogether convinced that we killed them simply by wishing to.

This is a powerful example of the flip-side of placebo effect, known as the nocebo effect, caused simply by suggestion or belief. It’s a fascinating, highly complex subject and I love Ben Goldacre’s well-reasoned explanation. Well worth the 5 minutes!



NOTE: Ben has re-posted this, along with another very entertaining clip from Nerdstock with delves further into the placebo/nocebo effect. This second clip is hilarious, but NSFW: Nocebo

Catching Up

Instead of a traditional birthday cake, we celebrated Panda's 15th birthday with these Toasted-Almond Caramel Dacquoise. Yes, they are the same ones featured on the cover of the February issue of Canadian Living. I already had 4 egg whites left over from a dinner party chocolate pudding and plenty of almonds, so it was a stroke of serendipity. They were amazing.


What a disappointment when I realized that moving to Ontario would mean no more fresh herbs from my balcony in the winter. (Duh!) So my solution is a fluorescent tube set up in the basement on an old Ivar bookcase. I hope to extend our little grow-op to include salad greens and, of course, we'll start our seeds for the garden here.

This is my current home decorating project. It may be a long, long time before it is finished, but when we finally have new pinch-pleated drapes for the family room, I'll post another picture.

Apologies for the quality of this photo, but it's darn hard to catch something like this on film. So now you know why I must keep our kitchen counters absolutely clear of anything remotely edible. Or even chewy.

Things I have rescued from Moxie's mouth:

• $20 bill & $5 bill
• socks
• panties
• oven mitts
• kitchen towels
• chicken legs
• dead mouse (found on a walk, NOT in the house!)
• reading glasses
• paring knife
• CD's
• envelopes, paper scraps, toilet paper rolls
• guitar picks

Things missing in action:

• $12 worth of Oka with Mushrooms cheese
• three days worth of vitamins and anti-inflammatory medicine from pill case (found in pieces)
• bruxing guard (only some pieces found)
• many kitchen sponges, which do turn up eventually, if you know what I mean

Mox, we love ya, but man, you are one dumb doggie sometimes.