Tony Jaa

I'm sure I've probably raved about him before, but if you haven't seen a Tony Jaa film yet then you should axe-kick yourself in the head. When you regain consciousness/recover from massive groin strain, go out immediately and rent Ong Bak. You won't be disappointed.

Anyway, the reason I'm raving is that we went to see his latest film, called 'The Protector' in the US/Canada; the Thai title is Tom Yum Goong (mmm... Tom Yum Goong). It lacked the physical comedy, cinematography and on-the-dime pacing of Ong Bak, but still, if you want to see Tony Jaa beat the crap outta people, this movie is for you. Indeed, that is pretty much the plot summary: Tony Jaa beats the crap outta people. With elephants. Coming to a cinema near you!

Things have been good; we've finally paid off our debts, bought a bed; Elli got a pay rise as well. So life in general is much better without having to watch every dollar. Elli is off to Scotland for a wedding - she left yesterday and will be gone for two weeks. So I'm all alone :(

Seanna took us down to her cottage over the last long weekend. 'Cottage' is a slight misnomer - the place could probably sleep two dozen and was pure luxury.

Roughin' it

Almost every Canadian you talk to has a cottage on one of the northern lakes. I guess it sort of comes with the territory; Canada is the largest country in the world, yet 90% of the population lives within 100 miles of the US border. That makes a lot of wilderness, and that combined with the fact that most Canadians are trapped indoors for three or four months of the year makes them very outdoorsy. During summer, most Canadians will spend literally every weekend up at their cottage; hiking, kayaking, swimming etcetera. Fresh water lakes you can swim in are a little alien to me - growing up in the Top End meant that unless I could clearly see the bottom, a crocodile would eat me. But not Canadians; Seanna's cottage had a small pier (complete with diving board) that you could walk right down to, before breakfast, and dive in.

The sheer amount of water here is incredible. Fresh water lakes dot the terrain like dandruff on an elderly man's shoulders. I'm not sure where that image came from.

Unfortunately the weather was pretty poor over the three days, but we did venture out one day in kayaks and a canoe.

Seanna and I exploring a virgin river (plus powerlines)

Elli and Seannas' friend Jessie (unsure why Elli is grinning like a maniac hehe)

On the trip back, Elli decided to eat her own body weight in icecream

I'll update with some other stuff we've been up to in the next couple of days, but for now, I'm off to a thanks-giving dinner at Peter and Jenny's. Bonne nuit!