“Let’s find a bench in the shade where we can sit,” I say to my friend, turning to her slightly.

No word of a lie, I hear a squawk and out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of something white, felt it graze my face. I scream, still managing to hold on to my tray of food. I look down and see that my hot dog is gone!

Not even seconds later I hear birds squawking,  and see two dozen sea gulls attacking what’s left of my hot dog metres from where I was standing in shock. It was like a scene out of Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A freakin’ seagull had the audacity to fly millimeters away from my face, swoop down, snatch up my hotdog from my hands and fly away with it!

It picked up my entire hot dog (bun and all) and few off with it, dropping it on the pavement metres away where it’s hoodlum friends could feast on it. All that was left less than a minute later was a pavement stain of yellow mustard.

This is an exact representation of the seagull that snatched my hot dog right from my hands.

These Toronto birds are brave! What happened to the time when animals were afraid of humans?! My gosh, I swear this gull was probably eying me from the time I left the food truck, like those velociraptors in that kitchen scene from Jurassic Park.

“You’re lucky it didn’t take your poutine too!” said a woman who was also in line at the food truck.

Traumatized and pissed off that half my meal was gone, I went off to find a washroom to scrub my face from the feather brush moments earlier, thinking that next time I venture downtown I should bring a pellet gun to ward off these gull thieves.

Later on in the day at Harbourfront, I saw another woman holding the same order of a hot dog and fries. I was tempted to give her a warning to keep an eye on the sky, but she might’ve deemed me as crazy.

Turns out food isn’t the only thing these calculating creatures steal. Check out this video of a gull flying off with someone’s video camera.

That incident just put a damper on my day. I was really  looking forward to that hot dog.

Freakin’ bird.

Jeffery Brown has written a book called Darth Vader and Son, aiming to answer that question. The book is filled with endearing and funny illustrations that depict Darth raising a young Luke Skywalker in a galaxy far, far away (awww… he even takes Luke trick-or-treating).

At the time of this post, the 64-page hardcover book seems to be out of stock (probably due to various Star Wars fanatics), but I’m sure if you really want a copy you can find one used online.

For all you fellow geeks out there, this weekend also marks the tail end of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival which will be taking place at the Toronto Reference Library. This event features hundreds of comics creators from around the world, as well as readings, workshops, gallery shows and more. Check out http://torontocomics.com for more info.

As for me, I’ll be letting my inner geek out this weekend by watching Marvel’s The Avengers.

The back seat area was decked out from top to bottom in a wide array of various action figures, toys, and figurines. Mini chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and a holder housed a variety of current magazines for my reading pleasure.

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This was an interesting start of the day.

The cab driver’s name is Akber Batada, a middle-aged man who immigrated here from India years ago.  My fellow passengers and I were greeted happily, and were equally shocked at the interesting interior decoration of the taxi.

Akber offered us gum (we had our choice of flavours with about 6 packed rubber-banded together). He asked what type of music we’d like to listen to. I opted for some Michael Jackson. He popped a DVD in and we were able to see old school music videos on the two LCD screens that were facing the back seat (“Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”, in case you’re wondering).

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a cheerful and hospitable cab driver. Akber told us to feel free to take photos inside, explained his passion for the state of his cab, and how happy it makes him to see his passengers happy.

This really made me think about the state that some people are in during the day: frequently we’re stressed out, rushing, and in a foul mood… usually because of work. But it’s important to take some time out of the day and just smile, remembering the joy and simple pleasures in the little things in life.

It’s sheer coincidence that I called up a taxi and struck luck with the Cosmic Cab. Stressed out myself this morning, but by the time I left after the 15 minute cab ride I was totally relaxed, happy and eager to start my day.  Definitely brought a smile to my face.

Thank you, Akber and your Cosmic Cab!

I’ve been trying to cut down on my sugar intake over the past year or so to get on the healthy train, but every time I see these tiny morsels in the grocery store, I’m tempted to pick up a package (and as you can tell, I obviously succumbed to the temptation).

This particular brand is called Pizazz. They are “fancy fruit flavoured slices”, that try to trick you into thinking that they contain real fruit by shaping each piece into a tiny orange slice. They even have a photo of real fruit on the bottom of the package! Plus a red and bold “Fat Free” notice is printed on the package (as if to make you feel not-so-guilty downing a whole package). It’s evil, I tell ya.

They taste like an easier-to-chew gummy bear who just rolled itself in honey and ran through a sugar cane field.

With 13 grams of sugar per 3 pieces, that’s over half of the recommended daily intake.

I need to practice my self-control. Fruit slices anyone?

For those who don’t know me that well, I do try my best to keep the environment strong, and now that includes helping with the protection of it’s endangered wildlife and climate change.

Having worked at the CN Tower in my youth for a couple years, I’ve never actually climbed up all those steps (come to think of it, I used to laugh at the people attempting to do it during those events as I escorted them on the elevator down… boy, have the tables have turned). But now’s my chance to achieve a personal goal on my bucket list and help with a good cause as well.

Hopefully all my years of kickboxing and salsa dancing will come in handy, as I think I would probably collapse on step #47 if I don’t start training a bit more (thank goodness there are paramedics on every 10th floor). Perhaps hooking a chocolate doughnut to the end of a pole attached to my headband will be a good motivation as I climb up?

I’m counting on all of you to help me reach my fundraising goal. The money I raise with the help of your generous support will make a huge difference to WWF’s efforts to conserve species at risk, like polar bears, tigers, and pandas (aka all the cute animals I don’t eat) and the habitats they call home.

Visit this link to my personal fundraising page, so that you can sponsor me directly online. Remember, every little bit helps (even if it’s just a couple dollars)!

If you’d like to join me in the challenge by climbing yourself, don’t hesitate to sign up at wwf.ca/cntowerclimb. Feel free to share this page to anyone else you know who may be interested in pledging my climb.

Thank you in advance for your support!