Hallowe'en.

It's Hallowe'en, folks! And unfortunately it falls on a Monday this year. Less than stellar showing of costumes at school, I'm sad to say (although I was rocking the pirate costume!)... but maybe it's because everyone got all costumed out this past weekend?

I have had a grand total of ZERO Trick-or-Treaters at my house this evening... which is bad, because it means I'm going to end up eating the chocolate bars I bought.

Chateau Lake Louise.

As I mentioned, this past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend a conference for Alberta Science teachers and it just so happened to be at the Fairmont's stunning Chateau Lake Louise.

Since I will probably never again be able to afford to stay there (thank you PD grant money!) I jumped at the opportunity. This hotel is stunning!

!!!!

This was the view from my room... Nothing like looking out over the emerald waters of Lake Louise at the Victoria glacier in the background. Lake Louise was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (one of Queen Victoria's daughters) who was also the namesake of our province.

Beautifully clear lake, but sadly... clouds rolling in to block the glacier.

The Chateau was built at the end of the 19th century to try to lure wealthy railway travellers out west. While parts of the hotel burned down, were rebuilt and remodelled, it still retains a very old-fashioned look. This makes it very popular with wedding parties (an outdoor wedding occured while I was watching Jane Goodall speak. Who gets married outdoors in the mountains at the end of October?! Oh right. Last year I went to one on a mountaintop in February.)

Fuzzy picture of the lobby.

  I loved all the details of the hotel. The main lobby is full of tapestries, the ceilings in the old wing are all painted, and all the guest room doors are painted with a bouquet of flowers.



Ceiling in the Painter Wing.

I was supposed to room with two other friends, but one had to back out at the last minute. The plus side to this was our room was gorgeous! The bathroom was actually huge. We could have partied in there. Two full sized showers? Now that's luxury. And the beds? Don't even get me started. I've never loved a pillow so much in my life.

The flowers on our door.

If you ever get the opportunity to stay at the Fairmont's Chateau Lake Louise, I highly suggest you take it. It is an expensive hotel, but you definetly do get what you pay for!

Large ammonite fossils on display.

Small ammonite fossil I bought myself for a necklace.



Jane Goodall.

This weekend, I had the fantastic opportunity to attend the amazing ATASC Conference in Lake Louise. (more on those things later...)

Our headlining keynote speaker for the event was the inspirational Dr. Jane Goodall. The theme for the conference this year was "Inspiring Science" (ambiguous emphasis for a reason) and it is hard to find a more inspirational figure, particularly for young women in science, than Jane Goodall.

As a young girl growing up in England, she loved animals and always dreamed of learning more about them and (after developing a slight infatuation with Tarzan) studying them in the African jungle. When given the opportunity to go to Africa, she ended up working with the famous archaeologist Louis Leakey as an assistant. He was the one who gave her the opportunity to study the behaviour of chimpanzees in the wild, and later encouraged her to go to Cambridge to get her PhD so she could earn her way in the scientific community in her own right.

Dr. Goodall (or Dr. Jane as she apparently likes to be known) has spend most of her life since the days observing the chimpanzee's acting as a conservationist, travelling more than 300 days a year. While her own circumstances and rise to prominance were rather exceptional, she is a real role model to all, and a shining example of the power of compassion and hope.

(I am trying to upload a video of Dr. Jane talking about her source of inspiration, but blogger is fighting me. Instead, here's a really bad picture - we weren't allowed to use flash... and another of my friend Kerstin asking her a question!)

Pomegrantes.

I love pomegrantes. They are by far my favorite fruit! These juicy little packets of goodness can brighten up my day like nothing else. Here in Canada they come into season in the grocery stores in September, and typically last until February, so I try to get my fill while I can.

Pomegrantes originated in Asia, and were brought to the Mediterranian regions, which explains why they appear so often in symbolism and stories, everywhere from Ancient Greece, to the Islamic cultures, to China. One of the most famous stories involving the pomegrante is the myth of Persephone and Hades.  

In the Greek myth, Persephone (daughter of Demeter, goddess of harvest and seasons) is kidnapped by the god of the underworld (Hades) to be his wife. Demeter was so distressed by the loss of her daughter, that she stopped attending to the earth, and all the plants died. Hades was commanded to give Persephone back so the world wouldn't end, but surprise! There was apparently some rule that once you ate or drank the food in the underworld, you weren't allowed to leave. Since Persephone ate some pomegrante seeds, she was forced to return to the underworld for a few months every year as penance, and every year Demeter mourns the loss until Persephone returns. And that, children, is why we have seasons.

Sweet mana from heaven!

When selecting a pomegrante in the store, you want to gently sqeeze them in your hands. If it feels soft, the arils (fancy term for the seeds) around the outside will probably be too ripe. You want to look for a nice, firm, heavy fruit. (The heavier it is, the more juice there is!)

In the interest of not reinventing the wheel, if you need awesome instructions on how to clean your pomegrantes, I will send you to a post by my best friend on how to do so. (Since I was the one who taught her, I don't feel bad about shirking in the instructions department).

Thanksgiving.

Ever since I was little, Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday. Not only do I get to to eat some fantastic turkey and pumpkin pie (and stuffing... my favorite!) I typically luck out with the weather. Fall is one of my favorite seasons... the crisp air and autumn colors make me so happy!

My family does Thankgiving a bit bigger than others... This year we celebrated with 32 neighbours from our cabin, at a hall in the nearby small town.

Thanksgiving is always a time of year to consider and recognize the treasures in ones life. One of the many things I am thankful for in my life is the great friends I can share this holiday with. We may live in different places the rest of the year, but Thanksgiving is the one time we all try to make sure we can be together. Nothing else makes my heart happy like these people.

"Friends are relatives you make for yourself." - Eustache Deschamps

Mac 'n' Cheese.

The other day (before everything got crazy) I made homemade macaroni and cheese. And I totally forgot to take a picture of it.

Which is a shame because it was beautiful.

The recipe that I like to use is modified from Ina Garten's Grown Up Mac and Cheese. To me, the modifications are very important in turning this from an immediate heart attack into a mildly artery clogging treat. (Let's just say my recipe serves 4 and then some, while the same cheese sauce will serve two for Ina. She must love her cheese sauce.)

Fabulous Mac 'n' Cheese

4 slices of thick bacon, cooked and chopped

4 handfuls of elbow macaroni, cooked

1 1/2 C milk
2 T butter
2 T all-purpose flour

1 C Gruyere cheese, grated
1 1/2 C Cheddar cheese, grated

1/4 tsp ground pepper
pinch oregano
1 Tsp basil
paremesan or bread crumbs to top

To make the cheese sauce, warm the milk in a small saucepan, but do not allow to boil/burn.

Melt the butter in a medium pot, and add the flour. Cook over med-low heat, stirring constantly for two minutes (it will get thick and bubbly... you are trying to cook the flour so it doesn't taste like flour anymore... it should gain a "nutty" smell after a minute or two)

Add the hot milk while still stirring constantly for another 2 minutes- the mixture will thicken.

Remove from heat, and stir in the Gruyere, Cheddar, pepper and oregano. (I would recommend not using the whisk for this part... all the cheese gets stuck in it!)

Add the noodles and the bacon, and pour into a casserole dish.  Cover with parmesan (I find that shake parmesan gives it a nice crust, but you could use bread crumbs too) and the basil. Bake for about 20 minutes at 400, or until the cheese bubbles. Serve warm to best enjoy this mana from heaven.

Changes.

So... things are kinda busy around here. I was lined up to take over a particular job at a school, when yesterday an emergency medical leave came up out of the blue.

Being one of the only subs around who actually teaches Physics, they asked me to take it, and I said yes. So today was my first day with three classes of Advanced Placement Science 10 and one class of Physics 20!

Now I am crazy busy trying to plan what these kids are going to do over the next two weeks. Thank goodness for long weekends!

For today, I thought I would share one of my favorite places to get science-related humor (sadly not always classroom appropriate...) - the website LabInitio (home of the comic Nearing Zero). This man is a genius.

Hee hee hee...

Lion King 3D.

So... last night I went and saw The Lion King in 3D.

And it was glorious.

One of the neat things about watching a movie you've seen many times before in theatres is that you pick up on details that you've somehow managed to miss the umpteen times you've watched said movie in the comfort of your own home.

Most of the things I noticed were small... but I did pick up on a bit of an error in the "science" of the Lion King...

Let me set the scene.

Simba and Mufasa are surveying their kingdom, facing the rising sun from the top of Pride Rock. Everything in view that the light touches is part of their kingdom. (We know the sun is rising, because they just made a big deal of how early it is.)

Simba walks a little to the right, and notices a shadow-y area, that is not a part of their kingdom.

If you are facing into the rising sun, you are looking East. By turning to the right, Simba is looking towards the South. With me so far?

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom"
from here.

A little bit later on... Simba is talking to his uncle, Scar. In an attempt at removing Simba as heir to the throne so he can become king, Scar decides to con Simba into going to the shadow-y area, which is in fact an elephant graveyard in hyena territory.

To do so, Scar asks if Mufasa showed Simba what was "beyond the horizon on the Northern border".

Wait. What? The elephant graveyard is clearly to the South.

Maybe there was a miscommunication between the animators and the dialogue people. Maybe the lovely backdrop someone handpainted got flipped around. Maybe someone fell for the old "things happen opposite in the Southern hemisphere" deal. (The sun still rises in the East down there...)

Let me clarify that this in no way hampered my enjoyment of the movie! (Although it might have bothered the friend next to me that I mentioned it too...) I just think it's funny that the same company that produced a movie with a song that clearly states "Rising in the East" could so badly botch the cardinal directions in another.