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Eat, Pray, Love Canadian Style
BY REB STEVENSON
Eating. Praying. Loving.
Incredibly common acts, if you really think about it.
But eating, praying, and loving in three exotic locales? For most people that’s an otherworldly scenario reserved only for Julia Roberts and her trusty sidekick, Hollywood.
In the bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, author Elizabeth Gilbert did a pretty good job of hyping up the notion that depression and bad relationships can be conquered by spiriting oneself away to a trifecta of inspiring countries.
But just you wait until you lay your eyes upon the delicious, sun-soaked film (which opened on August 13, and really does star Julia Roberts). It brings the beauty of Italy, India and Indonesia to life in radiant colour. Furthermore, it makes the self-help section at Chapters look mighty shoddy – you’re going to want to book an appointment with your new therapist (the world) posthaste.
Unfortunately, many of us haven’t the time or the funds to embark upon a year of international introspection. With that in mind, here are some alternative choices inspired by Gilbert’s theme. Let this odyssey be called: Eat, Pray, Love, Canada.
Read on HERE...
Get Ready to Partner Up with Other Girls
For more information, go to www.dirtydancingfestival.com.
Five Best Sites in England for Period Movie Buffs
1. Castle Howard, Yorkshire – Home of the aristocratic Marchmain family in 2008’s Brideshead Revisited, Castle Howard makes for a complete day out (the house, multiple cafes, gift shop, gardens and adventure playground are open to the public), but it is still privately owned by a disgustingly wealthy family.
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KEVIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everything is bliss! The angels sing from on high! The trumpets blare! The lords a leap!
24 hours later, the homecoming honeymoon screeches to a halt.
After that, it’s back to ways of yore. Mom gets teary when you joke about her mushy brussels sprouts, sister chews with her mouth open, grandma tells the same story every hour, on the hour.
You know what this signals: time to medicate with the boob tube.
Thank goodness for Christmas movies.
My faves are: Home Alone, The Claymation Rudolph, Little Women (Winona Ryder version), any interpretation of A Christmas Carol, One Magic Christmas and...clearly, Bill Murray’s SCROOGED.
Others you may wish to stock up on include:
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Christmas Shoes
Elf
The Santa Clause
Bad Santa
A Very Brady Christmas
A Christmas Story
Prancer
The Grinch
It’s a Wonderful Life
Home for the Holidays
Die Hard
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Love, Actually
The Holiday
Gremlins
(Thanks to all my Facebook friends for contributing their picks!)
The cheesiest of all has to be Jingle All the Way starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and ... wait for it... SINBAD. I say this with bitterness because this movie, um..actually made me cry. For realz. Like, tears of true emotion and joy. And I hate myself for that.
What’s your favourite holiday movie? Have I missed anything? Talk to me!
Testosteroamin'
You know The Girlfriend Getaway, it goes something like this: shopping, pedicures, male bashing, tapas.
Yet we rarely hear about the masculine equivalent unless it’s a beer-fuelled pilgrimage to a sporting event. And while awakening to find a reeking buddy spooning you in a Motel 6 queen bed might be construed as “bonding,” there are classier routes to solidifying friendships between dudes.
Call it testosteroaming – the art of vacationing with platonic male friends.
Extra! Extra!
Here is a round-up of some of my work that has appeared in papers across Canada over the past few weeks.
ST LUCIA: JAW-DROPPING ACCOMMODATION
ENGLAND: A TIMBERED TOURIST MAGNET
Rye’s Mermaid Inn is uber-haunted...by Tudorphiles like me.
BOX SET! Watch my video on Rye here.
TORONTO: 37 TAKES ON COOL
MADAGASCAR: THE MOVIE 
Read my interview with writer/directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, who explain how a special trip to Africa inspired the creative team of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
Traveller's Mixed Tape: Song 1
Whether I’m sitting on a train watching some foreign landscape whizz by or simply relaxing at home dreaming of my next adventure, there’s nothing quite like a travel tune to set the mood.
Over time, I’ve compiled a fairly comprehensive playlist of songs that should get you bolting straight to a travel agent.
This week: I urge you to download that ultimate ’80s travel anthem, HOLIDAY ROAD by Lindsay Buckingham.
Yes, this is the theme song to the National Lampoon’s Vacation and European Vacation movies, which influenced my life more than I’d care to admit. Who cares if Audrey and Rusty were butt ugly? This song evokes that Chevy Chase signature brand of ignorant bliss.