babycakes

i love this band

2010-12-08T00:13:00.001-05:00

The Suzan "Home" from Mr Goldbar on Vimeo.

in fact, i think i am fated to love them.

this would be fun.

2010-12-05T11:32:00.000-05:00

Fashion Show with Google from Robbin Waldemar on Vimeo.

Happy birthday miss madi!

2010-12-04T13:31:00.001-05:00

Wish I could be there to fete you proper lady. Have a fantastic day bella.

holiday tip

2010-11-15T23:15:00.001-05:00

what's happening to me?

2010-11-11T09:35:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpdQLFTBKAk&feature=player_embedded

This just does it for me for some reason.

2010-10-23T22:46:00.001-04:00

couldn't embed. don't know why. worth the jump!

just you know why

2010-09-21T17:12:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSIE!!!!!

2010-09-04T09:08:00.001-04:00

lipstick stencil, 1920's

2010-08-27T22:34:00.002-04:00

via

awesome.

2010-08-27T09:59:00.002-04:00

quiero que me quieras

2010-08-17T11:58:00.001-04:00

uniform

2010-08-05T16:44:00.001-04:00

i kind of wish this is what i wore to work every day.

cheer up

2010-07-31T12:54:00.000-04:00

babymakers

2010-07-27T12:38:00.003-04:00

i wish.

all of a sudden i want to make cookies

2010-07-27T12:29:00.001-04:00

via badpostcards

puppy breath

2010-07-23T18:04:00.000-04:00

wanda jackson

2010-07-23T11:53:00.001-04:00

cat vs dog

2010-07-23T11:39:00.000-04:00

everyday clothes

2010-07-09T12:09:00.000-04:00

more deers -- EVEN CUTER

2010-07-08T17:18:00.000-04:00

audrey hepburn and her pet deer.

2010-07-08T15:30:00.005-04:00

pick-up

2010-07-06T15:23:00.001-04:00

i think the most remarkable thing here is how little don is featured.

Chopstick Kitty!

2010-06-28T22:37:00.001-04:00

the pussy cat song

2010-06-22T14:29:00.002-04:00

oh my.

deanne's world

2010-06-17T14:40:00.000-04:00

deanne cheuk has been a longtime idol (see my post from 2005). fabulous, super creative, multi-facetted artist, illustrator and art director. here's an interview on designsponge. i only just discovered her textile designs... yet another reason to covet her work.

Orangutan ♥s Dog

2010-06-13T23:06:00.000-04:00

r.i.p. rue

2010-06-03T15:10:00.000-04:00

lauren dicioccio - sewnnews

2010-06-01T18:46:00.001-04:00

i love these so hard.

debbie

2010-06-01T15:22:00.001-04:00

from nickdrake, my new favorite tumblr.

Johanna Blakely: Lessons from fashion's free culture

2010-05-26T21:19:00.000-04:00

craft night

2010-05-25T11:53:00.001-04:00

f' monday

2010-05-24T13:18:00.001-04:00

i don't want to be at work.

new drunk history!!!!

2010-05-20T17:14:00.000-04:00

Drunk History Vol. 5 w/ Will Ferrell, Don Cheadle & Zooey Deschanel from Will Ferrell

tightrope

2010-05-20T10:53:00.001-04:00

this made me happy!

greenscreen grannies

2010-05-18T16:59:00.001-04:00

just enjoy.

the zombies, with boas

2010-05-18T10:57:00.001-04:00

meowmania!

2010-05-07T11:20:00.003-04:00

paul rudd's computer, now with tayne

2010-05-06T18:45:00.003-04:00

Riley check

2010-04-21T17:38:00.002-04:00

just tuned 2. increasingly awesome.

pandemonium

2010-04-20T14:10:00.001-04:00

are they pandas or puppies? or pandas and puppies?

spotted on jp's blog.

bling bling

2010-04-18T19:10:00.004-04:00

To cap off this posting barrage: went to sassy bead an bought a couple feet of chains this afternoon, added some charms and clasps and voila two new necklaces for under $20. No more Victoire jewels for me.

new old hair

2010-04-18T18:57:00.006-04:00

same hair, now with highlights!

sweet dreams

2010-04-18T18:38:00.007-04:00

Finally tried out the new sewing machine and made a duvet cover with the Heather Ross fabric that's been on my sewing shelf since December. All kitty cat tested and approved.

sproutscamp

2010-04-18T16:55:00.008-04:00

First time that flowers have appeared in the backyard since Minx and I planted the forsythia and the mini cherry tree 2 years ago.Lovage sprouts from the old country, was worried they wouldn't show up again this year due to a pretty serious bug infestation last summer. But they are fierce.

Dug a new plot in the backyard need more space for the sprouts!

This year's line-up: habanero chili, eggplant, 3 kinds of tomatoes (brandy op, mac pink, and glacier), Korean mint, thyme and tong choy (from a loation grocer on somerset...some kind of Chinese green).

one more

2010-04-07T13:27:00.004-04:00

sunshine + wind + whiskey = happy minx

Cakes in Chicago ♥

2010-04-06T11:33:00.006-04:00

My Magazine on Jezebel

2010-04-01T11:26:00.001-04:00

It's mostly about the Gentlewoman, but exciting, non?

Single Ladies Motown Mash-Up

2010-03-29T11:52:00.002-04:00

For Minx

2010-03-28T09:44:00.006-04:00

I am loving the rogue fashion blogging these days. It's all too cute! Also the girl second in from the left is Amanda's blog twin.

Further evidence of the twin....

food porn - yucatan edition

2010-03-27T11:02:00.009-04:00

What we cooked and devoured most every day for lunch. Fried fish, salsa mexicana, guacamole, cebollas curtidas (mom's home-pickled red onions made with beet and sour orange juices) and fresh tortillas picked-up daily in Chelem (Susie mentioned that coming from Chicago, with one of the highest Mexican populations outside of Mexico, fresh tortillas are innocuous but for us Canadians they were an unbelievable treat).
This dynamic porky duo is:

Frijoles con puerco pork and black bean stew, seasoned with chilis and epazote (lemony herb....appropriately named pigweed in English);
and Poc-chuc grilled pork marinated in sour orange sauce and achiote recado (spice paste with some combination of cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, oregano, cumin, garlic, coriander, vinegar, and of course achiote...ground up seed that turns food red).

Poc-chuc is a traditional Mayan dish, that originated, as so many great foods, as a means to preserve and tenderize the wild meat. It used to be marinated in the brine for weeks or even months and then cooked over an open fire. It's pretty common as traditional Mayan food fare goes, but I can't pass up it's porky splendor.

Pictured above, some food stall leftovers from the town of Vallodolid. Best known for Loganiza de Vallodolid, sour - smokey pork sausage flavored with the achiote recado paste which gives it a distinctive deep red color and a sour bite from the vinegar. You can see the few bites of the sausage left, along with chiles rellenos, and the usual suspects.

And of course....Elotes! I love you my sweet corn popsicle. Boiled corn, rolled in crema fresca, then crumbly cotija anejo cheese , squirted with fresh lime and hot chilli sauce. That's how they do it on the boardwalk in the booming fishing town of Progresso. And that's how I like it. People ask me what's the big deal about corn on the cob. Couldn't you make it with butter, mayonnaise, chili powder and Parmesan cheese at home? Wouldn't it be better grilled not boiled? Categorically no. This snack, at dusk, in Progesso, the wind whipping your hair into your face, these ingredients and no substitutions, nothing else will do.

meet the parents - chris and gabi

2010-03-27T10:34:00.013-04:00

Dad has officially retired. He is very pleased.
WARNING: These next pics are seriously cute. My folks have been married for over thirty years and they still may goo-goo eyes at each other. It's too much!

susie sita

2010-03-27T09:30:00.010-04:00

ladies and bolwer hats

2010-03-26T08:54:00.003-04:00

The Mongrel Top n' Tails

2010-03-25T12:08:00.004-04:00

Howie is going to the GG awards this year, and purchased a vintage tux and bolwer hat from Ragtime for the event and all future black tie affairs. You can't tell from the pic but it has full tails. We'd just finished watching Once Upon A Time in America, and I think it had a serious effect on his style choice.

"A good coat is worth a thousand licks."

2010-03-23T12:14:00.002-04:00

from oh you pretty things.

zills fever

2010-03-17T22:28:00.001-04:00

This is Amina Salah doing a zills finger cymbals solo. We are now learning the gallop sound that you hear at the beginning and end of the performance but it's gonna be a long while before it sounds that good.

For Mimi

2010-03-16T19:49:00.002-04:00

Every Korean girl in that stadium is losing her shit over Johnny!

easy-peasy scarf dress?

2010-03-15T17:16:00.003-04:00

could this scarf dress really be so easy to make and so flattering to wear?

Handsome Men's Club

2010-03-12T10:07:00.001-05:00

Drop everything and watch this...near fell off my chair.

Advice I Needed a Decade Ago

2010-03-03T13:02:00.001-05:00

From Kate Carraway's Eye Weekly Column.

Some sensible advice for young women from your battle-scarred future

Dear girls,
Last night I watched you and your idiot friend lose your fucking minds outside of a bar. You’re, what, 23? 24? I guess you got kicked out and your buds were inside? Whatever, I don’t care. But watching both of you drunk-cry, scream and throw punches at a standard-issue-beefy bouncer (who was laughing at you, by the way), I had a sense of deja-ewwww of the more embarrassing and avoidable moments of my own fleeing youth. And, as I have been actively seeking wisdom from ladies slightly and much older than me ever since my recent turning-of-29, it seems an auspicious time to offer some hard-won, well-considered tids of my own. Listen up, bitches.

OK, first of all: shopping isn’t a hobby. Find something else to do. Remember when you are flicking through clothes at mall stores and looking at advertisements in magazines and furnishing your disgusting apartment that you are being seduced by commerce, and not in a way that leaves you dripping in anything other than child labour and debt. I mean, I wear (vintage) fur and believe in fashion, but you have to know what it is that you’re doing and for whom you’re doing it.

On the topic of money: learn it. More crucial than most things in your dumb life is getting your credit and savings in order. Being afraid of money and bills is for babies. Know what is for grown-ups? A budget, a retirement account, a clean credit report. Related: clean up your heaps of filth a little bit every day and then a lot once a week. (Unless you’re a committed crusty, in which case, I salute you.) Respecting your stuff is almost the same as respecting yourself. Dig?

STFU. Stop yelling into your phone on the bus. You’re not impressing anybody. Moreover, when you and your girl squad are screaming, four-deep on the sidewalk, or texting instead of talking to each other, I’m judging you. We all are. Get it together.

Onward: get sex. If you hang with sluts, just go to the alley and put your tongue inside their mouth. Proceed, and use protection. Or, in a more likely scenario, make someone know that they want you by finding a balance between genuinely not giving a shit because you’re better than them, and being the foxiest, funnest, most into-them girl on the planet, because you are. The important thing is to maintain control of the situation (until they’ve checked out OK and you can get onto the business of being vulnerable). Oh yeah, straights: get yours. For every orgasm he has, you should have two or three. This is just biology. Give good head. It is a tremendous human power to deliver A+ oral. And always, always, calm down. The best advice I’ve ever heard about boys is, “When in doubt, don’t call,” courtesy of my oldest sister, who is God’s boss. If you’re wondering whether or not to text, IM, email or call a guy, don’t. He can call you if he wants to. This isn’t an anti-feminist head game — the objective is to free your mind. Just, seriously. Relax.

Do something. Doesn’t matter what. Probably your mom or your shitty high school friends or a man has tacitly suggested that women should fear and avoid failure, disapproval and criticism, and should instead invest their energies in other people’s art and ideas. You know, my love, that this is a lie. If I see you sitting on a curb, smoking, and you don’t have a blog or a band or a small business or something other than a boyfriend, I swear on a stack of Sassys I’ll spit my gum on you. If you don’t end up liking what you’re doing, try something else. No BFD, right?

Say yes. Being a scaredy-mouse is weak and boring. Be afraid of something and then do it anyway, again and again. Say no. To your boss, your parents, your friends. Learn how “no” feels in your mouth and in what instances saying it will make you and your life better. Being a salty bitch should be countered with kindness, but remember, you’ve got to get yours.

Decide what kind of person you want to be with, and then become that person. The only way your life will be cinematic, or even vaguely interesting, is if you run it the fuck down and make it happen. Yeah, all by yourself. And shit can get lonely. So, find your best friends. You have an obligation to be honest and rad to these people and expect the same. Figure out who and what makes you choke on laughs and makes your skin burn with joy, then take it (and them), and don’t apologize for it ever. And once in a while, cradle your beautiful teacup face in your hands, and remember that you’re perfect.

Love, Kate. xoxo

ski togs

2010-02-19T11:51:00.005-05:00

I was kind of digging the sleek spandex outfits of the current olympic skiiers, but eff that! This is how it should be done:

Happy Birthday Emily!!!

2010-02-18T11:48:00.001-05:00

All the best for a superbe birthday. Classy ladies can get kegs too!

Sublet to me!

2010-02-17T16:42:00.002-05:00

I'm in love!

So long soffit!

2010-02-10T20:56:00.008-05:00

The scene is actually worse in person than in the photos, but I'm just really happy that no dog / boyfriend / Canada Post person / trespasser were hurt.

An insurance rep came by in the evening to inspect the damage and a little bat crawled out of the rafters to give us a dirty look for exposing him to the cold.

sergio!

2010-02-07T22:37:00.002-05:00

did you guys see this?

it's awesome. and it reminds me of this:

hipster puppies

2010-02-07T17:13:00.004-05:00

"ari stayed up all night drinking beer and playing old 7”s, so he’s gonna have to sit out this month’s critical mass"

"no one is angrier than walter that you can’t buy sparks in san bernardino anymore"

crochetdermy

2010-02-04T22:33:00.002-05:00

Works by UK artist Shauna Richardson where she crochet's life size animals and stretches the 'skins' over plastic animal mount parts. Along the lines of the discussion V and I were having about making our own animal wall mounts or rugs, from synthetic fur...I've been wanting to do a fake white polar bear skin rug for years, could be a winter project.

Hatticus

2010-01-31T12:05:00.008-05:00

Fell in love with this wool at wabi sabi on Friday during a lunchtime excursion...started on this pattern that evening, and finished yesterday. The wool is thick as udon noodles proving for a speedy result.

If only I always had exams looming, I'd get so much crafting done...

More Ranting

2010-01-26T14:56:00.003-05:00

A short blog post-cum-rant I did for the Worn blog. I think it's kind of funny that I'm our go-to girl for racial PCness and cultural politics. Anyhoo...

Burka Barbie Backlash

A recent exhibition in Italy that includes several Burka-wearing Barbies has unleashed, of course, a wave of scandal, much of which is precisely the sort of ill-informed kneejerk backlash about Islamic women that makes my skin crawl. Typical is Barbara Kay’s assertion, in the National Post, that these are “travesties of multiculturalism” that “make a mockery of disempowered women who have been stripped of all human dignity, women with no means of challenging their forced depersonalization.” OK, so fierce rhetoric. But let’s unpack a little, shall we?

The Barbies in question are part of a 500-piece exhibition of Eliana Lorena-dressed dolls at the Salone del Cinquecento in Florence, backed by Mattel. These one-off dolls will be displayed, then auctioned off by Sotheby’s on behalf of a charity called Rewrite the Future, which benefits children affected by war. In addition to a few fluorescent burqa-clad Barbies, we find geisha Barbies, shalwar khameez Barbies, chador Barbies, and what can only be described as slutty coed Barbies. In short, the collection runs the gamut of cheesy feminine stereotypes, by region. So far, I’d say we’re pretty firmly on standard Barbie territory.

Kay writes plaintively that, with this exhibition, “Barbie has shed her cultural innocence.” It seems to me a thundering irony to accuse the burqa of having suddenly rendered Barbie anti-feminist, given that the doll is based on a German hooker called Lilli and has a—shall we say—fraught history as a model for women’s self-images.

Furthermore, Kay critiques the exhibition for trivializing the plight of burka-wearing women, a stance that I can certainly get behind. However, while she is sympathetic to those hidden women, I for one fail to see how casting any representation of them as ineluctably anti-feminist is going to help them gain exposure, nevermind political agency. If anything, the exhibition has forced the issue into the limelight, so that it becomes something we can mull over and discuss.

Enforced veiling—which is unquestionably sexist, offensive and demeaning—receives a lot of airtime as yet another shocking manifestation of the terrible ways that brown men treat brown women, to paraphrase Spivak. Veiling practices are systematically policed in Saudi Arabia, Iran and in Taliban-controlled territories, but elsewhere are mostly individual women’s choices, albeit ones framed by cultural habits and expectations—skipping the veil can invite unwelcome attention or even violence in places where most women cover. However, such discourses have been used to justify an ironic reversal in the West, where women in some countries (I’m lookin’ at you, Sarkozy) have been forbidden from voluntarily donning hijab or, more famously, the burqini to go about their business.

To me, this burqa Barbie “scandal” is indicative of a broader problem with how we talk about Muslim women in the west, where we start from the assumption that their cultural differences are a problem to be solved. Ultimately, I’m inclined to agree with Sadie’s Stein’s post on Jezebel, where she reminds that, “it’s a single doll. It’s not mass-produced. It’s presumably not intended for any children, Muslim or otherwise, and doesn’t seem to involve any more social commentary than Malibu Barbie does on Proposition 8.”

Revised 5 second rule

2010-01-25T12:37:00.006-05:00

damn the torpeedos

2010-01-22T07:55:00.003-05:00

maybe it's the burlesque, or the belly dance, i don't know, but my latent love for sequins is shinning on through and you bet i'm gonna wear as many sparkles as possible to work...i'm sure it'll look divine under the florescent lights.

Secret twin?

2010-01-20T14:04:00.005-05:00

I don't own or wear shorts so that can't be me, but if I were to only look at the top half of this photo I would have thought it was me circa 2003.

Weird...

IRON CHEF - HOWIE VS THE MONGREL

2010-01-18T08:16:00.007-05:00

We did Iron Chef for Howie's Birthday this year....
Secret Ingredient..........Geoduck!!!!!!!!!!!! (dong-like item pictured above, held by myself, the Chairwoman.)

Iron Chef Tsui had 60 minutes to prepare 3 dishes, with the secret ingredient which he had never worked with before.

He had five sous chef's to rely on for help: Powerhaus, Ms. Alice Pen, Lil'Shay Shay, Miss Musceles, and PBJ. Cameraman II, provided video feed from the kitchen to the dining room where judges waited in anticipation. Also in the kitchen Ms. Snuggly Slanket providing on the floor commentary (not pictured).
Commentator Milton Biege provided play-by-play insight to judges, Geoffry Stiengarden, Ambrose Toffee, and the Actress.
Final dishes included: dragon fruit/ green papaya / scallop / geoduck carpaccio in a horseradish cilantro foie dressing; lightly poached geoduck with yam noodles, and a soba style dipping sauce; and lightly fried geoduck muscle over a bed of bok choy and donku mushrooms.
The winner dish #3....fried geoduck muscle. But really everybody wins!!!

Hopefully this will counteract the smoking.

2010-01-12T14:54:00.001-05:00

Why a bigger bum is good for you

Having a bigger bum, hips and thighs can be good for your health, protecting against heart problems, according to scientists.

Carrying fat around the backside and thighs reduces the effect of harmful proteins which cause inflammation and artery clogging, they claim.

The researchers found that a larger rear is preferable to extra fat around the stomach which gives no such protection, reports the Daily Mail.

Gluteofemoral fat around the lower body is harder to break down than upper body fat around the stomach which is designed to be quickly generated and then easily metabolised.

But the breakdown of these fat cells releases a lot of pro-inflammatory cytokines which have been linked to cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and diabetes.

Slower-burning hip fat also makes more of a hormone that protects the arteries and promotes better blood sugar control and fat burning.

Study leader Dr Konstantinos Manolopoulos, of Oxford University, said: "The fat around our thighs and hips is different to the fat we accumulate around our tummy.

"There is 'good' fat and 'bad' fat - just like there is good and bad cholesterol.

"The cells in lower body fat work differently from the cells in upper body fat - so it could be said that celebrities like J-Lo are better role models for women's health than supermodels who have much less lower body fat."

Future uses of the study could include deliberately increasing hip and bottom fat to reduce cardiovascular and metabolic problems.

COOKIETIME

2009-12-22T09:59:00.003-05:00

The bounty from the work cookie exhange...baked six dozen mexican spiced macaroons and ended up with a variety pack of 84 cookies after the cookie exchange. Tried to limit myself to a cookie an hour yesterday. Ended-up with a nice variety of savoury and sweet cookies. Some highlights include: Chedder Cookies, Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies and the Butterscotch Balls. Already gave away 3 dozen. Sharing is delicious.

Richard Harrington and the Inuit

2009-12-14T13:43:00.004-05:00

These are beautiful. I saw them on Old Chum, who notes that there's a Harrington exhibit in Winnipeg through March.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINX!!!

2009-12-10T09:34:00.001-05:00

LOVE AND HIGHKICKS -----------------------M

BABIES

2009-12-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

Is anyone surprised to know that I wish we were seeing this movie this weekend instead of twicore?

cute chicago boys

2009-11-27T16:56:00.001-05:00

I have no idea why I haven't looked at this site until today.
I have no idea.

diva-ettes, listen up!

2009-11-13T12:58:00.002-05:00

SNAP LESSON:

from fourfour

I want An Education

2009-11-12T21:09:00.001-05:00

kung fu pandas

2009-11-05T14:01:00.001-05:00

from zoo borns.

age ain't nothing but a number

2009-11-01T13:57:00.002-05:00

"You’re never too old. The body is a remarkable instrument."
-Bette Calman, 83

while you were out: cubical edition

2009-10-29T13:16:00.004-04:00

came into work a few weeks ago, after being sick for a week and our co-op student took the liberty of decorating my cube. she'd thought i'd been off getting my wisdom teeth pulled (that is coming up next week)...and so went on a "stages of dental recovery" theme....they are as follows: saddness, denial, anger, drug induced hallucinations, more drug induced hallucinations mixed with illness and finally recovery.

The Loves of a Blonde

2009-10-27T18:53:00.002-04:00

a film by Milos Foreman (1965)

"A working-class young woman (Andula) in a hick Czech town sleeps with one of the band members of a group from Prague. "You are a Mondrian, not a Picasso," he tells her. When she doesn't hear from him again, she packs up and arrives on his doorstep in the big city, throwing his household (he lives with his parents) into chaos."
imbd

found at the reference library

a step up from joanie

2009-10-25T20:03:00.001-04:00

while last years costume was pretty sexy.....i think i've really got it topped this year.

Sesame Street: Mad Men

2009-10-25T19:39:00.001-04:00

tumbletime!!!

2009-10-25T18:29:00.001-04:00

1932 Olympic gymnastics tumbling Roland Wolfe

panda progress

2009-10-21T14:59:00.002-04:00

videos from the San Diego Zoo-- their panda cub progressively growing cuter.

what you want for christmas

2009-10-12T12:28:00.004-04:00

coming soon: a calendar of cats modeling real runway looks.

nice

2009-10-10T12:10:00.000-04:00

Department of Eagles' "No One Does It Like You," produced by the Directors Bureau, directed by Patrick Daughters and Marcel Dzama, and featuring costumes and sets designed by Dzama.

Love Cake: Just Enough for Two

2009-10-07T15:17:00.002-04:00

AAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

2009-10-01T16:04:00.005-04:00

Happy Birthday, baby!

I hope these help you celebrate----------->

This is recycled from last year, but I love it so!

no fattys. no hamsters.

2009-09-22T15:29:00.002-04:00

Dating Montage
by smithy00101

The Marshmallow Test

2009-09-15T15:08:00.003-04:00

I go through this everyday around 3 p.m. with the snack machine. I mostly fail.

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

2009-09-14T20:01:00.002-04:00

So good.

Dance Talk

2009-09-14T18:31:00.002-04:00

Hey ladies. I've been a bit Ghostface Killah on Babycakes of late.

Here's what I do with my time. I've been training hard, Rocky-styles, with my dance troupe. We practice underneath an overpass. The last dance we learned was Beat It (MJ death nostalgia-related). It's surprisingly easy. This is how:

The Apple (1980) trailer

2009-09-08T08:31:00.001-04:00

Ebraine we should watch this!!

Teenage Mother (1967) trailer

2009-09-08T08:29:00.001-04:00

*Teenage Mother means 9 months of trouble!*

Twenty Million Miles To Earth - Trailer (1957)

2009-09-08T08:19:00.001-04:00

The Ymir - In all honesty, this, the "monster," is the protagonist. Taken from its home planet, the creature eats sulfur and is docile unless poked. It only wants to be left alone, but people and dogs insist on doing the one thing that annoys a Ymir. That is right; they poke it.