My first thought was: sweet jittery Moses, Columbia House still exists?!?!
My second thought was: wow, did I ever get a lot of music from Columbia House. I know they made their money on people forgetting to send back the negative-option card that said, “Please DON’T send me that Michael McDonald album.” but I was on top of it. I did the math…I got the intro offer and bought my minimum commitment and cancelled my subscription and waited for their even better “We want you back!” offer, and then repeated the process over and over. I remember at one point cancelling my subscription in a letter and specifically saying, “Just go ahead and send me the offer you send people when they cancel ASAP.” and they did.
Somewhere in my basement are 487 physical CDs. I stopped buying physical media in April 2006, but I always kept them around in case some day I decide to re-rip them at a lossless bitrate. (When I originally ripped them to MP3 storage on both my desktop and my Creative Labs mp3 player was at a premium, so the songs were all at 128kbps.) I would have sold or traded away a lot of the CDs I bought as a teenager, but still…I bet more than a few of the discs down there came from a Columbia House 1¢ sale.
We’ve just returned from three weeks in the Maritimes. Those three weeks were broken up into six distinct…phases? Segments? Legs? Let’s say phases.
Phase one of six: Bedford
After a morning of errands and lunch at Aloette, we scrambled to get packed and leave for the airport. Luckily the Porter flight was easy, as was our drive into Bedford. There’s certainly an advantage to travelling in the summer vs. the winter. The next day was a fairly lazy one: breakfast with grandparents, late lunch at Finbar’s with Toronto friends who happened to be in the province, then backyard hangs and dinner with Lindsay’s sister. On our last full day there we enjoyed another lazy morning, a few errands, one more drink with Tess & Aravind before they flew back to Sweden, and then hangouts & dinner & Taboo with Lindsay’s siblings.
The next morning we got up, drove a few minutes to the local IMAX theatre, and watched The Odyssey, which I thought was excellent. We returned to Lindsay’s mom’s place for lunch from Cha Baa Thai, then got on the road to begin phase two.
Phase two of six: Nova Scotia AirBnBs
We arrived in the Annapolis Valley and checked into the Omar Gandhi Guest Cabin, which I’ve been obsessed with for a while. It’s absolutely stunning, from the design to the surroundings. We were pretty tired, though, so we just picked up some local pizza from Nayya, and some wine from Benjamin Bridge, and went to sleep amongst the trees.
We were really as our leisure the next morning, wanting to fully enjoy the the gorgeous space. Eventually we drove to Planters Ridge winery for lunch (spicy red pepper soup; fishcakes and chow; chili crisp ranch salad; corn crème brûlée) and a tasting. We then made an ill-advised decision to drive to the Blomidon lookoff, which due to road work was all too brief. We had to be back at Benjamin Bridge for a picnic by the Gaspereau river, which was stunning. Our dinner at Terroir at the Old Orchard Inn that night was okay, not great…certainly not worth the money. The menu:
Salted Peach & Thyme (non-alc): fresh peach and thyme simple syrup, bourbon based
Appetizers
East Coast Oyster Bar: six East Coast oysters freshly shucked, served with a blueberry & thyme mignonette and grated horseradish & lemon.
Smoked Tuna Tataki: Quick seared & sliced rare tuna Togarashi with chili-crisp & ginger ponzu. Garnished with pickled daikon, cucumber ribbons, lightly dome-smoked & served with crunchy wontons.
Mains
Ricotta Gnudi: Delicate ricotta and parmesan dumplings with preserved lemon, simmered in a honey garlic milk thistle crab cream sauce, finished with arugula-pecan salsa verde, panko crumble, and seared Digby scallops.
Smoked Pork Chop: Oulton’s smoked center cut chop, charbroiled and brushed with lemon & garlic brown sugar BBQ sauce. Topped with corn succotash.
Lightfoot and Wolfville Ancienne Chardonnay
Dessert
Homemade apple pie
When you drop >$300 and the homemade apple pie is the most remarkable part of your meal, something’s wrong. Anyway. Lesson learned.
The next morning — my birthday — we left the AirBnB, had lunch at The Library Pub, picked up some wine and a book, and drove through some unknown-to-us roads to to Elderbank. There we found our next AirBnB, a geodesic dome overlooking the Musquodoboit River. We opened some bubbly, enjoyed the nature, played some games, ate our weird chicken parm dinner (but the carrot cake was excellent) and got some sleep.
The next morning we were up early, struggled out the door, and pointed our car toward Cumberland County, to begin phase three.
Phase three of six: the farm
After a brief stop at Masstown Market, we drove on to Parrsboro, meeting my parents for lunch at Harbour View. Fish & chips and fried clams ensued. We drove back to the farm and the relaxing commenced. Lindsay skunked me twice at crib, we watched the Jays game, and I fell into a very deep sleep. The next day was the epitome of farm languor: I won 3 games of crib. We took a walk, though we were chased back inside by flies. We made pulled pork for everyone. We watched the Jays game. We slept.
After some Sunday breakfast we drove to our friend’s cottage, where brother #2 and the S-I-L had been staying. We walked to the beach, and eyed the cottage for sale next door. Then we drove on via Tidnish (another road never before taken) toward Shediac, to commence phase four.
Phase four of six: New Brunswick
We arrived in Shediac Bridge to find our beautiful AirBnB. We quickly realized it contained even more space than we though, both indoors and out. But we also quick realized it contained no laundry. That would be a problem, since Lindsay didn’t have enough clean clothes to last the week. It was too late to do anything about it that night, so we drove to Moncton for groceries & supplies, picking up donairs on the way home. One more Maritime task completed.
Though Monday was a holiday, we discovered a brand new laundromat in Shediac, and confirmed it would be open. It was very clean and efficient, and we were in and out practically in the time it took to walk across the road to Timmy’s. We returned to our temporary home, worked on the beautiful deck, made sausage & eggs for lunch, and stepped inside when it rained. A cooked dinner of salmon & vegetables hit the spot, after all the fried food we’d been eating.
The next three days were drive-to-the-office days for me. One day I saw a car burst into flames on my drive home. One day we drove all the way to the Bouctouche dunes to visit the beach there, but left pretty disappointed with the swim quality. One way it was too hot to do anything. We tried multiple times to visit Chez Leo, but it was far too busy.
On Friday I worked from the house in the morning, then we set out for Bedford. After multiple stops along the way, we made it just in time for me to sign in to one last meeting for the week, during which Lindsay left with her family for another cottage– thus beginning phase five.
Phase five of six: Brother & Bramble
While Lindsay and her family drove to the Annapolis Valley, I drove downtown to stay with brother #1, happily relinquishing any further driving duties for the day. We went to Eliot & Vine, a place that’s long been on my wish list. I had tuna crudo w/ saffron aioli, pickled chilies, red onion, capers, olive oil, crispy quinoa, and a glass of DeMorgenzon Chardonnay, followed by the ravioli w/ goat cheese honey ricotta, San Marzano tomato sauce, grilled vegetables, and a glass of Claude Val Rosé. Unfortunately it was almost unbearably warm in the restaurant (we were sat right next to the front door, which remained propped open during a heat wave for reasons that are beyond me). Anyway, we got home, chatted for a bit, and watched a documentary about the Barkley Marathons.
The next day we walked to the (very cool) Brewery Market and back, which was enough to leave me soaked in sweat. A cold shower never felt so good. We killed the rest of the day until friends arrived; the brother smokes steak and chicken, and we had a feast. Once they left, the brother and I watched episode one of President Curtis, then episode one of BoJack Horseman. Then I went to bed and slept for eight hours.
On Sunday I arose, did a bit of catching up on work & life, and drove back to Bedford to await everyone’s return. Once the crowd rumbled in we got ourselves sorted and then drove out to Lindsay’s dad’s for dinner and various animal encounters. The next day we got ourselves ready to depart, bringing in one final lunch from a local seafood spot, which would come back to haunt us. On the drive downtown to our hotel, Lindsay got violently ill — everywhere — and we had to go back to Bedford to clean up. The second attempt, several hours later, went better.
Phase six of six: Halifax.
We arrived at The Muir, our Halifax home away from home, shortly before 9pm. We got ourselves situated, ordered room service (an excellent burger for me, miracle-working chicken soup & brown bread for Lindsay), unpacked, and passed out.
Tuesday got off to a slow start, as expected. I got coffee and pastries from the nearby Java Blend. We eventually tried to visit The Narrows for lunch but it was closed, so we went to Chainyard instead. We (okay, Lindsay) bought some books from Agricola Street Books, and I got a cortado from the new location of Espresso 46 before we returned to the hotel to reset. Lindsay had supper plans with Kealin, so they took over the reservation we’d made at Bar Kismet. Meanwhile, I met up with brother #1 and his progeny for some incredible pizza at Lou Pecou. We had a special, kind of a souped-up Margherita, and a “One Night in Marseille” — tomato sauce, bocconcini, pepperoni, caramelized fennel seed, pickled mustard seed, basil, Parmigiano Reggiano. I had a glass of local Parlan Nadurra skin contact l’Acadie Blanc. We each had a buckwheat chocolate & sea salt cookie for dessert.
Wednesday started slowly as well. Java Blend again, and relaxing. Then: pastries from LF Bakery, coffee with the siblings, drinks with Andrew at Good Robot beer garden. We bumped into Tim picking up burritos from Dee Dee’s, then ate them in Point Pleasant Park and walked around the trails and beaches. After some brutal traffic getting home we rested up for a couple hours, then went just down the waterfront for dinner at Mystic. Our second time there was very good, if not quite as good as our initial visit back in December.
sea buckthorn curd w/ white rum sponge, caribou moss, ponzu ice cream
sweets
We both had the wine pairings, but there’s no way I’d remember them all. The courses I remember most fondly were the caviar with a South African Chenin Blanc and the scallop with a Piemonte Nebbiolo rosé.
Thursday, as you might expect, started slowly. We slept in. We ordered room service. We did some work, and eventually had a late lunch at Drift (lobster hushpuppies, a cheeseburger, a Marque salad). We met Rickie and Bea for drinks at The Narrows Public House, the inside of which was one million degrees Celsius. Then, though I wasn’t feeling well, we walked to Reta’s for dinner with Lindsay’s dad & his wife where I managed to rally enough to eat. We had:
little gem salad w/ giardiniera vin, spicy salami, cured yolk, sourdough, green goddess
parisienne gnocchi w/ cacio e pepe
mains
swordfish w/ potatoes, brown butter capers, white lemon, green beans, almonds (Lindsay)
duck breast w/ cornbread, brassicas, black garlic pickled cherries (Dan)
dessert
corn & caramel swirl ice cream, all around
We’d hoped to get to BKS, the speakeasy in the Muir, but given how I felt, we opted out.
Friday was the last day of our trip. We got breakfast sammies & coffee from Cafe Lunette, checked out of the Muir, picked up Lindsay’s mom and sister, grabbed pizza from On The Wedge, packed the last little bits, and drove to the airport.
Our flight from Halifax to Toronto was quick; our 31km commute home from the airport took nearly as long. We arrived home to find one very happy, vocal, matted, clingy cat.
Earlier this week we did a thing. And then I did two things.
Tuesday
We went for an early dinner at The Wren (pro tip: if you don’t get there by 5:15pm, you won’t get a table, even on a Tuesday), ate delicious food — a fried chicken sando and their take on a crunchwrap supreme — and some killer beer.
After dinner, we subway-ed down the Danforth and walked to the Comedy Bar to see Jacqueline Novak. We saw her on her Fall On Your Knees tour four years ago, but tonight was a different show type. She was doing three nights at this venue; we were clearly catching her on night one, as she tried stuff out, looked stuff up on a laptop at the edge of the stage, refamiliarized herself with standup timing, etc. Still very funny, I thought, and a good venue apart from the air conditioning condensation that kept dripping on me.
Wednesday
I was invited to a wine tasting — the first tasting for Common Ground Wines, a new wine import agency co-founded by a friend of mine. Well, a friend who hasn’t really spoken to me in ten years, it should be said. I was glad she invited me, even if it was hard to shake off the weirdness. Anyway, Laura came with me, and we eventually found the venue inside a pen store. Another long-ago friend who was helping pour made sure our glasses stayed full, but we didn’t get to try most of the portfolio. Still, a few from Savoie enchanted me, so I’ll probably buy some.
I left there and took a streetcar over to Blue Jays Way, where I had a chance to watch a Jays game. I was hoping and they wouldn’t get blown out for a third straight night, and they didn’t — but they still lost thanks to Jeff Hoffman. Gone is the magic of last November.
World Cup 2026 is over. Argentina ran out of miracles, and were dominated by Spain in the final.
It seems like forever ago that Canada went out, but getting to the round of 16 was a huge step forward for them. It followed a number of firsts: their first result at a World Cup coming on home soil, their first win, their first advancement out of the group stage (albeit in a field of 48, not 32) and then Stephen Eustáquio’s goal late against South Africa to put them into the round of 16.
Toronto, having hosted its lone playoff match more than two weeks ago, has gone quiet again. In retrospect, I’m disappointed in myself. I turned into the kind of jaded Torontonian that avoids downtown because of the traffic and busyness, and didn’t try to really experience any part of it other than watch it on TV. if I’ve reached the point where I try to avoid the busy parts of the city because they’ve gotten busy, maybe I’ve lost the plot a bit.
Brother #2 and the S-I-L have been visiting since last Wednesday, when they landed late at night after numerous delays.
Thursday, after reintroducing themselves to Bianca, they drove out to Guelph. Once they got back and the rain stopped, we grilled up some chicken from Butchers of Distinction and drank an exceptional Chard.
Friday they drove out to Ajax for breakfast with their kiddo. When they got back and I’d wrapped up my work day we walked down the street to Reid’s for some cocktails and bites and to watch the World Cup match. Then we walked up to Gerrard for dinner at East End Vine where we had crudo, mushroom toast w/ quail eggs, crispy brussels, chorizo sausages & bell peppers, and apple/fennel/radicchio salad, and maybe something else. We had plenty of fun wine too, including a glass of Bellone, an Italian white that was new to me.
On Saturday three of us went to Maha’s for brunch. The S-I-L was excited because, since their last visit, Maha’s has introduced a Feteer Meshaltet to their menu, and she hasn’t had one since they left Cairo seven years ago. When we got home we ventured out to two parks near us which we’d never visited: Leslie Lookout Park, which took about 45 seconds, and Biidaasige Park, which was way bigger than we expected. We walked around the trails there and got decent sunburns. Once home we found some more caffeine around the corner at Maha’s Cafe, watched England-Norway, and ate pulled pork tacos & drank Pinot before they drove to Ajax to collect the kiddo. Upon returning home they joined us for the second half (and extra time) of Argentina-Switzerland, before we all crashed.
On Sunday we all got up, went to Avling for brunch, and then chilled for a while. Once the brother and S-I-L got home from returning the kiddo to Ajax, we picked up Revolver pizza, watched last week’s House Of The Dragon, and went to bed early.
This morning, between meetings, I drove them to the airport, and wished them a much smoother flight home than the one that brought them here. The house feels quiet now, and Bianca seems a little confused.
Earlier this week I had a work dinner at Black & Blue steakhouse. Lindsay and I had visited the Vancouver location seven years ago* and quite liked it, but I’d heard mixed things about the new-ish Toronto outpost. Here’s what I ate:
* It recently occurred to me that perhaps the two best Wagyu experiences I’ve ever had — that one at Black & Blue Vancouver, and one more recently in Victoria — were on the east coast. I am slowly forming a theory that the Wagyu is amazing when it arrives in BC and becomes slightly less magical as it makes its journey east to Toronto. Still amazing…but just marginally less amazing.
.:.
Because it came amidst the NHL playoffs andthe opening round of the World Cup, I didn’t make note here of the NBA finals. While I have been a Raptors fan since moving here the year after their inaugural season, the two teams I identified with in the 90s were the Knicks and the Spurs. The Spurs had a team personality that I liked, a hall of fame coach, great bigs like David Robinson and Tim Duncan, and they ultimately became one of the more successful franchises of the past few decades. The Knicks had been more of an underdog story, not having won a title since before I was born, in large part because they kept running into the Bulls, or later the Rockets. But I loved players like Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley and John Starks and Anthony Mason, and the NY grit they brought. So it was great to see them play in the finals, and even better to see the Knicks win their first title since 1973.
.:.
The past week has been insufferably hot, not just in Toronto but all across North America (and Europe, apparently). I woke up feeling like the heat had finally broken; that it already felt like 27 degrees with the humidex at 9am shows just how hot it was earlier in the week. It was so hot that we couldn’t really even go to the top floor of our (flat roof) house. Thank goodness for air conditioning.
Right after I got back from Halifax we had some special house guests: Tess & Aravind (och barnet) visiting from Sweden, by way of Halifax.
We hosted them here for four nights, and it was great fun. We caught up and cooed at the baby. We got coffee and bought gifts. We ate dinner in our backyard and at a few restaurants (Avling, White Lily). We watched the World Cup and had a picnic in Riverdale East Park. The visiting baby delighted in Bianca; the visiting adults did not care for her. The baby also took bites out of some cork coasters and gnawed marks into our coffee table. It was good for our souls to have them here, and we’re hoping to see them again when we visit in July.
This past week I was in Halifax for two different work purposes. Just one day out the five I was there was kind of damp, otherwise it was a gorgeous week.
Sunday: Vino Volo, an easy flight sitting next to someone I knew, a long commute into downtown Halifax because one of the bridges was shut down, the Prince George Hotel (my home for the next five nights), Stillwell (where 2 beers and a large Japanese fries was $21 and I was asking myself why I don’t live there) and then, much later, Rosie’s Burgers.
.:.
Monday: classic Halifax weather (fog like a blanket), day one of a conference, lots of trips to the Weird Harbour on Barrington, then EDNA for dinner:
Tuesday: gorgeous weather, day two of the conference, more Weird Harbour, Gahan House with a big crew, and a sunset sail around the harbour on the Tall Ship Silva.
.:.
Wednesday: the other Weird Harbour, a walk down Spring Garden and back through the Public Gardens, a full day of meetings, dinner at Salt + Ash, wine at Peacock (they let me pick the wine, so Slovenian Cabernet Sauvignon it was!) and more perfect weather.
.:.
Thursday: day two of meetings, still more Weird Harbour, another gorgeous day, and after the meetings wrapped a colleague and I walked to brother #1’s house for a bbq and the Canada/Qatar match with brother #2.
.:.
Friday: hotel breakfast, one last Weird Harbour visit (along with what I think was the Spanish SailGP team), airport, terrible pizza, and an easy flight home.
Last night we had dinner at Carisma, using a gift card that had given to us as a Christmas gift. We arrived to find it nearly empty — I guess everyone was avoiding downtown because of the World Cup?
Spaghettini w/ black tiger shrimp, brandy tomato cream
Mediterranean sea bass w/lemon, extra virgin olive oil
bottle of 2020 Chardonnay Umbria Cervaro della Sala Antinori
Dessert
Molten chocolate cake
glasses of 2015 Recioto Della Valpolicella Domini Veneti
Normally dessert would be a compromise on something not quite so chocolate-y, but I got to choose because Lindsay accidentally fired sauce all over my shirt when she dismantled a shrimp.
I returned home yesterday from my latest trip to Moncton, the first in a while.
Monday I had a coffee meeting at Epoch Chemistry. That evening, my mom & dad, brother #2, and the S-I-L came over for dinner at The Gahan House.
Tuesday I did a full day in the office, before a bunch of us drove over to Shediac for dinner at Captain Dan’s. It was too chilly to sit outside and fully enjoy the shore setting, but a beer, a chicken sandwich, and good company went a long way.
Wednesday we spent the afternoon outside making beds for kids, so felt like we earned beers on the patio at Monk 10, followed by a big team dinner at The Bunker and a nightcap at St. James Gate.
Thursday was another full day of work events, so I was too introvert-tired to do much other than crash in my room with takeout, especially since I had to be up at 4am to catch a flight.
So: nothing groundbreaking in terms of restaurants, but it sure is a lot more fun being there for patio weather.
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 