Category: Food / drink

The calm before the boring, boring storm

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Pretty good start to the day: went over to Barrio to have brunch with CBGB. We ate our fill (I had waffles covered in…well, everything; Nellie had princess pancakes) and caught up with them. Then Nellie and I strolled down Queen Street and checked out a bit more of Leslieville before hopping on the streetcar.

Next stop was UpCountry, where I was all set to be super-bitchy with some staff (I had hissed ultimatums prepared and everything) but the manager happened to be in today and he seemed reasonably confident. He promised delivery this week and apologized profusely, both of which were new events for us. I won’t declare him actually helpful until the bed we picked out is in our bedroom, but if that doesn’t happen this week as promised then I’m bringing the pain.

Then a quick hop over to {shudder} the Eaton Centre where we grabbed some shoes. We’re both in need of some footwear for our upcoming trip, and just wanted to get it over with. I managed to get in and out without throttling any teenagers; I guess those nine beers at brunch took some edge off.

Now, with all that fun out of the way, I’m looking at a day of financial risk management quizzes and work emails. Yaaaaaay.

368 days from now I’ll be done the MBA. Not that I’m counting.

[tags]barrio, brunch, upcountry, skechers, eaton centre, mba[/tags]

"Should I run?" "Yes!"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

BlogTO used one of my flickr photos as a headline picture yesterday. Seeing that was a nice way to start off the day.

.:.

Nellie, T-Bone and I saw Superbad (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night. Holy mother of god, it was funny. It was incredibly crude to the point that Jonah Hill’s character became kind of unlikable (although one of the best parts was hearing how many variations of “vagina” he could come up with) and there were too many scenes with the two cops, but those were small complaints in the face of pretty much nonstop laughter. Describing it as a cross between American Pie (minus the toilet humour) and The 40 Year Old Virgin is actually pretty accurate. If you can deal with ridiculously foul language, go see it. If you can’t, relax and then go see it.

.:.

We had dinner and a couple of pints at Smokeless Joe’s after. I love that place. I love sitting at the bar and listening to the blues and eating green pesto pasta and chatting with the friendly staff and drinking beer that I can’t get anywhere else. I’m glad it’s closer to us…now if only it weren’t smack in the middle of clubland.

.:.

I previously blogged about Walk Score, the site that tells you how pedestrian-friendly your home is. A friend recently brought it up again, and the scores coming out (our new condo, for example, scored only 80/100) led me to think they’d fixed their previous data issues (see the comments in my original post) so I gave it another whirl. Lo and behold, our condo scored a 95/100. I guess the data issues have been solved.

[tags]blogto, superbad, smokeless joe’s, walkscore[/tags]

"The feel-good media moment everyone's looking for."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

No better way to shake off a shitty day than to read this headline from The Onion: U.S. To Re-Hang Saddam Hussein.

Most observers considered Hussein’s execution, which was carried out by Iraq’s interim government and broadcast in grainy, amateur footage, to be creepy, gruesome, and generally lacking the sense of triumphant catharsis authorities had hoped for.

To remedy the public relations failure, Hussein’s body has been dug up from its burial place near Tikrit and wired together by U.S. Army forensic experts to ensure that it holds its shape during the ceremony. The re-hanging, which will be aired on all major networks and accompanied by a 30-minute retrospective highlighting the many reasons why Hussein was a terrible person deserving of this ignoble end, will be “brighter, cheerier, and more upbeat,” than the first attempt.

Thanks Onion.

.:.

Some advice: never, ever order a shrimp dish from a takeout thai restaurant. It’s just asking for trouble.

[tags]onion, saddam hussein, bad seafood[/tags]

MBA: DO NOT WANT!!!1!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Had a nice, quiet little birthday dinner last night at Fieramosca. Perfect way to end a nice, relaxing birthday: good food, good wine, good friends and perfect patio weather.

Before dinner Nellie took me to Bay Bloor Radio and bought me my birthday present: some outdoor speakers so I can get my music fix on the balcony. Thanks baby!

.:.

It’s almost torture to see the film festival lineup announcements appear in my inbox and feed reader. This year I have a course right smack in the middle of festival week, and we leave on vacation immediately after my course ends, so the best we can do this year is one or two films on opening weekend. No frantic schedule-wrangling this year, which is always half the fun.

Next year, when I’m done this freaking MBA, I’m taking a week off and watching 30 films, even if it kills me.

[tags]fieramosca, birthday, tiff07, toronto international film festival[/tags]

A few more broken limbs and hellish weeks at work should do it

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Status du fatblogging:

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 229.5
  • Weight this week: 226

Uhhh…ok. Not being able to exercise all week clearly didn’t hurt me as much as not having time to eat normal meals helped me. Still, that’s not sustainable. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to run again once the swelling goes down and I’m in the hard cast.

.:.

We’ve eaten two straight meals on the balcony. The weather’s been perfect for it, and now that we can grill things without fear of explosions I think we’ll be out there even more. Nellie popped down to St. Lawrence Market yesterday for some fruit (which we had this morning with breakfast) and some tofu. We heard there was a booth there that makes tofu palatable, so we tried a place called Ying Ying Soy Food. It was actually really good; one type Nellie grilled in bbq sauce, the other was left plain, and both were tasty. Throw in some grilled veggies and bread and a bottle of white…’twas a good night.

.:.

One more thing: happy birthday, T-Bone!!

[tags]fatblogging, bbq[/tags]

Can we rig up an LCD and a bar fridge in the bathroom?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Playing basketball for 2 hours in crazy-ass heat takes a lot out of you. We had a lot more people out tonight, including some people we didn’t know, so we ended up playing full court for a while. Now I am teh tired. I want to eat, watch The Shield and shower all at the same time.

.:.

I think the lightning fried my network card. Nellie can connect but I can’t, and we’re using the same router. It just…stopped. However, I can’t be arsed to fix it when I get home this late.

.:.

In unrelated news, I would beat up a nun for some chocolate right now.

[tags]basketball in the heat, fried network card, chocolate[/tags]

If you're depressed and have ADD and you know it, download these (and clap your hands)

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

If you’re in need of a song that’s less than two minutes in length and guaranteed to put you in a good mood, here it is: “Quito” by The Mountain Goats.

Ah shit, I’m feeling generous. Here’s another: “Half-Empty Halls” by The Evaporators.

You’re welcome.

.:.

Nellie’s away for the night, and part of tomorrow. I lazed around for a bit, did some errands, went to the Nike store (as I was paying I realized Jason Spezza was standing next to me, buying a stack of stuff as tall as my wife), went for a run, ordered some pizza, watched JFK (just ’cause), cleaned up and am now listening to music at a volume that seems to frighten the cats.

.:.

I needed a drink last night after work, so we met up with CBGB and a friend at The Auld Spot. The veggie burger was extra tasty, the beer was cold, the waitress was hot and the conversation was lively. It was just what I needed to ease into the weekend.

.:.

As of today I am 5/7 of the way through my MBA.

Aweso.

.:.

Two cool bits of news courtesy of the two best Toronto-centric blogs: Torontoist points to the new and improved driving directions on Google Maps (which is very helpful if you’ve ever tried plotting a scenic route) as well as a neat little mashup called Taxiwiz that predicts your Toronto cab fare. BlogTO, on the other hand, discusses the recent decision that permits street vendors to sell more than hot dogs.

.:.

Finally, I leave you with this hilarious little comic my friend Dino sent me.

Vegetarian Zombies

[tags]mountain goats, evaporators, nike store, jason spezza, auld spot, fun with fractions, torontoist, blogto, taxiwiz, google maps, vegetarian zombies[/tags]

Happy Canada Day!

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

What a nice weekend so far. Yesterday Nellie and I slept in a bit, then got up and went back to our old neighbourhood to have some breakfast at Eggstasy and buy some new a/v-related furniture (stands for my side & rear channel speakers, and a new TV/component stand) at Bay Bloor. It was a beautiful day, and one of the first we’ve had in a long time to just spend at our leisure. We ran a few more errands, chilled at home for a bit and went to Fieramosca for dinner with Nellie’s mom and her boyfriend. When we got home the full moon and the wind created an amazing effect on the lake, so we sat outside (despite the cold wind) before heading to bed.

Slept in once again this morning before finding some brunch at the Irish Embassy — I was craving fish and chips, of all things — and saying goodbye to Nellie’s mom. Since then we’ve been trying to muster the energy to finish putting together the TV stand and set it all up, but have been unsuccessful so far.

.:.

According to Gothamist, the Copacabana is closing. This truly is the end of an era in Manhatt…wait a second. The fucking Copacabana is still open?

[tags]canada day, eggstasy, bay bloor radio, irish embassy, toronto, copacabana[/tags]

The best defense against ribs

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Normally after I write an exam I’d just come home and crash, but today I had things to do. I dropped my stuff and went up to the office; I wanted to get moved into my desk so I could hit the ground running Tuesday morning. I shared a brownie with T-Bone, caught up on some email, waited for Nellie so I could show her my new floor and then headed home. On the way I bumped into two of my classmates on Bloor; they’re hanging around the city for the weekend.  Now I’m home, catching up on a bunch of stuff, waiting for Nellie and her mom (who’s visiting) to make pizza. Tomorrow, when I have more energy we’ll visit the Distillery District.

.:.

If I lived in London today, I’d buy one of these t-shirts.

.:.

Thank goodness the Toronto Ribfest has moved out to Centennial Park (wherever the hell that is). I don’t think I could bear to have it just around the corner on Front Street this year.

[tags]keep calm and carry on, london bomb, toronto ribfest[/tags]