Category: Food / drink

"My painting went from gentle sweeping strokes to stabbing motions."

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There was snow this morning for the first time. Not a lot, just a little bit in the air. Now that it’s December and there’s a bit of snow in the air, I’ll allow myself to feel like Christmas is getting close. T-Bone and I were talking yesterday about how we’re feeling stressed, like we’ve left gift shopping and decorating far too late because the merchants have been decked out for the season since Nov 1…or earlier, if you’re The Bay.

.:.

Speaking of Christmas-overload: the Globe and Mail discusses the now-ubiquitous Christmas Musak. I suppose it’s not fair to pick on yuletide Musak though; it’s awful all year round. Instead, what worries me is that I’ll have to hear the same shit Christmas music every day for the next month; “Wonderful Christmas Time” by Wings, anyone?

.:.

Met M2, KP and DI for some food & drink last night at the Rebel House. I haven’t seen them in a long time, so it was good to catch up and have a few laughs.

.:.

If you liked Shaun Of The Dead, you’ll be as excited about Hot Fuzz as I am. Check out the trailer(s). Bonus points for excellent use of an Eels song too.
[tags]snow, christmas season, musak, rebel house, shaun of the dead, hot fuzz, eels[/tags]

Suck it up and buy a vacuum

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Most Canadians prefer fake christmas trees to real ones. Therefore, most Canadians are nimrods. The most annoying thing about artificial tree makers? They now insist on calling their products “everlasting” instead.

.:.

I just got some dark chocolate in the mail, courtesy of Stanzi. Nothin’ beats mail chocolate.

.:.

Also courtesy of Stanzi (sort of) we got our first shipment from Green Earth Organics today. After she posted a picture of their produce on her blog we signed up…not that I have any particular desire for organic food, but because I have to admit to myself that I’ll be much more likely to eat good produce if it’s brought to my door than if I’m left to buy it. We’re not sold on the quality yet though; the greens seemed pretty slimy. Maybe it’s a one-time thing, or maybe it’s just what you live with when you buy organic. We’ll give it a few weeks and, if it doesn’t get better, figure out a plan B.

.:.

Canadiens goaltender Cristobal Huet has the best SV% and GAA in the NHL, but he was left off the all-star ballot. Surely that must’ve stung a bit, but what does he do? He gets a shutout in his next start. Suck it, NHL.

.:.

The tories are finally putting the same-sex marriage debate back in the house. Good. Let’s get it over with and move on already.

[tags]dark chocolate, green earth organics, cristobal huet, canadiens, same-sex marriage debate, fake christmas trees[/tags]

I'll just have to find some other trappist ale

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We had dinner at Volo tonight with my university friend Farmboy and his wife. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm…pasta n’ beer. I’m sad, though; they no longer carry the delirium tremens.

.:.

Kristen Bell: even hotter in high definition. Hooray for technology.

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It would seem that …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead might be self-destructing. I’m glad I saw them when I had the chance.
[tags]bar volo, kristen bell, and you will know us by the trail of dead[/tags]

F**k

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F**king Firefox just f**king crashed and I lost a huge f**king post that I’d been writing for half a f**king hour. I’m not writing that f**king thing again, so you’re getting a point f**king form version.

  • Five Doors North at Yonge & Eg isn’t very good.
  • Death Of A President was pretty good, maybe a little better than I was expecting (but not quite as good as I’d hoped)
  • Irreversible, while expertly shot, was extremely hard to watch. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you can sit through graphic violence and/or prolonged rape scenes.
  • Moleskine doesn’t make a Citynotebook for Toronto, but they should.

F**k.

[tags]five doors north, toronto, death of a president, irreversible, moleskine[/tags]

Pepsi sounds kinda like peptic. Coincidence?

Dan Dickinson2 Comments

I just can’t get over American political attack ads. Check out this example from the Globe and Mail:

“If Brad Miller had his way, America would be nothing but one big fiesta for illegal aliens and homosexuals,” the ad says, as mariachi music plays in the background.

Of course there was some fuss earlier in the week about a racist attack ad aimed at Harold Ford Jr., since pulled. It also got a lot of attention north of the border as it took a swipe at Canada staying out of the Iraq war. It didn’t really bother me that much, especially once I saw the rest of the ad. Why should it? Since when should we care what a racist, or someone who’d stoop to racism, thinks about our military record?

.:.

NBC will not show ads for the new documentary about the Dixie Chicks, Shut Up And Sing, but the speed with which the production company jumped on the story…I don’t know, it just smells like a publicity play to me.

.:.

So, I think I might have an ulcer. Or maybe just really bad heartburn; I’m not sure yet. Basically I’ve had heartburn since I got back from the Rockies three weeks ago; a couple of days ago I started watching what I ate and have drunk only milk, and the heartburn’s gone. I even had some hot sauce on my eggs this morning and a Diet Pepsi around noon and I feel fine. I was under the impression that ulcers were caused by stress, but that’s not the case…which makes sense, ’cause I never feel stressed. I’m a very happy guy, despite what some people think. Anyway, I’m fairly certain the cause is the 3-can-a-day Diet Pepsi habit (or more; in my Delano days I got so little sleep that I drank 4 or 5 a day just to stay awake) I’ve had for several years now. Obviously, and probably for more reasons than just stomach acid, it’s time to give that up. What’s really going to suck is that I’ll now be giving up meat and Diet Pepsi at the same time. Worse yet, I need to lose weight, so chocolate’s probably off the menu for a while as well. No meat, chocolate or DP; November’s gonna be a fucker of a month.

.:.

In happier news, we’re gonna go see a movie tonight (D.O.A.P.) with CBGB, it’s my nephew’s birthday, tonight our clocks fall back and it’s less than 8 weeks ’til I’m back on the farm for the holidays. Sounds like my whole family (including the afore-mentioned nephew and my nieces) will be there as well. I’m looking forward to it since we weren’t all together at the same time last year.

[tags]attack ads, harold ford jr, nbc, dixie chicks, ulcer, diet pepsi, death of a president[/tags]

"My two lovely friends"

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It’s true: Deal Or No Deal is the dumbest game show ever. It’s so dumbed-down, and requires so little brainpower from both contestant and viewer, it makes Wheel Of Fortune seem like a Mensa chapter meeting.

.:.

Speaking of the addle-minded, I have a new name for Leafs forward Darcy Tucker: SuperPussy. On Tuesday he was so pissed about his team getting crushed (final score: 6-2) by Ottawa that he started beating on Patrick Eaves, who’s probably never fought in his life. Happily, Ottawa didn’t retaliate tonight by going after Kyle Wellwood or some similar non-combatant; instead they blasted the Leafs 7-2. Between that and Montreal’s last-second (well, almost…they scored with 1.2 seconds left) win over Boston, I’m a happy guy.

.:.

A co-worker pointed out last night something I would never, ever have guessed: many of the Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits outlets here in Toronto serve halal chicken. When she first told me I thought she meant the entire chain, and I thus deemed her insane. But in fact, it appears to be true, so…yeah. That’s pretty weird. Of all the places I expected to serve halal meat, Popeye’s isn’t one of them.

[tags]deal or no deal, mensa, darcy tucker, patrick eaves, leafs, senators, popeye’s, halal[/tags]

How not to take a loss

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This plane crash story from New York is getting weirder and weirder.  There’re now reports that Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was on the plane when it crashed into the building. I’d heard it was his plane, but apparently they’ve now found his passport near the wreckage.

Was he just really broken up about the ALCS loss to Detroit?

.:.

I see that Americans, having run out of foods to deep-fry, have begun deep-frying Coke. Brilliant. [via Joe]

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I’m always angry at myself for not going to see art and photography exhibits, so I’m going to try really hard to see the World Press Photo 2006 exhibit at BCE place before the 22nd. [via Torontoist]

.:.

More pictures tonight if I have a chance.

[tags]cory lidle, new york plane crash, deep-fried coke, word press photo 2006[/tags]

Far coast: long shot?

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Today, on a short excursion to get my first fresh air in a week I walked by the new Far Coast coffee store that opened on Bloor. They were having some big shindig at the top of St. Thomas street. BlogTO popped in for a closer look (and taste) but I couldn’t handle anything more hectic than Whole Foods this afternoon.

One interesting angle is that Far Coast is owned by Coke, and this is obviously their foray into Starbucks territory. Two 800 lb gorillas duking it out, but they’re in the Seattle gorilla’s wheelhouse. I guess we’ll see if the Atlanta gorilla can get in the game.

[tags]far coast coffee, coke, starbucks, blogto[/tags]

27.69%

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Day 2 down. Just did a bunch of reading…even read ahead a bit.

The food is a struggle; not eating beef or pork anymore has severely limited my choices here. It used to be that if dinner just looked like shit you could order a burger; no more.

OK, must go see what’s doing over in the lounge.

[tags]semi-veggie[/tags]

Our asses…

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…are firmly planted in seats at Smokeless Joe’s, having a drink and some dinner before Citizen Duane starts. Konig Weiss for me, Leffe Brun for Nellie.

[tags]tiff, toronto international film festival, smokeless joe’s[/tags]