Category: Friends

The man in the back must've smoked a million packs and a half by now

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Many years ago, as a teenager, I played drums in a rock band. An awful, awful rock band. There was much covering of Kiss and April Wine and Metallica and Steve Miller. Every song written by one of the the guitarists was…well, exactly the same. There were shows at fire halls and weddings and high school gyms. It was an equal mix of painful and hilarious. It was like a tragic hoot.

The band went through multiple names and lineups (including me…I left/was replaced near the end of high school) but the one constant was my friend Adam. I’ve known Adam for as long as I’ve known anybody, and we were good friends growing up. He was the one with talent…good songwriter, good guitarist, great singer. But he was also the one who believed in it the most.I liked playing the drums and hanging out with Adam, but I never believed it would go anywhere and knew I’d be going off to university. Others, like Adam’s friends Bruce or Jason or Mike, or his brother Justin, seemed to be in it mainly to have a blast or get girls.

But Adam wanted to make music. Always. In the summers he worked with me on my dad’s farm he carried around a little hand-held tape recorder so he could capture all the little songs he’d make up or piano tinkling he’d do if he was in our house. The music was one of the fun things about being in his orbit. He had determination and a nice voice and a friendly laugh and, most of all, a good heart, and so he managed to charm a beautiful girl named Sonya (in spite of himself…I was there that night…it wasn’t the smoothest) who he would eventually marry. After high school he moved to Ontario and recorded an album with a whole other set of guys, but didn’t stay long. Back home, there were more bands, more albums. Nothing really stuck.

Adam and I didn’t see each other much after high school. We kept in touch every now and then on email and Facebook. But he’s living there and I’m living here and I don’t see him much when I get home. We always kind of moved in different circles anyway, apart from when we played together. But I’ve kept up with how his music’s gone. He always managed to get me a copy of whatever CD he’d just put out with whatever band. It was hard to keep track sometimes, honestly.

But in the last few years his band Big Deal has done well locally. They were playing bigger shows…big bars in other towns, ECMA satellite shows. I watched them on Halifax’s Breakfast Television morning show. Despite Adam’s massively fucked back (I’ve lost count of the surgeries that my mother recounts on the phone…I think maybe Adam has too) they were getting attention and selling records and winning fans. A song he wrote about Sonya became a pretty big local hit.

So earlier this week, when I read this story by our mutual friend (and reporter) Andrew Wagstaff in my old hometown newspaper, I couldn’t stop smiling. Big Deal, consisting of the three guys I’d played with and known since childhood, and the drummer who (I think) replaced me all those years ago, had been signed to a record deal with Attack and a distribution deal with EMI. I know there are four guys in the band, and I’m sure there’ll all pretty happy about it, but the guy I’m truly happy for is Adam. My good friend, after all those years of shit bars and back spasms and teachers telling him he’d never amount to anything…he just willed his band into a record deal. He just got the letters E, M and I attached to his music.

Today, as I write this, I probably miss Adam more than I ever have. I feel sad that I couldn’t be there last night when Big Deal played a for-old-time’s-sake show at the local community hall, just like we did as kids. I feel a little bit envious that he’s chased something for so long and just gutted it out. But mostly, I’m proud of my friend.

Kick ass, brother. Just don’t hurt your back when you do it.

I couldn't C5 things on the menu that I wanted

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last night five of us (it should’ve been six but one of our party took one — a kid’s fever, specifically — for the team) had dinner at C5. We had booked dinner with the intention of participating in the Crosstown Kitchens event Stop For Food, but when we arrived we were disappointed to find that, unlike Winterlicious, there was no choice in the courses. Since the lone price fixe menu option didn’t impress, the five of us opted for the regular menu. So much for going easy on the pocketbook.

The food we ordered from the regular menu was good, not great. The buffalo mozzarella amuse-bouche was excellent. My pork belly and calamari starter was decent…really, I’ve had better pork belly and the calamari may as well have been left out. My venison was quite good, and the other touches — sweet potato puree, beets, etc. — were delicious. Our wine — a Morgan Pinot Noir — was excellent. Nothing on the dessert list appealed so I passed. Nellie enjoyed her meal less than I did. I got the sense that our other dinner companions were up and down as well, and no one seemed blown away. I feel like what I had wasn’t the best that C5 had to offer, especially given that Toronto Life just ranked it the 10th best restaurant in the city, but compared to a recent visit to Nota Bene or yet another return trip to Canoe (which TorLife ranked #1 this year) it just doesn’t stack up.

However, in such pleasant company, the evening was still more than enjoyable. And the space, it should be noted, is spectacular. I would happily come here for drinks, especially if my other option in the immediate neighbourhood is Lobby.

How do I get Rideau this cold?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

As my brother has been blogging, his wife surprised him by flying him to Ottawa for a long weekend with friends and, as an added surprise, Nellie and I. He flew back to England this evening; Nellie and I returned to Toronto yesterday. It was a fun few days for us. I’ve known many of his friends since 1996 when I lived there with him for the summer, and it was good to hang out with all of them again. It was good to see Ottawa again too; I’ve not been there in a while, but it still feels a little like home. Best of all, though, was getting to help celebrate my brother’s 40th birthday in such great circumstances.

Highlights: an awesome Porter flight to Ottawa; surprising (kinda) my brother at our hotel; the food and drink at the Wellington Gastropub, including the Beau’s and a 2005 Raymond Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (also overheard a great Grant Lee Philips cover of Echo & The Bunnymen‘s “The Killing Moon” on the stereo there); getting silly (where exactly did “chicken sodomy” come from anyway?) and reliving some memories at a Royal Oak (warning: awful, obnoxious music embedded in site); struggling the next morning until I could get some sausage and toast into me at the Elgin Street Diner; Winterlude ice sculptures; marveling at just how far Lego has come since we were kids; awesome homemade pizzas at mblogler/imspycat‘s place; playing the Wii with the kiddies; breakfast at the Metropolitan Brasserie with our aunt (where we loudly berated the Senate, even as Art Eggleton dined next to us); more pizza and beer at the Prescott where people who used to work with my brother were invited out to see him (funnily enough, three of them walked up and started talking to me, thinking I was him…by the third I just said, “Hey, how are you? That’s Tim over there.”); cheap pub breakfast at the Aulde Dubliner in the market; walking (not skating…couldn’t be arsed) down the Rideau Canal to the hotel before flying home.

That’s obviously an abuse of the word “highlights” but it really was a great weekend. My biggest problem with it was that I got very, very sick. Saturday night I felt a cold coming on; by Sunday morning it was severe, and by Monday morning it was brutal. It kept me in bed most of Sunday, made me miserable for all of Monday, and made our plane’s descent into Toronto excruciating. But it could have been worse: I could’ve been sick the entire weekend, or worst of all, my brother might have been sick. So it all turned out for the best. I didn’t even mind the cold; chilly as it got, the sun stayed out most of the time.

It was a great weekend. I’m really glad I got to be part of it.

[UPDATE: Ooh, ooh, almost forgot: the brother and sister-in-law brought me some Pierre Marcolini chocolate from Belgium. Zowie.]

This city = cold

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

For those of you not following my Twitter feed, I’ve been in Ottawa since Friday afternoon as part of a surprise for my brother. It’s been lots of fun so far, out with some of his friends, lots of food and drink and hanging out and catching up. Too tired to post much right now; will likely have more to say later.

I do have two whole years to make up for, after all

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I’m hungry just thinking about it.

Last night, in an early celebration of Nellie’s birthday, we had dinner at Jacob’s & Co. with T-Bone and The Sof. And what a dinner it was. After a drink downstairs in the bar we settled around a big comfy table. More drinks — beer for the guys, sparkling wine for the ladies — followed before we opened our menus. Our server Harry walked us through the details and intricacies of each cut of meat they had that night and we made our choices.

I started with the lobster bisque (which contained, like, half a lobster). T-Bone had steak tartare, The Sof had oysters and Nellie ordered the Caesar Salad. That salad was prepared tableside and tasted, according to Nellie, better than any Caesar’s salad she’d ever had. All our wines were paired nicely as well. So far, so good.

Then…oh, then, the meat arrived. T-Bone and The Sof split a 28oz USDA Prime Black Angus bone-in ribeye. I opted for the 14oz version. Nellie had an 8oz Wagyu striploin. My ribeye was so tender my knife just slid through it; Nellie’s was almost like butter. Amazing. A lot to handle, too…I’m not sure how I finished it. I guess it might have been that I largely stayed away from the sides of mushroom, broccolini and duck fat french fried potatoes, though I did enjoy the pureed potatoes quite a bit. The whole affair went down with…I think the sommelier said a Cabernet, but I can’t really remember. It were tasty.

No one had a lot of room for dessert, though I did feel like having a single scoop of house-made coconut ice cream and Nellie got some sorbet. T-Bone had port, natch. The Sof skipped dessert, and concentrated on trying to digest the 14 ounces of meat he’d just eaten. Before heading back downstairs for one last drink, Harry dropped off four house-made muffins for our breakfast the next day. Nice touch.

Jacob’s is a beautiful space, and the food was spectacular. So, as one would expect, were the prices. Economic downturn be damned, though – that room was full last night. We enjoyed our experience there thoroughly. And, in a perfect little coda: the muffins this morning were delicious.

Oh, murgh makhani, how I've missed you

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Just back from a Winterlicious dinner at Amaya Bread Bar. It’s the more laid-back, TTC-friendly version of Amaya Restaurant. The food’s the same (which is to say, delicious) though we were limited to the ‘Licious menu. The wine selection was shorter, but that didn’t bother me; I like beer with my Indian. The only one available — Cobra — went nicely with my pakora starter. We shared the four mains — lamb roganjosh, butter chicken, seafood xacutti and a veggie trio — and washed it down with more Cobra. I won’t lie, I enjoyed asking the waiter to bring more Cobra. It’s fun to say. Cobra. Cobra cobra cobra cobra. Cobra.

For dessert T-Bone and I had Greg’s mango ice cream; Nellie and The Sof had the spiced brownie, but neither of them came close to finishing.

Tasty, not too heavy, and reasonably priced. And a quick walk to/from the subway, or would have been, had we not we caught a ride down to Summerhill. We will likely go back. Missionlicious accomplished.

Now then…can I use a lightsaber while I snowboard?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment
The Queen (our home station) decal
Our home station

Four days since I last blogged. The hell is wrong with me lately?

A good four days it’s been though. Thursday night was spent partaking in one of my favourite pastimes: watching the Habs beat up on the Leafs. Friday we had dinner at Fieramosca, and came home to find our Wii Fit waiting for us. We considered setting it up that night, but the wine and limoncello we’d just consumed made us think twice. Ironically.

Yesterday was our get-crap-done day (capped off by an excellent meal and very nice 2004 Cab Sauv from New Zealand), freeing up today for brunch with our friend Cyndy and entertaining CBGBLB, who I think were just using us for our Wii. But they brought us chocolates* and convinced us to order pizza, so we didn’t mind. We also finally put up our TTC wall decals, courtesy of Walloper, which we think look pretty sharp.

I’ll be honest with you: the idea of staying home tomorrow to play Wii Fit and lightsaber duel kind of appeals to me more than the idea of going to work tomorrow.

* The chocolates were from Eat My Words. Very cool idea in support of the Steven Lewis Foundation, and a great gift idea. Check it out.

"Hallelujah."

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Today was our last full day in Halifax. It started with my convocation ceremony, then lunch with our parents, then a few hours of downtime in the bar and our room, then dinner with our friends Marney & Amy. Great dinner, by the way, at a cool little wood oven pizza place.

We leave tomorrow morning, but not too early. Good thing too…we’re oh so tired. Night, kids.

The prodded-a-lot son returns

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Hey kids…just before I dash out the door to catch my flight to Halifax, let’s all say congratulations to CBGB who, after 114 days of visiting various NICUs around Toronto, have finally brought LB home. I give it about three weeks until GB has him up and doing kata.

Congrats, little guy. I guess we both graduated this week, but I dare say you worked harder for yours.

Just call me comrade

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

I am a capitalist. I’m also a socialist. Those aren’t mutually exclusive, they’re mix-n-match. That’s the new reality.

That was a response I sent by email to my friend Colin during one of the dozens of exchanges we’ve had surrounding the recent banking crisis. We’ve always been a pair of interesting contradictions, he being the conservative Scot with many years in banking but a progressive voice for financial technology, I being the one of the few MBA-laden bankers who sits on the far left of the political spectrum. As such, our discussions are usually lively, especially when we’re separated by a small wooden table and several empty pint glasses.

As I dashed off that email the implications of what I’d written sunk in. I’d always contended that I was both capitalist and socialist — I believe markets should be reasonably free but never unfettered, and I believe governments can both foster economic growth and support social goods like health care — but many I talked to said you couldn’t be both. I don’t quite understand how they could make that argument, since the country we live in is an optimal (if imperfect) marriage of capitalist economic policy and liberal social policy. I suppose we have the cold war to thank for the perception that capitalist and socialist were diametric opposites. I’ve long considered that an outdated and inaccurate distinction, but would nonetheless get questioning looks from friends on both the left and the right.

We’re obviously long past the point where general society will accept that pure socialism can work in isolation, but there are still considerable pockets in western democracies who believe the contrary: that pure, unfettered capitalism is a viable option. I don’t believe these Friedman acolytes are any more grounded in reality than those who subscribe to Marxism, and I think recent events in the American financial system support that. It’s hard to argue that more financial regulation would have hurt, given what’s happened. And while this is only a small sample of events on a short time line, you could point to Canada as an outcome of the long-term effects of the afore-mentioned mix of capitalist and socialist policy.

In any case, to argue that even the most capitalist of democracies — the United States — has no socialist tendencies is silly. National defense is an enormous draw on taxpayer dollars. The government provides old age pensions, welfare, police and fire services, snow plows and national parks, public school funding and endowments for the arts. The degree to which these are funded is always in question, but the fact that someone has deemed these things necessary is an indication that sometimes the social good outweighs the capitalist ideal. I find it odd that this would be seen as anything other than a healthy, moral response, but it has always been challenged by ideologues who see this as black or white, and not as a sliding scale. I suspect those voices will temporarily quiet, given recent events, and especially pending the outcome of the upcoming elections. Democracies are wonderful mechanisms with which to overthrow ideologies, and (again, imperfectly) determine where on the sliding scale between capitalism and socialism their country shall sit.

When writing that email to Colin I was surprised at how I had worded it. Not because it revealed anything new about me, but simply because I had the feeling that he was a little less likely to taunt me for saying it than he would’ve been even six months ago (when he’d have laughed and called me a Communist). I’d be tempted to label that progress, but I’m not sure that standing still while the world changes around me counts.