You know those times that you are helping your kids through a tough time and you use the "I have been there, too" story to relate to them. And they nod thoughtfully trying to imagine you in the same stuation they are in, and then realizing to themselves that you are full of shit because there is NO WAY you could POSSIBLY understand what its like to have pants that don't fit right and how the little adjustable straps on the waistband are SUPER scratchy...etc...etc. I mean, sure, in my day the pants didn't have adjustable waistbands like they do now. We had belts. Or our moms would "let them out" or "take them in" to suit our everchanging bodies. Pants weren't made of smooth denim and soft cotton in the 70's. They were made of iron and polyester. You want to talk about uncomfortable, don't get me started. But they were very durable. Try adjusting a seam or sewing a gather in some of the jeans nowadays. Not as easy. Snip one wrong thread, and *poof* the trousers evaporate into a pile of threads. Maybe not that bad, but you get my drift: I know of uncomfortable pants.
Do we ever stop dismissing the possibility that our parents "have been down that road before"? I find myself wondering this more and more lately. Although it is not from my kids' perspective, it's from MY perspective.
I don't know what the 1975 equivalent of Rockband is. Pong? OK. Pong was first introduced around 1975. And we were the first family on our street to have one. And I loved playing it. Did I ever play it with my parents? Not a chance. Now I suppose it is possible that once I was snuggled in my bed at night, my parents would Pong it up for a few hours, but I find that doubtful. But I never witnessed them actually playing it themselves.
Yet, whenever I get the chance, I am jamming with the kids to "You Shook Me All Night Long" on the AC/DC trackpack. Now, I'm sure a social scientist would argue that the pervasive nature of various forms of technology over the past few decades has contributed to the acceptance of technology by the elder generations so my metaphor just doesn't hold up in the wash, unlike my Sears Toughskins corduroy pants (you like how I brought that around? -- me too).
I am now starting to get the eye-rolling from my daughter once in a while. "Daaaaaaaaaad!" Attempting, as young girls are prone to do, to sway her fathers judgement by whining and rolling her eyes and doing that "tsk-awwww" thing. My son, for the time being, still thinks I am the smartest guy alive.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Coffee Shop Rant
I am really trying to support the little guy.
There is a coffee shop near our house called the Pastry Castle. It used to be something else..Java Somethingorother. That place went under because the woman running the place had no idea how to run a business. The coffee was fine, but the treats were boring. She kept trying to change the menu items, but it never really made it. The only time I thought she had a good idea was when she started advertising live music a couple of nights a week. That is the crowd she was trying to pull in. And it might have worked if they had stuck with it for a while.
But the location is such that it is inconvenient to find. You have to actually be looking for the place. It is completely surrounded by other restaurants so attracting the lunch crowd would be a tough gig. I say go after the coffee crowd. The only Starbucks in the area is in the Safeway. And we all KNOW that those aren't REAL Starbucks. And Tim Horton's is always packed, but that just means that people don't have a real alternative.Another thing this place could have going for it is the free(ish) MTS Wireless Internet. I added the 'ish' because you have to have an MTS user ID from an existing service in order to log in.
That in itself isn't the issue. The issue with this service offering is the reason why I am typing this entry while I am offline even though I am well within the range of the access point. They have a 2.4 GHz wireless phone. Every time they answer said phone, I have my connection severed.Is this the last straw? No. I will continue to patronize this place despite the apparent frivolity of my efforts. I'm quite sure that within the next few months I will be sitting here, drinking my latte produced by the NEW owner/barrista of my neighborhood coffee shop. And hopefully at some point in the future, the stars will align and I will finally have a neat little neighborhood coffee shop to patronize.
There is a coffee shop near our house called the Pastry Castle. It used to be something else..Java Somethingorother. That place went under because the woman running the place had no idea how to run a business. The coffee was fine, but the treats were boring. She kept trying to change the menu items, but it never really made it. The only time I thought she had a good idea was when she started advertising live music a couple of nights a week. That is the crowd she was trying to pull in. And it might have worked if they had stuck with it for a while.
But the location is such that it is inconvenient to find. You have to actually be looking for the place. It is completely surrounded by other restaurants so attracting the lunch crowd would be a tough gig. I say go after the coffee crowd. The only Starbucks in the area is in the Safeway. And we all KNOW that those aren't REAL Starbucks. And Tim Horton's is always packed, but that just means that people don't have a real alternative.Another thing this place could have going for it is the free(ish) MTS Wireless Internet. I added the 'ish' because you have to have an MTS user ID from an existing service in order to log in.
That in itself isn't the issue. The issue with this service offering is the reason why I am typing this entry while I am offline even though I am well within the range of the access point. They have a 2.4 GHz wireless phone. Every time they answer said phone, I have my connection severed.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Who Does This to Their Cat?
I really don't know what to say about this. When I looked at this picture on the original website the ad content to the left of the image was promoting a "cat lovers network". That made me laugh just as hard as the original picture.
Note the evidence of a black eye in frame #4. How hard do you have to smack a cat to give it a visible black eye? I bet the artist could shed some light on that. I also enjoy the disembodied leg in a boot that appears in frames 1 and 6.
Nice to see that the instructions recommend using the more humane canister vaccuum as opposed to just running the upright unit back and forth over Fluffy McMeowington.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Not a Bad Day
You know those times when you get called in to move computers and then show up to find out that not just computers are moving, but new desks were installed as well?And the new desk is an antique made from the deck of Noah's Ark. Never designed to have a computer. The mere suggestion of a hole being drilled to accomodate a cable is met with gasps and fainting. And of course the desk is placed in the centre of the room like a power and ethernet-less island refuge.Ever have those days?
Well, today was not one of those days for me. I showed up to see a desk and computer moved into an office just waiting for me to plug them in to a plug and network port I had so efficiently installed years ago when this was still a storage room. Although the network port was on the opposite side of the office, I was able to find a 25' patch cable. How often does THAT happen?!Today is shaping up. Maybe I won't need to get as drunk as usual tonight.
Well, today was not one of those days for me. I showed up to see a desk and computer moved into an office just waiting for me to plug them in to a plug and network port I had so efficiently installed years ago when this was still a storage room. Although the network port was on the opposite side of the office, I was able to find a 25' patch cable. How often does THAT happen?!Today is shaping up. Maybe I won't need to get as drunk as usual tonight.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Restaurant Review - Lovey's BBQ
Whenever I am driving down Marion, I would always notice the new (and only) Southern BBQ place in Winnipeg, Lovey's BBQ. Always thinking to drop in and pick up some pulled pork, or some ribs, I just never did. I would always be driving home for supper after work, and there would usually already be a supper plan, so my desire for delicious BBQ meat would go unfulfilled.
Finally, one night last week, I had my wits about me enough to call ahead to Tannis to arrange that I pick up some wood smoked bovine and ovine delicacies. As well as enough slaw and beans to make sure our intestines didn't shut down completely.
I was impressed by the decor. It is not at all spectacular, but exactly what I would expect from a BBQ joint. Sheet metal siding wainscotted walls, chalk menus on the walls, pictures of other similarly named and and annointed BBQ establishments that were obviosly taken by the owner during his fact finding tour prior to opening his own joint, and the requisite effigies of the source of the raw materials...pigs.
Although it was the supper hour, I had my order taken quickly. After looking over the various choices (ribs, chicken, brisket, sides) the proprietor and I decided that the 3 meat combo would be the best bet. For 30.00, I had 6 ribs, about a half pound of pulled pork (or option brisket), a half BBQ'd chicken, a couple small squares of corn bread (option was bannock), fries, beans, and some slaw. There was another potato option, I think mashed, but I can't remember.
While I waited, I wandered around the restaurant looking at the various photographs and kitcsh that festooned the walls. My final read was the restaurant reviews by the Press and the Sun. In my opinion, Marion Warhaft is inconsistent with my tastes, and the girl that does the review in the Sun must be either poisoned or clubbed by the waiter before she does a bad review. But as I read these reviews, especially the Free Press one, I noticed how...well...shitty it was. Even though, as I said, Marion and myself are often at odds, I was hoping for something more encouraging from her review. You see, BBQ is basic, primal food. Most of the menu items are prepared well in advance of serving. So, it's not as if you have the same order freshness management concerns as, say, Oriental takeout. Most of the items in my order were put on the smoke 3-10 HOURS before I ever darkened the door of Lovey's. So it would seem to me at least that so long as you have solid proven recipies for the preparation of these dishes, you're golden.
Not so.
I'll truncate the pliagiarism of Ms. Warhaft's review to say it was non-complimentary on most every count. Not to be discouraged, when my order was ready, I excitedly grabbed my two sacks of meat and sauce and headed for the car. I felt my biggest challenge now was getting the works home without eating half of it on the way.
I somehow managed to make it in the house with the original fold still in place on my paper sacks. The family wouln't be home for an hour, so I decided now was the time to sample the wares at their freshest. The following are my findings in the order of their ingestion:
1) Corn Bread - It was definitely NOT my intention to sample the corn bread first, but I had little choice. It was packed on top of the menu item I was originally going for, but more on that later. As I lifted it up, it crumbled to pieces. I caught as much as I could, but it got pretty messy. I decided that the best place to store the remaining pieces was in my mouth. The taste was too spicy for my palate. I was hoping for a sweeter product. Instead, I got savoury. And dry. Like a dusty corn fart.
2) Chicken - Looked wonderful. The texture was good. Nice and tender with a slight crust. The meat was well seasoned, not at all salty, and the smoke flavour had made it all the way through. I did note, however, that this was not the meatiest of birds. Perhaps she was raised on the corn bread, and like me, never developed a taste for it.
3) Fries - Wanting to cleanse my palate of my first meat sample of the night, I decided to dig in to one of the side dishes. What do you want me to say here? They're fries. Real ones, made from potatoes. Good.
4) Pulled Pork - It is pretty damn hard to screw up pulled pork. And they didn't. It was good. I prefer mine a little less pulled than what I got. It would be nice if a few half-inch sized pieces were in there. They would stay a bit moister. But the flavour was very nice.
5) Beans - More palate cleansing. Although after trying a forkfull of these, I was regretting not having chosen to lick the dog. These beans were barely a step below crunchy. And the flavour was far too intense. This was evidently a new batch. Perhaps a few more hours in the crock and some molasses. Yes. That is all I will say about that.
6) Slaw - In an effort to get past my relationship with the beans, I jumped right in bed with her best friend. This is one dish that could have used a bit more flavor. Salt. Corriander. Malt vinegar. Something. But pretty good.
7) Ribs - Cue the trumpets! I left the ribs till last in the hopes that...well...they were yummy. Flavour - good. Texture - poor. Value - meh. I prefer my ribs to be able to be removed from the bone. And if you need to err on one side or the other, a slightly overcooked rack is better than a tough one. And considering the tenacity with which these sinewy morsels were clinging to the bone, I was left wondering if this animal, too was raised on the aforementioned cornbread.
So that covers it. Overall, the value would have been OK if the food had been a bit better. It's not BAD food. But ... ok here's the deal: If you're going to run a BBQ restauant, you really only need to do one thing right...BBQ. Everything else is details. And my ribs are better. It's hard for me to see past that. Maybe I should look at opening my own place...naw, people are to critical. ;)
Finally, one night last week, I had my wits about me enough to call ahead to Tannis to arrange that I pick up some wood smoked bovine and ovine delicacies. As well as enough slaw and beans to make sure our intestines didn't shut down completely.
I was impressed by the decor. It is not at all spectacular, but exactly what I would expect from a BBQ joint. Sheet metal siding wainscotted walls, chalk menus on the walls, pictures of other similarly named and and annointed BBQ establishments that were obviosly taken by the owner during his fact finding tour prior to opening his own joint, and the requisite effigies of the source of the raw materials...pigs.
Although it was the supper hour, I had my order taken quickly. After looking over the various choices (ribs, chicken, brisket, sides) the proprietor and I decided that the 3 meat combo would be the best bet. For 30.00, I had 6 ribs, about a half pound of pulled pork (or option brisket), a half BBQ'd chicken, a couple small squares of corn bread (option was bannock), fries, beans, and some slaw. There was another potato option, I think mashed, but I can't remember.
While I waited, I wandered around the restaurant looking at the various photographs and kitcsh that festooned the walls. My final read was the restaurant reviews by the Press and the Sun. In my opinion, Marion Warhaft is inconsistent with my tastes, and the girl that does the review in the Sun must be either poisoned or clubbed by the waiter before she does a bad review. But as I read these reviews, especially the Free Press one, I noticed how...well...shitty it was. Even though, as I said, Marion and myself are often at odds, I was hoping for something more encouraging from her review. You see, BBQ is basic, primal food. Most of the menu items are prepared well in advance of serving. So, it's not as if you have the same order freshness management concerns as, say, Oriental takeout. Most of the items in my order were put on the smoke 3-10 HOURS before I ever darkened the door of Lovey's. So it would seem to me at least that so long as you have solid proven recipies for the preparation of these dishes, you're golden.
Not so.
I'll truncate the pliagiarism of Ms. Warhaft's review to say it was non-complimentary on most every count. Not to be discouraged, when my order was ready, I excitedly grabbed my two sacks of meat and sauce and headed for the car. I felt my biggest challenge now was getting the works home without eating half of it on the way.
I somehow managed to make it in the house with the original fold still in place on my paper sacks. The family wouln't be home for an hour, so I decided now was the time to sample the wares at their freshest. The following are my findings in the order of their ingestion:
1) Corn Bread - It was definitely NOT my intention to sample the corn bread first, but I had little choice. It was packed on top of the menu item I was originally going for, but more on that later. As I lifted it up, it crumbled to pieces. I caught as much as I could, but it got pretty messy. I decided that the best place to store the remaining pieces was in my mouth. The taste was too spicy for my palate. I was hoping for a sweeter product. Instead, I got savoury. And dry. Like a dusty corn fart.
2) Chicken - Looked wonderful. The texture was good. Nice and tender with a slight crust. The meat was well seasoned, not at all salty, and the smoke flavour had made it all the way through. I did note, however, that this was not the meatiest of birds. Perhaps she was raised on the corn bread, and like me, never developed a taste for it.
3) Fries - Wanting to cleanse my palate of my first meat sample of the night, I decided to dig in to one of the side dishes. What do you want me to say here? They're fries. Real ones, made from potatoes. Good.
4) Pulled Pork - It is pretty damn hard to screw up pulled pork. And they didn't. It was good. I prefer mine a little less pulled than what I got. It would be nice if a few half-inch sized pieces were in there. They would stay a bit moister. But the flavour was very nice.
5) Beans - More palate cleansing. Although after trying a forkfull of these, I was regretting not having chosen to lick the dog. These beans were barely a step below crunchy. And the flavour was far too intense. This was evidently a new batch. Perhaps a few more hours in the crock and some molasses. Yes. That is all I will say about that.
6) Slaw - In an effort to get past my relationship with the beans, I jumped right in bed with her best friend. This is one dish that could have used a bit more flavor. Salt. Corriander. Malt vinegar. Something. But pretty good.
7) Ribs - Cue the trumpets! I left the ribs till last in the hopes that...well...they were yummy. Flavour - good. Texture - poor. Value - meh. I prefer my ribs to be able to be removed from the bone. And if you need to err on one side or the other, a slightly overcooked rack is better than a tough one. And considering the tenacity with which these sinewy morsels were clinging to the bone, I was left wondering if this animal, too was raised on the aforementioned cornbread.
So that covers it. Overall, the value would have been OK if the food had been a bit better. It's not BAD food. But ... ok here's the deal: If you're going to run a BBQ restauant, you really only need to do one thing right...BBQ. Everything else is details. And my ribs are better. It's hard for me to see past that. Maybe I should look at opening my own place...naw, people are to critical. ;)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentine's Party - Follow up
Someone took a grapefruit
Wore it like a hat
I saw someone under my kitchen table
Talking to my old tom cat
They were talking about hockey
The cat was talking back
Long about then every-thing went black
Wasn't that a party
That is what I was expecting. And I'm pretty sure I'm thankful that none of that took place. The only activity under the kitchen table was retrieving dropped candies from the ice-cream sundae making.
We shipped Mitch off to Doug and Lor's place. That was a very good idea. He would have gone nuts. After an hour or so, I was kinda wishing I had gone with him. Not that the party wasn't fun, but it was a GIRL party. I felt rather out of place.
Supper was fun. We made pizza dough and had a ham pizza and a cheese pizza. Tannis and I made a more deluxe artichoke, ham, feta, mushroom pizza. That was tasty.
I can't say much more about the party goings-on. I did the 23 skidoo up to my bedroom after supper to watch a movie - Mirrors. Kiefer Sutherland rocks. I have really got to catch up on my "24" episodes.
Brooke's "friend who was almost not invited" showed up. Along with a bunch of medications one of which is to "help with the night terrors". Um...what? 8 girls sleeping on the floor of the family room in sleeping bags one of which is prone to something called "night terrors"?
Turns out she is a very sweet girl. I'm sure she has her issues. Hence the meds. But from where I sat, everything looked peachy. She was certainly more well adjusted than the twins. Holy mackerel! These girls, or at least one of them, are Brooke's best friends at school. And they are complete maniacs. They seem to have developed a desire to stand and scream right in your face. They also have this maniacal laugh that chills me even now.
Quite to my surprise everyone was asleep by about midnight, despite the accellerated sugar intake. And there appeared to be no issues through the night. At least none that I am aware of. If someone crapped in the corner beacause they couldn't find the bathroom in the middle of the night, the dog must have found it.
The next morning was pancakes and bacon. It was a big hit with everyone. Shortly thereafter appreciative parents started picking up their kids and before long, life was back to normal.
This could be an annual thing for the next two or three years. I think it would be fun for the kids and rewarding for Brooke socially.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Brooke's Valentine's Day Party
My daughter is having a valentines day High School Musical sleepover party this Saturday. She is inviting a bunch (read: all) of her female classmates over on Saturday for pizza and...well, as little girls do...screaming.
Until last night, not every one of Brooke's female classmates was on the invite list. I found out that one of the girls in the class was not invited. Hmmmm.....Now I'm not a proponent of the "blanket invitation" method of inviting your entire class to each one of your birthday parties. I think that's ridiculous. But to have a girl party, and to invite ALL but ONE girl in the class....well, that's just gonna give someone a complex.
So I decided I needed to get to the bottom of this. So I sat down with Brooke to help her do her Valentine's cards and ask some leading questions.
"Why did you decide to not invite her to your party?"
"Because she's mean to me"
"What, does she say mean things to you?"
"Yeah. LOTS."
"Are you mean to her? Do you say things back?"
"No. I tell her to stop."
"Is she mean to the other kids in the class."
"Sort of, but mostly to me."
"Do the other kids join in, you know, back her up?"
"No. I like them, and they like me. It's just her."
Turns out that this little kid is quite a bitch to my darling girl. After further probing, I have found out that she has also kicked Brooke in the stomach on a couple of occasions. This simply will not do. After making sure that she understanded that she needs to involve a teacher when this happens, I talked to Brooke about how, although fighting is wrong, defending herself is completely necessary. At that point I remembered that Brooke is taking Tae Kwon Do. So I elaborated on what I meant by "defending yourself". I don't need to come home one day to find out Brooke has ripped out some kid's jugular. Move out of the way, use your low blocks, whatever. She'll probably take one shot, and then after she sees that you can handle yourself, she'll back down. If she doesn't, well, she was asking for whatever she gets.
After much consternation, she decided to invite her to the party. Brooke decided it would be the right thing to do. I told her I was proud of her. I also told her that if this girl gets out of hand at the party, she would be escorted home. That seemed to appease her.
Tannis promptly called the mom, and left an awkward message in Yoda-speak. When the mom called back, she confided in Tannis that she was surprised that her daughter didn't get invited to more parties. Go figure. Tannis told the mom what Brooke had said. So I guess we will see if things get better. Sure hope so. In any event, the kid is coming to the party, so I guess we'll see.
Until last night, not every one of Brooke's female classmates was on the invite list. I found out that one of the girls in the class was not invited. Hmmmm.....Now I'm not a proponent of the "blanket invitation" method of inviting your entire class to each one of your birthday parties. I think that's ridiculous. But to have a girl party, and to invite ALL but ONE girl in the class....well, that's just gonna give someone a complex.
So I decided I needed to get to the bottom of this. So I sat down with Brooke to help her do her Valentine's cards and ask some leading questions.
"Why did you decide to not invite her to your party?"
"Because she's mean to me"
"What, does she say mean things to you?"
"Yeah. LOTS."
"Are you mean to her? Do you say things back?"
"No. I tell her to stop."
"Is she mean to the other kids in the class."
"Sort of, but mostly to me."
"Do the other kids join in, you know, back her up?"
"No. I like them, and they like me. It's just her."
Turns out that this little kid is quite a bitch to my darling girl. After further probing, I have found out that she has also kicked Brooke in the stomach on a couple of occasions. This simply will not do. After making sure that she understanded that she needs to involve a teacher when this happens, I talked to Brooke about how, although fighting is wrong, defending herself is completely necessary. At that point I remembered that Brooke is taking Tae Kwon Do. So I elaborated on what I meant by "defending yourself". I don't need to come home one day to find out Brooke has ripped out some kid's jugular. Move out of the way, use your low blocks, whatever. She'll probably take one shot, and then after she sees that you can handle yourself, she'll back down. If she doesn't, well, she was asking for whatever she gets.
After much consternation, she decided to invite her to the party. Brooke decided it would be the right thing to do. I told her I was proud of her. I also told her that if this girl gets out of hand at the party, she would be escorted home. That seemed to appease her.
Tannis promptly called the mom, and left an awkward message in Yoda-speak. When the mom called back, she confided in Tannis that she was surprised that her daughter didn't get invited to more parties. Go figure. Tannis told the mom what Brooke had said. So I guess we will see if things get better. Sure hope so. In any event, the kid is coming to the party, so I guess we'll see.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Recipe - Molten Chocolate Cake
I have stolen this somewhat from Michael Smith. But, I'm pretty sure he doesn't read my blog, along with the rest of the world. So I should be safe posting it here.
4 oz Chocolate (Whatever your taste. I like 70% myself)
1/2 stick of butter
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
2 tsp sugar (white or brown)
1/4 cup of flour
2 eggs
Oven to 350.
Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler or microwave. Be careful if you use the microwave. Don't overheat it. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the Vanilla, maple syrup, and sugar.
fold in the chocolate and flour. Don't worry about using all of the flour. The mixture should remain pudding-like.
If you have ramekins, great. Otherwise, you can use coffee mugs. To prep these, coat them with some melted butter. I use a pastry brush. Then sprinkle in some white sugar and shake it around to coat the butter. Divide mixture into your prepped vessels. You can get 2 tall cakes or three squat ones.
Place ramekins (or mugs) on a baking sheet and place on a middle rack. After 15 mins, they should be done. A toothpick inserted to the CENTRE of the cake will come out gooey. but what you want to do is pit a tooth pic into the top 3rd of the cake. It should be clean.
Turn out cakes onto serving plates. Add some ice cream and renew your gym membership.
4 oz Chocolate (Whatever your taste. I like 70% myself)
1/2 stick of butter
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
2 tsp sugar (white or brown)
1/4 cup of flour
2 eggs
Oven to 350.
Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler or microwave. Be careful if you use the microwave. Don't overheat it. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the Vanilla, maple syrup, and sugar.
fold in the chocolate and flour. Don't worry about using all of the flour. The mixture should remain pudding-like.
If you have ramekins, great. Otherwise, you can use coffee mugs. To prep these, coat them with some melted butter. I use a pastry brush. Then sprinkle in some white sugar and shake it around to coat the butter. Divide mixture into your prepped vessels. You can get 2 tall cakes or three squat ones.
Place ramekins (or mugs) on a baking sheet and place on a middle rack. After 15 mins, they should be done. A toothpick inserted to the CENTRE of the cake will come out gooey. but what you want to do is pit a tooth pic into the top 3rd of the cake. It should be clean.
Turn out cakes onto serving plates. Add some ice cream and renew your gym membership.
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