Mercury Espresso’s first ever coffee class
Thanks to a wonderful Christmas gift, I had the pleasure of attending Mercurcy Espresso Bar's first ever coffee class! Hosted by Matthew and Doug, the evening was a casual yet informative night, where we learned about some coffee history and took part in a wide variety of cupping techniques.
We had a very small group, only about 10 people or so, with a few regulars I recognized from the shop. The night lasted about two and a half hours, with Matthew and Doug answering many questions about techniques and flavours. I won't write too much about it, because I don't want to spoil the surprise of what happens for future classes... but if you're a seriously coffee lover, do yourself a favour and check out a class if you get a chance!
I've always wondered what it would be like to open my own coffee shop, and after the class I felt way more confident in my own coffee knowledge, but it was enlightening to see the passion these guys had for the bean, and the passion that went into their shop. It made me jealous. Maybe it's time for a barista class or a few part time shifts? If they ever need someone to focus solely on various forms of drip, I'm all over it.
You can find out more about the Mercury Espresso bar at their blog here, or stay updated with their twitter feed.
Canadian art find: Laurentian Pottery at Value Village
During my last visit to "Twice Found," one of my favourite modern/antique stores for browsing in the Annex, I was chatting with the owner who was extolling the virtues of Canadian pottery, and how she thinks we're on the verge of a renewed interest in home-grown art.
Her particular interest was in Beauce, a company located in Quebec, and had many interesting pieces in her shop. One of the things I like about "Twice Found" is that they always have a wide range of pieces, I've previously found a vintage Arabia planter there, and I know someone picked up a set of Arabia mugs as a Christmas gift there too. However, as anybody trying to find decent Scandinavian pottery can attest: it's hard to find, and usually when you do find it, it's expensive and overpriced (thankfully at Twice Found they are a bit more reasonable).
That's one of the big reasons why people are now getting into Canadian pottery: the work is just as beautiful as any other in the world (usually with a prominent Canadian twist), way more plentiful in this part of the world, and much, much cheaper!
So even though we left Twice Found with our first small German pot, I had a desire to discover and learn about Canadian pottery. I got my first chance the day after, during a routine rummage through Value Village, where I found these green mugs. They stood out amongst the usual crap in there, but when I spied the "Canada" imprint on the bottom, I thought it should at least give me a chance to do a little research.
After taking the mugs home, giving them a solid wash and removing the price tag, I found above the "CANADA" stamp a logo that looked like a crude mug drawing and a number. Apparently the style of the glaze is called "volcanic lava," where something is applied to the glaze to make it bubble up and look like a coarse piece of rock. Very cool.
After a little search engineering, I found out that the mugs are made by a French company called Poterie Laurentienne or Laurentian Art Pottery (or just LP as the logo suggests). The company was based in St. Jerome, Quebec and was founded in 1939 by a Mr. Kominick. Apparently they changed their logo to a set of three trees later on.
From what I've seen online, they've made pottery of everything you can think of, from plates to cups to sculptures of snowmobiles and trains. Even if you can't speak French, take a browse through this forum, where LP fans have posted up photos (and numbers) of the company's designs.
With nothing else to paint, I painted the kitchen table
It's been one of those weeks where it seems like every day is just bleeding into the last, a cycle of streetcar/desk/streetcar/couch/streetcar/desk/streetcar/couch that has been just wearing me out. In fact, it seems like life has been so large and so small all at the same time lately, and so I decided to get out of my head and just paint. The design is based upon a popular Kathie Winkle pattern, kind of interpreted in a folk/Concentric-circles-Kandinsky style, all freehand.
I think for the next step I'll add more thick line patterns around each side and up and down the legs. Afterwards I think I'll add white in the unpainted sections, as a sort of "negative" paint, which should dry pretty transparently and show the wood grain too.
The table is just an old IKEA table I've had for a while that I've always been meaning to stain a nice dark brown... looks like it won't be matching my custom Horse fabric chairs anymore! Unless I maybe paint those white... nah.
Scandinavian Metal Praise
As I continue my search for positive, uplifting music, I've stumbled across one of the best musical discoveries I've made in months: "Scandinavian Metal Praise." The name is pretty self-explanatory; Christian "Praise and Worship" songs played by Finnish metal musicians, sung in English. Overall, I love it.
I've never been a fan of "metal praise" in general: it just seems too forced for me, either too raw or too slick... nothing "just right." But when I was browsing iTunes for covers of "Take Me In" by Petra, I came across SMP's version! And guess what? It's the best cover yet, unlike the one by Kutless, which is just way too slick-metal for me.
When I went to check out the album itself, it got better yet. As you can see, the album cover is simply a church or kingdom, perched upon a tower in the clouds or something. Now THIS is the kind of praise and worship I can get behind. The riffs run the range from fairly poppy to heavier than what I'd expect, and the vocals sound similar to Evanescence. However, the guitars and drums are mixed way up front, so they don't necessarily drown out the vocals, but they encourage you to crank the whole thing louder, which is probably the perfect experience for listening to the album.
There are a couple songs that I don't love, like "When the Spirit of the Lord," which reminds me of that old metal praise standard, "Jehovah Jirah." But the awesome songs, "Great in Power," "Praise Adonai," "Worthy is the Lamb" and "Take Me In," more than compensate for any of the band's shortcomings.
In short, give it a listen. Then get it. (Here's a link on iTunes).
- Blogger Arni Zachariassen has a rundown of SMP and insight into some old school Christian metal. (He also has chose a handsome Wordpress theme for himself).
- Here's a write-up of a festival (RockUnited) in Scandinavia where "Scandinavian Metal Praise" performed a set of four songs. I think it might have been the only set they ever played. Know your Finnish metal? You might recognize them from the photos.
- The MySpace page for Scandinavian Metal Praise.
- Here's the band performing "Worthy is the Lamb" from what I think is that previously mentioned festival. Apparently there were serious monitor problems, which explains the vocal lag/audio problems.
Feeling right at home at Oddfellows
"Tee Te Te" by Charlyn W
Thanks to somebody's wonderful organizational skills, the other night we finally were able to get a crowd together and have a belated birthday dinner for myself at Oddfellows in the Ossington/Queen neighborhood on Queen West. It's been a fairly difficult year all around, and we want to take every chance to have a celebration when we can.
Oddfellows, a relatively new restaurant out near Queen and Shaw is a place I've been meaning to go for a while now, and it seems like it's become Toronto's go-to birthday party spot.
(I took a few photos on my iPhone, but they didn't turn out so great in the low light).
Despite being a little drafty, the small restaurant was a great spot for a get-together: the food was like slightly fancy comfort food, served in tabletop pressure cookers and home-dinner style plates. I had their juicy Pork Belly as an appetizer, and was jealous of the table's many selections of "Buffaloaf." Because the space is so small, it felt more like eating at a friend's house with a great record collection (ie someone who loves krautrock), and immediately instigated a party atmosphere.
If you go to CastorDesign.ca, you can see the designs that appear inside Oddfellows, including the massive "Invisible Chandelier" above the bar, "Table 2" (I sat at the end in the photo), the "not a" Droog Light, Antler Headphones, and of course, the Recycled Tube Light that runs the length of the communal table.
So if you're thinking about planning a birthday outing to Oddfellows, I recommend booking well in advance: they only do 2 seatings a night at 7 & 9, and I've been warned to not book at 9 because large parties often go long (guilty!) and so if there's no room, you'll have to stand around near the bar or go wait somewhere else on Queen.
I wouldn't say it's become my favourite restaurant in the city (mine's still the Black Hoof), but I wouldn't hesitate to go back... especially on PIROGI NIGHT!
Update: Got to find a reason to rent the Oddfellows/Castor Winnebago!
Deciding to close the Facebook
I've been a member of many social networking sites of various stripes over the years (Myspace, Friendster), and it's earlier forms (MSN Messenger, ICQ, Blogger), so when Facebook came along a few years ago, I was ready to let it pass. To my knowledge, it was a forced social-network for students, populated by dorm dwellers.
However, after I made the leap, I was hooked: after all, this was finally a social networking site that regular people actually used. In many ways, it cashed in on all the promise all other previous sites offered... only this time around, other people signed up.
Now, a few years later, seemingly everyone I've ever known well is on Facebook, my parents and extended family are there, my co-workers are there, and lots of friends I've lost touch with long ago. People are growing up on Facebook, going to awesome parties, getting married, driving sweet cars and going on amazing vacations, buying and renovating houses, and of course, having babies.
I used to always think that a vibrant social network like Facebook would bring people together -- or at least me and my friends -- with a higher level of communication and intimacy. I'm not surprised to learn that every problem I struggle with in social situations, I'm merely replicating (and intensifying) online. After a few years of Facebook usage, I can't say I have any "better" friends because of it, though I do have a far more in-depth background of all my acquaintances. As a tool for discovering out info about new people, it's way fun (and kind of creepy).
So, partially inspired by that infamous Eye Weekly article, I've chosen to check-out of Facebook.
Hopefully, I'll force myself to actually become a better "offline" friend than a poor "online" pal. I won't know what you've been up to all week, because I won't have read your status every day, I won't have seen photos of your car/dog/vacation/wedding/zygote, and I won't know your birthday anymore. I'll still have twitter and other Web 2.0 stuff going on, but as long as I'm working "in the industry," there's always a certain level of professional obligation in participating in those sort of things.
This isn't me saying goodbye to the web either: You'll still currently find my writing here and on CTV.ca, my photos will resume going up on Flickr, and I'll keep up Myspace/CBCR3 for "Silver Speakers" stuff. I'm sorry to say goodbye to Facebook, but at this point it's turned into a personally negative experience overall, and a giant time-suck to boot.
Trekking to Milton for a real donair
There is truly is nothing better than a good road trip! Sure, I don't have a car, nor do I particularly like to drive, but hey, I make a half-decent passenger if I do say so myself!
So on a crispy January afternoon, this guy and myself, along with this guy and another guy who doesn't have a blog, piled into the car drove off to scenic Milton, Ontario (I heard it has a Go Train station) to find out if "Halifax Donair and Pizza" are indeed slinging authentic east-coast donairs.
Handmade with secret ingredients
Despite never actually having been to the east coast, I can't say I've actually had an authentic donair before, except for the ones supplied to me by the authentic east-coasters at the Nova Deli. And from every other donair I've had, nothing stacks up like the Nova Deli's. And ever since I've moved to Toronto, it's among one of the things I miss most about my own home town.
So a few weeks ago, I saw the "Halifax Donair and Pizza" during a segment on "Breakfast Television," (here's the clip) and from what I saw, it looked like they had potential for an outfit that just might create a "real" donair. Actual east coasters! The sweet sauce! Big sweaty cones of meat! We had to go!
After the 35-40 minute drive to the outskirts of the 905, we found "Halifax Donair and Pizza" in a non-descript plaza off what appeared to be the only street in town (the "parking lot" held about 6 parallel-parked cars). We could smell the donair aroma from the car, so we all knew that we found the real thing. The joint was take-out style, with a trio of stools and a little rail for leading and donair scarfing.
Wonderful
The place offered many of the same items I've seen before at the Nova Deli, like the "donair plate" and "donair fries," but this place's calling card is the "Donair Pizza," which is built Montreal (Chicago) style. We stuck with the straight-up donairs (nobody went for the one-pounder), but next time I'm thinking about grabbing a "Newf" sized pizza to bring back to Woodbine Heights for a week's worth of greasy dinners.
Unlike the Nova Deli, which has it's meat shipped in from the east coast, "Halifax Donair and Pizza" make their own meat, which you can tell by it's freshness. The sweet garlic sauce was also top notch, and because we were eating there, the sandwiches were wrapped in a flashy "open" style. After the first bite, I instantly loved their donair: it was fresh, flavourful and juicy. In retrospect I should've requested more sauce and less onions, but beyond that, the donair was perfect.
While we were finishing up, we had a great chat with one of the owners, who told us a little about the history of the donair, how it was created by Greeks in Halifax who didn't have their regular ingredients for Gyros (ie lamb and yogurt), and how his own family was involved in it's development in the 60s. He also talked about how they've only been open for over a year, the difficulty it is for an independent food vendor to get a rental space (landlords want chains!), and how the shop is a culmination of 10 years of hard work. These guys are serious about their donairs (as is anyone who has experienced a really, really good one).
So even though I'll always love the Nova Deli, I have to admit that they now finally have a provincial contender for best donair in Ontario. If you're curious, make the drive... you won't be sorry. And you'll be back.
Oh, and that lingering "donair" smell in your clothes and on your breath? You'll learn to love it.
- Website: Halifax Donair and Pizza
2009: Movies watched, rated.
Favourite film of 2009: "The Box," followed by "The Hurt Locker" and guilty-pleasure, "Law Abiding Citizen."
Rating System:
A+ = Don't Miss It, Life-Changing, Classic
A = Very Solid Recommendation, Very Well Made
B+ = Solid Recommendation
B = Recommended
B- = Alright, still worth a watch
C = Watch at your own risk
D = Avoid
F = Waste of Film, Time and Money
This includes every film I watched in 2009, including films previously screened, and rated as per that individual viewing. It also combines film screenings with DVD rentals. However, they are not listed in any order beyond the general grade rating.
- Waltz With Bashir -- A
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- B+
- Revolutionary Road -- B+
- The Wrestler -- A
- The Reader -- B+
- Milk -- A+
- Gomorrah -- A+
- Rachel Getting Married -- B+
- The Watchmen -- A
- Role Models -- A
- The International -- B+
- Notorious -- C
- The Spirit -- F
- Angels and Demons -- B+
- Twilight -- C
- Star Trek -- C
- The Day the Earth Stood Still - B
- 50 Dead Men Walking -- A+
- Up -- A
- Flight of the Navigator -- A+
- Fanboys -- B+
- Mean Guns -- A
- Fast and the Furious 4 -- A
- He's Just Not that Into You -- F
- Moon -- A
- Hurt Locker -- A+
- JCVD -- B+
- Race to With Mountain (2008) -- C
- Adventureland -- C
- Knowing -- B+
- Bruno -- D
- District 9 -- A+
- V (miniseries) -- A
- I Love You, Man -- B+
- Inglourious Basterds -- A
- Starman -- A
- Coraline -- B+
- Jurassic Park 3 -- B-
- Repo! The Genetic Opera -- B
- Misery -- A
- The Silence of the Lambs -- A
- State of Play -- B
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind -- A+
- Kill Bill, part one -- A+
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs -- B+
- Year One -- F
- Zombieland -- B
- Where the Wild Things Are -- B+
- Away We Go -- D
- Rocky Horror Picture Show -- A+
- Watchmen -- A+
- Into the Wild -- A
- The Brothers Bloom -- A
- Fireproof -- B
- Law Abiding Citizen -- B+
- The Box -- A+
- A Serious Man -- B
- Fantastic Mr. Fox -- A+
- The Machinist -- D
- The Running Man -- A
- The Road -- C
- Up in the Air -- A+
- Disney's Christmas Carol -- B
- Jingle All the Way -- B+
- Jack Frost -- B+
- Die Hard -- A
- Avatar -- B-
- Julie & Julia -- C
- Terminator: Salvation -- C
- Total Recall -- A+
- Taking Woodstock -- A
- Monkey Warfare -- C
- The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus -- A
- Die Hard: With a Vengeance -- A+
I began 2009 by making copious use of my Phillips DVD player with USB port, which meant lots of movies not acquired by above-the-board methods... however, I have seen the errors of my ways and have since removed all BitTorrent software from my computers. I can't endorse pirating any more; despite the errors that the industry has made in terms of DRM and copyright issues. Unless the product is given away freely (under say, a "Creative Commons" license or otherwise), my conscience knows that it's still theft.
Movie theatre tickets may be too expensive, DVD/Blu-rays maybe ugly and overpriced, but that doesn't give me the right to steal that content. Maybe it's because I'm a content producer myself (both as a writer and musician), but when that content is taken from me (or my employer) without recognition, I know that it's wrong.
I do see the value in freely giving away content: Keith Green did this in the 1980s for the sake of spreading the Gospel, and today writers like Cory Doctorow share their books online, entirely for free, in the fight for publicity -- I myself participate in a blend of these approaches to a certain extent with my own Christmas recordings.
So instead of downloading, I've started watching more matinee movies, more movies "solo," and I've even signed up for a DVD rental service, Zip.ca (let me know if you want to sign up and I can "refer" you). I expect that next year the number of movies I'll have see will be lower, and will have a higher number of "old" films, thanks to the weird rental structure of online rental services.
Web 2.0
Christian Life
Silver Speakers
Movies watched, reviewed.
Archives
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- January 2009
Should I keep writing about material things?
Would you like to see something written up about this lamp?
Just a quick bloggy existential crisis: I've been thinking long and hard about the kinds of things I think long and hard about, and what I write about, and if that's worth writing about.
The quick and easy answer is no, of course not.
The truth is, it's really easy to write about things I've bought or received or found. I can look at it, describe it, vaguely share what it is I like about it, provide some background on it and where it came from, and where I put it in my home. Because hey, sometimes I'm proud of my stuff: I think it's pretty cool, and I think I've worked hard to earn it, and I want to show it off. Sure, my vintage Lotte lamp is but a fraction of the value or a house or loft or car, but it's valuable to me!
But I'll also admit that writing about -- or investing any sort of value -- in material things that are trivial and frivolous is a shallow en devour. Sometimes it makes me feel like writing about goods and trinkets feels like the written equivalent of tumblr post featuring the account of an ingénue's daily thrift-store/American Apparel "outfit" and sure-I-did-it-myself haircut.
So where is the line drawn? Why stop at "objects," when maybe I should also stop writing about "places," "stores," "food," "concerts," "books" and "movies," right? At a certain point, that even gets a little shallow, right? Even writing about my own writing, musical or otherwise is even sort of selfish, right? To go even further, who cares about what I have to thing about Government/Religion/Art in general?
The downward spiral can go even further: Why write that novel? Why take that photo? Why hack that Ikea? Well, I could go on, but you get the point
Here's what I think: As long as I never lose sight of the big things are actually important (God, family, community, love, culture), there's not a good reason why I can't adorn my life or my writing with diversions that add a little embellishment. After all, these kinds of things are the spice and flavour of life -- to a point.
For now, I'll stop this train of though here, and leave you with a quote by my favourite philosopher, Soren Kirkegaard, from "Fear and Trembling."
Thanks for bearing with me on this... we'll now return to your regularly random updates about whatever.