Monday, November 30, 2009

Burgoo

Our Sunday brunch adventures restarted after a little break. Today it was Burgoo on Main and 15th, a nice little restaurant which boasted comfort food from all over the world. Amy chose the Pain Dore (Quebec), which was toasted French bread with blueberries and banana. I chose the French Beef Bourgignon, a healthy helping of beef with carrots, mushroom, and mashed potatoes. Yum yum. As Amy said in her own blog post, I would definitely like to come back!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Movies

I haven't seen a movie at the theaters in a long time. My schedule has been unpredictable as of late. Mondays off were reserved for Dancing With the Stars. There weren't really too many movies I was looking forward to; it looks like the holiday season of 2009 isn't a blockbuster movie-wise.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Work at Home

Does anybody out there have experience and/or are successful in some sort of a home business or part-time job? I've looked at a number of options but don't know exactly where to begin. I started my second blog with the intention of perhaps having media outlets link to it one day. There are a lot of successful people blogging full time but right now it's not exactly bringing in any money. I looked at things like medical transcription and things to do with writing, which is what I like to do. I like to proofread. Anybody have any ideas out there? No, playing online poker is not an option.

Month Away

Well it's a month away from that Christmas thing. I know it is a big holiday for a lot of people but unfortunately I guess it hasn't been a big thing in my family. We did go out for a dinner but it really wasn't different from most family dinners. Way back when I would get some lucky red envelopes but somewhere along the line I got older and the envelopes got less and less. Rats.

I'm one of those that likes to plan all the gifts beforehand and then do all the shopping in one or two days if possible. I remember one year when I left everything to December 24 at 4pm. I had one hour of pure mayhem but I managed to get all the shopping done.

It's hard to shop for fear of buying something that the recipient doesn't like. I think clothes are tough. I can be picky about my bright colored shirts and ties. ABBA and Montreal Canadiens work for me (hint hint).

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Dancing With the Stars Finale

Yes I'm a big Donny Osmond fan (well perhaps more of a Marie fan) and at the beginning of the season I wanted him to win, but it just seemed unfair that it was him. Mya was by far the best dancer (which she proved week after week) but it must have been all those Utahans (?) that voted for Donny. He definitely had more fans than anybody else on the show. Perhaps even Kelly Osborne should have won ahead of Donny because of her great story. But of course that's the way these "American judges" shows work. The popular one always wins, and not the better won.

Any guesses for next season's cast? Jon & Kate? Lindsay Lohan? Paris Hilton and Britney Spears? Amy Winehouse?

Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends. I still don't understand why Canada celebrates Thanksgiving one month before the Americans do. Maybe they can do that with Christmas and other holidays.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Shots

Well I finally gave in and subjected myself to the intense pain of an H1N1 Vaccine shot. OK it wasn't that bad, other than my arm being a little bit sore. I haven't had any of the side effects such as nausea and headache, and none of the severly allergic reactions that evidently 1 in 1,000,000 people get. Well I never could win the lottery anyways. Now what?

James' Cafe

We didn't have time for a long brunch this Sunday as I was scheduled to work at 2pm. But Amy had discovered a nice little cafe very close to her place which served pannekoek of all things. I'd only gone to the Dutch Pannekoek House and the Wooden Shoe in the past, but this was a nice little place. I ordered what was essentially a meat lover's pannekoek with lots of meat, while Amy had a trail mix and fruit one. Both were pretty yummy.

Anybody have suggestions for nice brunch places?

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Battle of the Blades

With all the silly American shows featuring celebrities dancing, it was inevitable that the True North Strong and Free would come up with something, and of course it had to do with hockey. What they came up with was actually quite interesting, even if it was all for charity. For those who didn't know, the show paired up a retired hockey player with a professional figure skater (8 pairs in total) and they did routines with one pair being eliminated each week. In the end it was Craig Simpson and Jamie Sale who won. I hope they do another season of this show soon.

Pet Peeves

I've started a new blog called The Pet Peeves Page. It's a pretty self-explanatory blog which I plan to try to get lots of traffic to. I was thinking about emailing newspapers and magazines to see if I can get any exposure. Any suggestions or assistance is welcome.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Three Rivers

I'd never been a fan of all those medical dramas on TV. I might have watched a few episodes of St. Elsewhere back in the 80's, and maybe a few of E.R. But I'm definitely a fan of Three Rivers now. What started out as a "must-see" because one of Amy's favorite humans in the world, Daniel Henney, was one of the doctors has become a superb show full of drama and especially ethical issues. Tonight's episode featured Mandy Patinkin in an Emmy-worthy performance as a patient with Lou Gehrig's disease who decided to let himself die and donate his organs. While I am not here to spout my views, I am here to say his performance was very powerful. This is a great show.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

One Minute, Go!

A large majority of Facebook junkies would know the meaning of the title of this post. I refrained from adding Bejewelled Blitz to my Facebook because I knew how much I liked the regular game and how addicted I would probably become to it. I stayed away from it for so long.... until last week. And now I am addicted to it. If I ever meet the guy whose voice it is that says "One Minute, Go!" I'll probably strangle him. Stupid shit (that's an inside joke for my River Rock friends).

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Remembrance Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

2010

In about two months we will be having the Winter Olympics here. I really have mixed feelings about what will happen. While I am proud of my country and obviously I want them to do well, I hate what it has done and what it will do to the city (and outskirts). It's quite evident that the traffic will be the major problem and unless I'm mistaken, nothing is really being done. We have the Canada Line all built and running well, but anybody want to speculate how busy those trains will be? Normally I drive about 7 minutes to work, I expect that time to triple or quadruple in January. And if it snows like we did last year, uh oh. The budget has been so wrong it's become somewhat of a joke. Is it all really worth it?

Monday, November 02, 2009

Weekend

The Heavens and Earth collided and I managed to get a whole weekend off (SATURDAY AND SUNDAY) so I spent I spent it relaxing with Amy. Yesterday we went to the Aquarium, which I hadn't gone to in a long, long time. I'd heard about the 4-D Experience and it was worth the hype. Unfortunately the movie was too short so I really couldn't enjoy it too much but it's definitely a lot of fun (except for some really young kids who were a bit freaked by the "effects").

Life is still good.