CNN has some interesting but, upon reflection, oddly voyeuristic animations of streets and streets of the houses of others being flooded by Hurricane Rita.
And, yes, they are SFW. Who do you think I am? Master Flea?
Month: September 2005
CBC Lockout Update II…XIV…XXXVIII
I read John Gushue in St. John’s every morning on the CBC lockout situation just as I read him every morning before. He certainly puts a human face on the situation as well as a fairly neutral presentation on events. But, underneath all that neutrality, what strikes me from all this is there is absolutely no plan from management to improve anything with the CBC services that do, as some more fiscally conservative than me point out, draw a fairly significant amount from the public purse – though pennies a day to each of us.
As we are not locally serviced by CBC radio – not by even a bureau – the St. Lawrence Valley of Ontario is perhaps not as shocked as places like the North where my undergrad pal and fellow crow Dave White (now only a Google cache) hosts in Yukon or in the Maritimes where the economy or interests practically bar the development of robust independent news services. But still, for all this disruption nationally, it would be nice to have the slightest clue that there is a basis in service rather than labour relations justifying the lockout. It is odd as a Canadian to watch from time to time when the BBC explains itself and its future plans to the British public or listen to NPR do phone-ins on what the audience would like to have presented. Sometimes I think that CBC management treats the audience like a sector of its labour force, needing only to be told what’s good for it.
Polish Deli
When we worked in Poland in 1991, Ellen and I lived on the Baltic coast. Yesterday I went to the “Baltic Deli” on Days Road here in Kingston and it was a bit of a trip back. At the time I was preparing to go east 12 years ago this month, people were concerned I would starve, that the myths of the pervasive Soviet foodlines were true. While it would have been prudent to carry your own stock of peanut butter into Russia, life in a Polish resort town was pretty sweet in the culinary sense.
Once, at the farmers market – where Siberians who had travelled for days by train sold white fox pelts you could buy for Polish zloty – my fellow teacher Kay Batory [of the Kracow Batorys, who opened for the Bay City Rollers, who drove to Poland from England including over an East German cobblestone highway] and I found a little granny, a babka, with a couple of jars of pickled mushrooms and one softball sized smoked ham sitting in front of her. We did not care if it had hung in her old stockings over a candle for months – it was like eating butter. Yesterday, I found a very good approximation at the “Baltic Deli”, smoked pork tenderloin sliced paper thin as paper. They also have chleb, Polish rye bread, and the little foil packs of spreadable cheese which come in different flavours but are all pretty much labelled ser zloty. These may come out of large industrial plants in gloomy suburban backwaters – but they are still tasty. Oddly they often have the whole address of the manufacturer on the front of the label in case I want to mail them thanks for their tastiness to
LACPOL
PHZ SM sp. z o.o. Warsawa
ZAKLAD W TORUNIU
ul. Podgorska 6/10 Polska
I am also assured by the wrapper that it is lagodny. Surely there is some room even in Naomi Klein’s world for a wee bit of branding here. Best of all they have a supply of a smoked paprika sausage which is the key ingredient in bigos, a hunters stew of their version of saurkraut calledkapusta, wild mushrooms and various meats. Not to be consumed on a first date. My first big breakthrough in Polish was reading a sign at a diner in Koszalin which said their bigos wasdomovy – homestyle! Pass the chleb, babka.
Mr Canoehead Returns
The first 80s remake I really am looking forward to. The Frantics apparently have made a one-hour special for CTV. They were the best on radio as it is easier to imagine a man with a canoe welded to his head fighting crime without actually seeing it. Nonetheless, I will park myself in front of the tube when it comes on.
St. Veronus, Peterborough, Ontario
So we went to Peterborough yesterday to see old friends and we had lunch at St. Veronus, a cafe/bar with a subtitle: “Belgian beer temple”…truer 
words were never writ. We are now looking for jobs in the Peterborough area. Unaccustomed to great selection, great service, reasonable prices, care and attention to interesting beer and fantastic food selection am I in a Canadian beer spot that I kept mentally making US exchange rate calculations as I browsed the menu and the beer lists. Then I would shake my head and say…this place is actually in Ontario…and Ontario is in Canada.
I was overwhelmed at the outset when I realized what lay before me. I did not know what to order for a first drink so I just wandered around the two room cafe taking pictures. I mentioned the fact of this here website and, without shifting into a higher gear of service in any respect, the extremely helpful staff answered any number of my deer-in-headlight questions. They even allowed themselves to engage in a little beer porn for the camera as illustrated below. I settled on a Rochefort 6, a new beer to me. At 7.5% it was off their “new arrivals” short list. It was heaven. From recollection malty, a tad burlappy with even a little chocolate perhaps. Others had various lambics and Gueze as well as a very nice Barbar honey ale which I got to sip. Loverly. Just look at the bar fridge – now that’s real shock and awe.
Despite the excellent price and variety of the beer, however, it was the food that actually made the visit. St Veronus offers a selection of grilled thick sandwiches with thoughtful ingredients that match the beers very well. The best I thought was the cheddar, slow cooked onion goo and slow cooked apple goo sandwich – it has an other better name but whatever it is called it was scoffed down by a seven year old in mucho haste. For my second sip, I had a local micro, Church-key Northumberland Ale. I did not get a six of that when I visited the brewery last winter but I will next time I go. It was a full malt-fruit forward rich pale ale under what must be the best beer handling conditions I have met in Ontario. And only 4.50 CND for a 500 ml pint.
Definitely a first of many visits.
Oh Dear, Mr Harper, Oh Dear
Looks like the public only find the new Tory TV ads useful for identifying the people they plan not to vote for:
The federal Liberals had the support of 40 per cent of respondents in a new poll — virtually the same level of backing they received in rolling to their majority government in 2000. The Leger Marketing survey, conducted Sept. 6-11, pegged Conservative support at 24 per cent, while the NDP stood at 15 per cent and the Bloc Quebecois at 13 per cent. The numbers were reached after distribution of the 20 per cent of respondents who were undecided.
Quick Note: St. Peter’s Old Style Porter
This beer from St. Peter’s is a ruby brown ale under an oddly ivory head. I’ve never seen an ivory head: tan plus hints of green-grey. This is old style, like Burton Bridge porter: barley candy plus molasses with lime and green hops. The yeast is sour cream or soured milk or something in between. Yet all well balanced.
Is this the holy grail? A 1750s porter? Likely not sour enough but colonial US farmers drank diluted vinegar so go figure.
Little Britain, Ontario
Who knew? It’s a real place!
Run With It
I have no ideas why Fridays are the quietest day of blogging. Could it be people yak on blogs to divert themselves from work and you’re not really working on your Friday? Do you have day dreams of a lawn chair and a brown pop to keep your mind occupied? Please do me a favour and trigger a long and mindless discussion or argument on the comments today. Suggested topics:
- Gen X at 40 is magnificent / in a rut.
- Bush / Martin is visionary / a waste monger.
- iPods are for losers / cats.
- TV was better in the 1970s / 1990s.
- The Red Soxs will repeat / not make the playoffs.
Just don’t be rude.