I’m just coming off a perfect little trifecta of great, page turning reads. The Rook, An Abundance of Katherines and Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore have all been fantastically fun, and a terrific way to close out the year. 30 books read so far. This is up from last years 24. Not bad considering the sheer [...]
We’ve always been a poker household. At our old place the neighbourhood game became a weekly occurrence. Here it’s a more reasonable monthly event. Get together, drink, and have a few laughs. As of late though I’ve been looking for alternatives to Hold’Em. Something to shake it up. Cards Against Humanity – the card game [...]
No sooner does our daughter becomes a teenager and she’s off on a date …or whatever you call an unchaperoned movie with a boy. I’ve been repeatedly told this isn’t a date. Whatever you want to call it, this co-ed cinematic experience is giving Chris the vapours. Maybe I should be freaked out, but frankly [...]
It’s Halloween for adults. I’m juggling a glass of Dobel in one hand, a Padron in the other, while hefting a bag that is quickly filling with cigars. It’s my first Cigar Aficionado: Big Smoke at the Mirage in Vegas. I’m here with Jason and his parents and we’ve decided early on to divide and [...]
So I figure I’ll start taking this seriously. I break out the tulip shaped Glencairn whisky glass with the notion of drinking this straight. I’m gently cupping the tumbler, letting it slowly warm to my body temperature. The amber liquid coats the sides while I listen to Miles on vinyl and consider why I need [...]
Set in the beautiful CIGI Campus, Ignite Waterloo once again delivers a solid show in another unique #KWAwesome venue. I worry it’s getting to be a bit, “been there done that” with overall tweets down over the evening and over 60 no shows. Still, I find something to enjoy everytime. OK, fair warning I’m going [...]
John Hall returns with the Forty Creek Port Wood Reserve. His first batch (Lot 60) was released 3 years ago and disappeared quickly. It’s looking like Lot 61 isn’t going to last long either. Only 6600 bottles have been produced, of which 1200 have arrived at the LCBO at about $70 a bottle. Here in [...]
I thought it’d be bigger. Buffalo plays host to an NHL and NFL team after all. It’s the home of the chicken wing, Irv Weinstein and Commander Tom. And yet trip in the core and you’ll find yourself in the crunchy outskirts. Boarded up shops, street front churches, WWII era homes with sagging roofs. Chris [...]
For years the Combo C Beef at the now defunct Grand China was my go-to lunch. The waitress came to the table more as a perfunctory gesture to drop off tea than to actually inquire about our order, having already called it back to the kitchen. Plagued with regular closures for health violations, Grand China [...]
So I’ve been craving donuts. Good donuts – not the thawed out frozen bread pucks they try and pass off at Tim Hortons. Donuts used to be a thing. I remember the Donut Queen in Fairview mall with folks planted at the counter enjoying a coffee, donut and cigarette. The real deal; fresh pastries laced [...]