April 2012
49 posts
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Yesterdays Beer April 23 2012
Yesterday I wrote a post about hops. Loosely detailing what hey are and why hey were used. My study partner for he article was a bottle of Tree Brewings Hop Head IPA. I vaguely remember trying it last year and not being entirely enthused about it. This was a second bottle of it that had been tucked in the back of he fridge and left there for quite awhile. I’ve been finding that some beers...
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TBL - Bloor West Village Idiots Fueled by Black...
The Bloor West Village Idiots are a cycling team who ride to raise money for charity. Black Oak Brewing Co. was kind enough to hold a fundraiser party to help them gain some momentum as they get closer to their ride for cancer research. For idiots the BWVI were great to have around and were excited to sell raffle tickets , t shirts and share great beer at the Black Oak brewery.
Not to...
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TBL - Corks Cask Night featuring Black Oak April...
I arrived late at this outing and actually missed the cask. It was a good event and as one of my favourite Toronto beer lovers put it “a great way to start the weekend”. It was also kind of cool to see the cask fly out the door while some of the higher ups in Longos were there to see this “craft beer” stuff sell and sell very well. It’s the kind of happenstance that...
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TBL - Project X Porter Party at Victory Cafe April...
Well played Great Lakes. Taking the experiment on the road and spotlighting porters at the Victory Cafe . The Robust porter 25th anniversary beer was quite good and great example of the delicious beer that has come out of Great Lakes over the last quarter century. While I found the maple and vanilla porters awfully sweet they were well loved by others. Unfortunatley I was late and missed...
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Florence Agianst the Machine while it needs work....
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Coffeepunk - Capital Espresso 1349 Queen West...
I had wanted to drop in on Capital espresso before but with the Indie coffee passport I was generally on my way to find coffee somewhere. Finally, I took advantage of being in the area and stopped in. I got the Soprano, which is a short strong Americano. The espresso exuded a bit of a caramel flavour making it brilliant and delicious.
Capital has one of the coolest cafe t shirts and they...
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Z to A - E April 25 2012
Thuganomics is this strange fascination with being a street thug, a hoodlum or in Batman terms cannon fodder. Yeah, the first guys to get beat down. Um, erm sorry wandered off.
Ergonomics is the study and practical usage of furniture, clothing and accessories and perhaps our environment in general to help create spaces and equipment that works with how our body moves. Those weird toe sneakers...
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Z to A - F April 24 2012
F is for Florence Against the Machine
I’ve been a fan of Rage Against the Machine for a long time. Recently I’ve become quite the fan of Florence and the Machine. I thought they should meet.
The mix of Florence and the Machines Drumming and Rage’s Bulls on parade is crude but I guess it gets the idea across. It’s not bad for my first try at editing music and not having the...
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Z to A - G April 23 2012
G is for Ginger Cookies
While I have my own standard ginger cookie recipe my freidn had shared a family recipe with me. He did share that it was more of a molasses cookie and that it would work better as a rolled and shaped cookie rather than a drop cookie.
I played with the recipe a lot as I was gifting the finished cookies to friends who are moving away and are trying to be gluten free. It...
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Z to A - H April 21 2012
H is for Hops
For a beer geek I know very little about these magical buds. Which is a bit silly for a nerd who likes his hoppy beer. I know that there are many perhaps countless different varieties. That each one brings out a different character in the beer, that many beers use a mix of different hops and craft brewers love experimenting with them. Speaking of which I also know I’m a lucky...
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Z to A - I April 20 2012
I is for insensitivity Training
I imagine most people have heard of or vaguely understand the concept of sensitivity courses. Classes and sessions meant to help people understand one and other and have empathy towards different concepts, ways of life and the fact that people are different than you. My proposal is that people are also in need of insensitivity training.
Not for dealing with...
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Z to A - J April 19 2012
J is for Judoon
Mostly it amused me to post a giant militaristic bipedal rhino juxtaposed with the sesame streetesque J is for trope. Juxtaposition is the context between two things and their relationship together. Using the above example the Judoon being jack booted thuggish police having makes them seemingly unsuitable to refer to them in a way that brings to mind children’s...
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Z to A - K April 18 2012
K is for Kangaroo Bag
I’m fairly picky about things like clothing and accessories. They need to suit me and they need to be functional. As a result I end up buying a lot of things to get by until I end up finding something that suits what I actually want and stand ups to the use I need it for.
I really wanted a worn brown leather book bag. With looking all over the city and scouring the...
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Z to A - L April 17 2012
L is for Lamb
Though not just any lamb.
*any lamb
It’s for the superb, stylish Sassy Lamb. creator and caterer of fine and delicious baked goods. Including beautifully designed cake pops and double chocolate cherry stout cakes. The Sassy Lamb creates amazing baked goods for nearly any sort of event. As well she offers her own knitwear and other services on her site. If you’ve an...
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Z to A - M April 16 2012
M is for Matcha
Macha is a name held by several figures in Irish mythology. Like in many countries mythologies the different manifestations are all thought to be taken from one goddess. Macha whom is typically associated with war and horses. None of which I knew until I mispelt Matcha.
Matcha green tea which is also spelled maccha is high end powdered green tea. I was introduced to it as a tea...
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Z to A - N April 13 2012
This is sort of a sequel to the post for R. Over the years I’ve looked for a Nightwing T-shirt and have found one but it had some weird blue bird logo but it really didn’t appear in the comics nor was it all that interesting to me. So N is for nerd made Nightwing shirt.
I tried two different ways. One which is a bit of a failure was with spray paint. It simply took too much paint to...
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Z to A - O April 13 2012
O is for Onomatopoeiaa
Onomatopoeiaa refers to to words which sound like the thing that they are describing. For example animal noises like meow, moo and baa. Other examples a leaky tap drips. Drip ,drip,drip,drip,drip,drip. Throw something in The water and it’ll sploosh and fireworks will go off with a bang.
Which leads into the use of Onomatopoeia in media and Comic books in particular....
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Z to A - P April 12 2012
P is for Pineapple.
*taken with my Phone at my favourite Bloor west market.
Pineapple is one of my favourite things. I can’t wait for it to be in season and to get a nice fresh one and carve chunks of it off for myself.
If I could I’d live in a pineapple under the sea I would, except I’d eat it and end up homeless.
*artists conception
There is a a theory that eating different...
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Yesterdays Beer April 8 2012
A friend recently asked me about Paddock Wood Brewing out of Saskatoon. I hadn’t heard of them before and was a bit surprised to find them in the beer store in Oshawa. (Actually the beer store we go to out there is pretty respectable as far as craft beer goes). I picked up a six of the 606 IPA. It had a nice burst of hops in the first sip along with a nice malty character. It was really...
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Z to A - Q April 11 2012
Q is for Queen Street.
One of the many, many things I’ve been learning over the last year of writing regularly is that if a subject or a point come up passionately that is what I should try to use when contructing a narrative. In saying that finding an angle a muse for the letter Q has been a tough for me. I thought maybe the Queen from Aliens. An awesome subject and realized nightmare.
...
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Z to A - R April 10 2012
R is for Robin. Robin has always been one of my favourite characters in comics and media in general. Its like being Batman but having fun doing it.
My favourite is Dick Grayson who was the original Robin who then evolved into to Nightwing whom is actually my favourite character. Nightwing is something like a more functional Batman, no cape just armoured costume and a few gadgets and escrima. Dick...
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Z to A - S Challenge April 7 2012
S is for scones.
One of the few food items available at Starbucks that I don’t actually mind are the blueberry scones. They aren’t the best things ever but they are food like and dealing with chain stores thats almost impressive. Granted, that just led me to say”Ha, I can do better…..how in the heck does one make scones?”
I often cook by inventory and had no...
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TBL - Beer for Boobs March 25 2012
What a Superb event at Bar Volo, all kinds of people showed up for some incredible beer. Our wonderful lady craft brewers stepped up and made excellent beer. The afternoon was spent drinking good fun beer and conversing with great enthused people. It was a celebratory sort of gathering, all the womens hard work culminated into this event where cheery people drank on the patio for to help people...
Anonymous asked: That pancake looks yummy. How did you make it?
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Z to A Challenge - T April 7 2012
T is for TARDIS and TARDIS stands for time and relative dimension in space. the TARDIS is one of the most brilliant and most recognisable devices in science fiction and culture in general. Show most anyone a blue phone box and they will either know it as the TARDIS or mention Doctor Who.
I’d been struggling to get deeper into what I should say about the TARDIS. There are all kinds of...
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Curmudgeonly Critic - Hunger Games April 4 2012
I don’t watch a whole lot of tv or films these days. The hype usually drives me and tends to make the actual film or tv show look terrible. The little bit of hype I caught about the Hunger Games did a lot to drive out any desire I had to see it. Fortunately I am aware I’ve a cranky old man streak and experience has taught me that marketing makes some great things look incredibly...
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Chronic Mastication - Tasty Tour April 1 2012
I joined my friend for her birthday for Tasty Tours Guided walk through a bit of China Town and Kensington Market. Before the tour we had breakfast at KOS which and found that nine thirty or so on Sunday was the perfect time to go. Lots of space and quick service. As the weather was crazy bouncing from rainy to pouring and later in the day some impressive hail. We went on walk through China town...
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Z to A Challenge - U April 6 2012
U is for Underroos For me it’s slang for underwear in general. “oh, I’m getting low on underroos I guess I better get out and do laundry”. Underroos is actually the trade name of a children’s underwear and t shirt set. Often representing a superhero or similar character. The best ones being much like a superhero’s costume and allowing you to run around like a...
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Earth hour March 31 2012
I inadvertently crafted the perfect earth hour. GenerallyI don’t really pay to much attention to tht his sort of thing , rather than an hour I try to do the best at living a sustainable lifestyle. Sometimes it works better than others.
Having Earth Hour a bit in the back of my mind I went out for coffee and a walk through High Park with my new line up friend from the Beaus event at Bar Volo...
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TBL - Beauvolo Bar Volo Takeover March 29 2012
I got off work late and was pretty broke so I wasn’t going to go to the event. My plan for the evening was to go to the gym and blast AC DC into my head. On a whim I decided to check my bank account and found ha my pay had come though. To my credit I almost decided to go with my initial plan and go to the gym, get some things done and get to bed at something approaching a reasonable...
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Hamilton Food and Drink Festival March 24 2012
Starting out at Fahrenheit Coffee for amazing coffee and muffins. We the ran down Jarvis to St. Lawrence Market for Peameal bacon sandwiches for the trip.
Off to Union station we found out there was an express bus to Hamilton and hopped that to escape our beautiful city for the day and go to the Hamilton food and drink festival.
*also the question to the life the universe and everything. The bus...
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Z to A Challenge - V April 5 2012
Violence against women is a sad and continued problem we face as a species as it seems to be prevalent all over the world and somehow in North America, both in my beloved Canada (which has been suffering upper management issues for a few years now) and in the US where there are people who oppose amendments to laws broadening definitions to domestic violence and extending domestic violence laws...
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Coffeepunk - Indie Coffee Passport : Fahrenheit...
They were baking cookies and muffins when we arrived. Which is kind of dirty pool as far as getting someone to love your shop. Making it smell like fresh baking and coffee.
I really liked the place (and have been back since). For a fairly small space they used it well. Keeping it clean and simple while pretty stylistic as well. The latte was fantastic and it was great to have it accompanied...
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Coffeepunk - indie Coffee Passport : The Coffee...
My trip to the Coffee Tree Roastery was one of my favourite indie passport stops. Sue the awesome lady who owns the place and I had a nice chat. Largely we talked about how nice it would be to do the more interesting things like going through the coffee beans,roasting and making excellent coffee. Rather than fixing network problems and doing paperwork.
I love the sense of design through the...
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TBL - Black Oak Board Game night March 21 2012
A bunch of people had tossed around the idea of having a board game night at the brewery. It turned out to be a fairly low key but fun night out. All kinds of people showed up and set up at a bunch of different tables. There were a few tables of Settlers of Cattan. A game of Jenga out in the back. Every now and then you’d hear them yelp as the tower came crashing down. My favourite game...
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Z to A Challenge - W April 4 2012
W is for West Newbury, Massachusetts.
West Newbury is a town situated alongside the Merrimack river in Massachusetts. The population these days is somewhere around five thousand people. The town has grown from being a farming community to being one of the most expensive communities in the United States in which to live.
The reason West Newbury, Massachusetts caught my interest is that I was...
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Smokeless Joes 488 College st. March 18 2012
Ella Fitzgerald on the sound system, comfortably worn furniture and grey brick and lot’s of craft beer taps made for a fine place to spend Sunday evening. They used their space well making a comfortable space in the main bar. Then upstairs their is a great space for a gathering and out back a patio which I imagine will be open soon. Smokeless looks like it’ll be a regular haunt for me....
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Z to A - X Challenge April 3 2012
An Xebec is three masted ship mostly used for trading in the Meditarian sea. Often they were used by Pirates as they could be built with a narrow floor to make them more aerodynamic and therefore faster than both potential victims and pursuers wanting to bring them to justice.
In more recent times Xebec has been used as the name of a clean energy corporation called Xebec Inc. Xebec...
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TBL - Rubber Boot Camp part 2 at Black Oak March...
During this boot camp, we got to try some of our beer as we learned about bottling and some of the equipment we could use to do so. It was interesting to be a part of and like part one of the boot camp it was good to get to see some of what you need to make and store your own beer. In general it was a good group of people out and Pleasure to spend the afternoon in the Black Oak Brewery.
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Coffeepunk - Red Rocket Coffee March 17 2012
I walked up the Danforth looking for a Library after hitting Dora Keogh for ST. Patrick day brunch. After returning my book to the Coxwell Library I found Red Rocket Coffee. I had been to their former location in down on Queen east. It was a bit of a surprise to find them up on the Danforth. The new shop is set up much more nicely and is a fairly decent cafe. Unfortunately I missed out on the...
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TBL - St. Patrick's day brunch at Dora Keogh March...
Typically St. Patrick’s Day and New Years Eve are the two days in the year I’d prefer not to drink in public venues. Between crowds of amateur drinkers jacked prices and the silly hype I don’t find it all that interesting nor fun. Going to Dora Keogh for brunch pints to celebrate was a great idea. We got to have a few drinks together and be a part of the celebrations without the hassle...
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Coffeepunk - Indie Coffee Passport : Ideal Coffee...
Ossington Avenue has had a boom over the last few years. The street from Dundas down to Queen west is littered with all kinds of bars and night spots. Ideal Coffee has managed to secure a location out there as well. The interior was well thought out and had a comfortable charm. Big windows, and walls painted to look like vintage wall paper. I really enjoyed my cappuccino. The beans were roasted...
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Z to A Challenge - Y April 2 2012
Y is for yogurt.
Specifically yogurt based chip dip with garlic and onion. I kept it pretty simple , a couple of big scoops of yogurt, a whole bunch of diced onions, three or four cloves of garlic and fresh ground black pepper. I’ll have to try this again sometime and play with it again. It’s pretty good and much healthier than the store bought sour cream based dips.
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Z to A - Z challenge April 1 2012
A friend of mine has taken up a blogging challenge. For the month of April you post everyday using the alphabet as your theme. Apparently there is a whole sign up deal. I found that it was overly complicated and not all that user friendly. So I’m just going off on my own. Being a touch dyslexic I’m going Z to A. So while I try to catch up on my regular posts I’ll pop in some...
