Balsamic Vinegar, Oil and Sourdough

Cheers to Kathryn and Meghan for sending out the divine Fig & Tangerine balsamic vinegar from Meinhardts on Granville. Nothing can beat a nice surprise in the mailbox. Kathryn - if you ever need a Croque Monsieur sent priority post from the Byward market, just let us know. Then again, it may be a bit nasty by the time it reaches you.

Work goes up in flames

I had the opportunity to be part of something last night that thankfully doesn't happen too often. You may have already seen the video on Youtube, but if not, the very short clip shows what the launch company PR people like to refer to as "an anomoly" for damage control. Needless to say, I got to go home early on this mission. What impressed me most, was how quickly the webcast director knew things were going very badly, and yanked the feed - you can actually see the rocket fall onto the platform just before the big explosion.

Winnipeg Christmas 06

Wow...if you're still checking this blog, you are aware that sheer laziness is carrying the day over here. Well, we are just about to go into February, Sophie is 34 weeks pregnant, we are slowly relearning Ottawa, and we find ourselves making mini-lists, and ticking them off every day as we get ready for the bubs. Our house hunt reached a peak, and then fizzled out again. It probably had the most momentum it has ever had, with pre-approved mortgages and a realtor on hand had we taken that step. I guess we just weren't ready to make that kind of commitment to the city yet.

Here's a wrap-up of our Winnipeg trip from December.


















Sophie and I spent a little over 3 weeks in Winnipeg for Christmas 2006, being fortunate to have ridiculously warm weather for the majority of the trip. However, two nights before new year's we were hammered with 36 cm of snow, followed by rather frigid nights. Photo above shows that most classic of all Winnipeg stills - Transit Tom and the Orange pumpkin braving the newly plowed streets. Left - Sophie and I heading down Corydon, she's going to hook up with Tara at the Second Cup, and I'm about to see if Niko's still serves a great spanakopita. All over the city, pedestrians were forced onto the streets if they had to get anywhere.

The skyview lounge proved to be a favorite destination, and we hooked up with Lynds, Dave, and Joe one night, and on another night we met with Steve, Julia, Brent, and Kidd. I think that this place suffers too much from an imposed image. People assume that the lounge is all tux's and fine gowns, reserved for special occasions. Reality is that the place is filled with denim and baseball caps, VLT's, and cheap drinks and food. You also get one of the best views of the city from up there - the forks was all lit up for Christmas, the Assiniboine River had it's skating rink going, and the fancy new Provencher bridge actually looks quite impressive. It also helps that you're high enough to not focus on all the broken flower planters, the grit on the streets, and the cracks in the sidewalk. I find it astonishing that many Canadian cities can maintain a budget given our winters. Most cities in the world never have to cope with upheaved pavement, cracked curbs, multi-million dollar snowclearing budgets, broken water mains, massive heating bills, or any of the other incidental costs from the -30 degree winters. I thought about this while I was in Perth - they must lay down the concrete there, and it's looks as good as new 25 years later.

Mum has this tradition in our house for taking a photo of the couple sometime during the 3rd trimester in a very narrow doorway in their home. It's the tough guy - fat girl pose. We just fit.

Later on we went back into the city to meet with Lynds and Dave at the Salisbury House on the bridge. It looks like ol' Burton Cummings may have made a good investment on this one as the place had line-ups out the door.

Hooked up with Jane for breakfast down at The Nook in our old neighbourhood. (Can you spot the crazy black squirrel hand puppet from Jane? - an Ottawa specialty)

So many familar faces walk through the Nook's doors on any given day. Funny how Wolseley will always feel like home to us. For a few years, we must have had good friends in at least 12 houses all within a 10 minute walk of our place. Good parties every weekend for sure. Urban planners would kill to create more communities like this.

My petit auto died while I was in a bad part of town late one night, and it scared me enough to decide to put it to rest in the country. The problem is that the car was stuck deep within city limits, and so a tow truck was legally required to at least bring the car to the city's perimeter highway. At $100 - I don't think so. I still had another 60 km to go once I was out of the city. So I planned the most inobstrusive backstreet route out of the city using google earth one day, and phoned up my trusted mate Boot. He was anxious to try out his new 2005 Jeep, and so under darkness of night, we roped up the dead car, and made our escape. What a trip - first of all, I picked a tow rope which was way to short at 15 feet. So, when Jude, oh, I mean Boot, decided that 70 km/h was a good tow speed down Wellington avenue, I was basically white-knuckling it with one foot perched over the brakes, one hand on the e-brake, and my eyes glued to his tail lights. Here's the other thing - without the engine running, the windows had to be rolled down to keep the windshield clear of fog, and it was -25 deg that night, making the windchill in the car around absolute zero. We only came undone twice in the middle of an intersection, and with the hazards on, people didn't seem to know if they should get out and push, or simply give us a wide berth and move on. Once we hit the gravel roads we knew we were home free, and the rocks getting kicked up by the jeep made sure I stayed awake for the remainder. Good thing I still had battery power, as I could at least have my headlights on for watching the rope, and my new AFI album kept me content.

Due to my car adventure, I had to miss out on a Kings head night with some rowdies from Cowtown. After a few pints, the guy with the moustache even claimed that he was an authentic Winnipeg Northender - a tall claim.

Had a short, but good time firing the puck around with Bob and Valor down at the R.A. Steen community centre one night until the lights got turned off. We ended up watching Danny Way's insane segment on the DC video at Bobs new pad in WestGate, before hooking with James at LevelOne on Corydon.

Andy and Mel put on a huge spread for us and some close friends at their place on McMillan Avenue. Awesome homemade spaghetti, perogies, and bread, all washed down with ample red wine.

Cathy initiated her new home on Strathcona with a New Years extravaganza. She even built a little fire pit out in the back yard and outfitted the scene with some patio lanterns. It was ultra-Winnipeg, especially when the neighbours came over and started jamming around the fire. Every place we went to that night had the stipulation that you either snaked someone else's nicely shovelled parking spot on the street, or you did the noble thing, and spent 20 minutes clearing your own. Sorry for the crappy photo - but you get the idea.