Posts
Just want to give a shout out and some fresh eyes to this AMAZING letter written by Riese over at automatic straddle. I happened upon this from the L Word Online site and boy am I glad I did! I've been spitting mad about the Max character for years now and finally someone put all my rants into a nice, legible letter.
I hope this gets back to Ilene Chaiken and that she recognizes what a terrible disservice she has done to all the gender outlaws.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Cupcake Camp Toronto
Today from 2-5pm in the East end, there was a cupcake bake-off where dozens of bakers brought cupcakes to show off and more than 350 people turned up to chow down.
It was a Mad. House.
Things started to go awry when I realized that I was not going to get to have a nice, polite sampling of every kind of crazy cupcake the bakers had dreamed up (I saw one with HAM on it!). Cupcakes were being served whole, from two tables in the long, open, studio space and it seemed that at most each style was represented by no more than 2 dozen individual pieces, often less.
My suggestion for next time? Put tables around the edges of the space where each cupcake baker can have a spot to set up at and let the people walk through in one direction only. Start at the door, end at the door, and get to try a section of a cupcake from each table along the way as your taste buds are tempted by the offerings. We should go to the cupcakes, we can not be trusted to have them brought to us.
Back to what happened - the organizers would bring a baker to the microphone and we would hear a description of what was about to be set on the table (aka fed to the wolves). Often before the tray could even hit the table, the cupcakes on it were snatched away by the throng.
I watched cupcakes go in milliseconds as I parried for a better position. Finally I got right up to the table's edge and then waited patiently, muscles twitching for my chance.
After I was once again cakeblocked by the hordes when the lemon meringue homage landed, I realized that my plate and napkin were a red herring and that I must have both hands free if I was to score any cupcakery for myself and my partner in crime.
The opportunity came 15 minutes later, this time for cupcake gold - the cafe latte - which was a cupcake perched in a sugar icing creation that resembled a coffee mug. The cupcake icing was the steamy milk top. Pictures are attached. The second set was a Rolo-inspired cupcake with mini Rolos on top of the butter-icing dome and a caramel center in the moist cakey part.
Pleased with my cupcake providing, my partner in crime and I pulled back from the table to let others get their just deserts (sorry, I couldn't help myself) which is something I wish more people had done. I watched several people stay close to the table's edge even though they had already eaten cupcakes, and that just lacks the kind of goodwill you hope to see at an event like this. Our treasure was tasty and well enjoyed, worry not.
Walking back down Pape St. with the sugar starting to rush to my head, I found myself saying "That was like something that would happen in New York City", and "There were lots of artists there obviously, but a totally different crowd than in the West End. Who were those people?".
For me, it was an excellent (food) adventure that took me outside the usual Queen West/Parkdale style events, and for that I applaud the organizers. A final note, I would like to also express my appreciation for the tech-savvyness of the operation. I heard about it through a friend who knew one of the entrants, then found the Facebook event and while at the event learned of the Twitter feed...not many events in Toronto have their sh*t this networked yet that I have seen. So extra applause for using the great tools that exist to your advantage and for making this event so multi-dimensional.
It was a Mad. House.
Things started to go awry when I realized that I was not going to get to have a nice, polite sampling of every kind of crazy cupcake the bakers had dreamed up (I saw one with HAM on it!). Cupcakes were being served whole, from two tables in the long, open, studio space and it seemed that at most each style was represented by no more than 2 dozen individual pieces, often less.
My suggestion for next time? Put tables around the edges of the space where each cupcake baker can have a spot to set up at and let the people walk through in one direction only. Start at the door, end at the door, and get to try a section of a cupcake from each table along the way as your taste buds are tempted by the offerings. We should go to the cupcakes, we can not be trusted to have them brought to us.
Back to what happened - the organizers would bring a baker to the microphone and we would hear a description of what was about to be set on the table (aka fed to the wolves). Often before the tray could even hit the table, the cupcakes on it were snatched away by the throng.
I watched cupcakes go in milliseconds as I parried for a better position. Finally I got right up to the table's edge and then waited patiently, muscles twitching for my chance.
After I was once again cakeblocked by the hordes when the lemon meringue homage landed, I realized that my plate and napkin were a red herring and that I must have both hands free if I was to score any cupcakery for myself and my partner in crime.
The opportunity came 15 minutes later, this time for cupcake gold - the cafe latte - which was a cupcake perched in a sugar icing creation that resembled a coffee mug. The cupcake icing was the steamy milk top. Pictures are attached. The second set was a Rolo-inspired cupcake with mini Rolos on top of the butter-icing dome and a caramel center in the moist cakey part.
Pleased with my cupcake providing, my partner in crime and I pulled back from the table to let others get their just deserts (sorry, I couldn't help myself) which is something I wish more people had done. I watched several people stay close to the table's edge even though they had already eaten cupcakes, and that just lacks the kind of goodwill you hope to see at an event like this. Our treasure was tasty and well enjoyed, worry not.
Walking back down Pape St. with the sugar starting to rush to my head, I found myself saying "That was like something that would happen in New York City", and "There were lots of artists there obviously, but a totally different crowd than in the West End. Who were those people?".
For me, it was an excellent (food) adventure that took me outside the usual Queen West/Parkdale style events, and for that I applaud the organizers. A final note, I would like to also express my appreciation for the tech-savvyness of the operation. I heard about it through a friend who knew one of the entrants, then found the Facebook event and while at the event learned of the Twitter feed...not many events in Toronto have their sh*t this networked yet that I have seen. So extra applause for using the great tools that exist to your advantage and for making this event so multi-dimensional.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Welcome to the new FatPlanet
This is the first post to test the new FatPlanet set up that I am now running from my home server. If all goes well, this will be up in about 30 minutes and then I can start making the page look prettier and adding more feeds.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Hussysnaxxx @ Underworld - Montreal 1997 - Clip 1
Today's been a flashback kind of day...digging through old photo albums and finding little gems to put up on the internet for posterity. Here is one such clip of my old band Hussysnaxxx (I always hated that name but now it's kind of funny). There's another one coming with our hit song "Tonka Truck". Stay tuned.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Polar Dip 2009 - Ocean Beach, CA
It's that time of year again. After missing last year due to illness, Joey and I (with a bunch of fellow daredevils) jump in the Pacific this year, in San Francisco. I thought it was warmer than our jumps in the Atlantic from years past. The waves were amazing, and there were surfers all over. Great way to kick off "Closer to Fine, 2009".
Sunday, December 07, 2008
5 Exams then a plane ride to the homeland...
Hi. It's been a while, and no video this time either. I swear I still call myself a videoblogger, and I still think like one...just not getting any videos up to the internets.
In the meantime, a quick update because I am inspired by the fact that my entire family is now blogging...which is amazing!
You can read for yourself here:
Now I'm trying out Google reader so that I am made aware of their updates. It's been a while since I've followed blogs that aren't aggregated by a planet. Time to push myself to get out there more and break away from my school-induced tunnel vision.
In my corner of the world, I moved into a new apartment and have done some basic things to make it a comfortable homework-hovel.
The Living Room (aka homework cage):
Well-Adjusted Hound who will follow me anywhere so long as the bed is there too:
The Kitchen
My first home cooked meal: fishcakes, sauteéd turnip green, red pepper aioli
Finally, I've been listening to lots of great music lately. Been going to quite a few more live shows that usual. Recently I've had the pleasure of seeing Santogold, Sunset Rubdown, Rae Spoon and this coming Friday I will be seeing The Dears and Metric because my sister Lisa is playing bass for The Dears now.
If you want to check out some of the music I've been listening to, download this playlist ( file size: 117MB) and enjoy.
In the meantime, a quick update because I am inspired by the fact that my entire family is now blogging...which is amazing!
You can read for yourself here:
- Moms (via Muheza, now Victoria)
- My sister Rachel (in Korea)
- Ambrose & Leah
- Griffin
- Simon
Now I'm trying out Google reader so that I am made aware of their updates. It's been a while since I've followed blogs that aren't aggregated by a planet. Time to push myself to get out there more and break away from my school-induced tunnel vision.
In my corner of the world, I moved into a new apartment and have done some basic things to make it a comfortable homework-hovel.
The Living Room (aka homework cage):
Well-Adjusted Hound who will follow me anywhere so long as the bed is there too:
The Kitchen
My first home cooked meal: fishcakes, sauteéd turnip green, red pepper aioli
Finally, I've been listening to lots of great music lately. Been going to quite a few more live shows that usual. Recently I've had the pleasure of seeing Santogold, Sunset Rubdown, Rae Spoon and this coming Friday I will be seeing The Dears and Metric because my sister Lisa is playing bass for The Dears now.
If you want to check out some of the music I've been listening to, download this playlist ( file size: 117MB) and enjoy.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Radio Silence is broken...
So I left California and the blog got all quiet...sorry.
A lot has been happening - returning to school, working part time for Mozilla, going to the nolose conference and meeting lots of amazing activists.
One of the ideas that came to me while at the conference was to start a FatPlanet. Mozilla and OpenSource at Seneca both use planet to aggregate feeds, so why not a FatPlanet?
Well - it's here. I got FatPlanet.net and got the ball rolling.
Now I just need feeds to add to it - so send you feed information to: admin@fatplanet.net and get your blog feed into the planet stream.
A lot has been happening - returning to school, working part time for Mozilla, going to the nolose conference and meeting lots of amazing activists.
One of the ideas that came to me while at the conference was to start a FatPlanet. Mozilla and OpenSource at Seneca both use planet to aggregate feeds, so why not a FatPlanet?
Well - it's here. I got FatPlanet.net and got the ball rolling.
Now I just need feeds to add to it - so send you feed information to: admin@fatplanet.net and get your blog feed into the planet stream.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Ubuntu - not just an operating system...
Last night I had the pleasure of eating at Ubuntu, not to be confused with Ubuntu. Apparently this relatively new restaurant is getting high praise for its vegetarian menu, which is really quite diverse and also features a fair amount of items from it's nearby bio-dynamic garden.
The following pictures are only a couple of the dishes I got to try, not pictured is the amazing corn pudding with roasted peach. I've been having a good time with corn this summer, at the Front Porch I fell in love with grits, and I intend to learn how to make them when I get home. After reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's dilemma, I got a bit corn-phobic for a while but now that revulsion has mellowed into a "if it's organic, it's okay in small quantities" take on the issue. Three food related goals for myself based on this summer's reading:
And now for some food-porn...(photos courtesy of Naomi)
cauliflower in a cast iron pot with our vadouvan roast-puree-raw-“couscous”, brown butter toast amuse bouche:
our carta da musica with truffled pecorino fresh-picked GREENS, lemon, ROSEMARY, trumpet chips:
and finally deep-fried egg with tartar sauce & black garlic smoked potato salad, grain mustard, roast cippolini onions:
Can't wait until I get an iPhone so I can blog about the food I'm having, while I'm having it!.
Stay tuned for my wine tasting notes, I will try to transcribe them when I am back in Canada next week.
The following pictures are only a couple of the dishes I got to try, not pictured is the amazing corn pudding with roasted peach. I've been having a good time with corn this summer, at the Front Porch I fell in love with grits, and I intend to learn how to make them when I get home. After reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's dilemma, I got a bit corn-phobic for a while but now that revulsion has mellowed into a "if it's organic, it's okay in small quantities" take on the issue. Three food related goals for myself based on this summer's reading:
- Eat sitting down. This may seem obvious, but I think that I do sometimes tend to eat while doing other things and just stopping to make eating its own task will go a long way towards slowing down my eating and making me appreciate what I'm eating more.
- Avoid high fructose corn syrup. Sad but true: Orangina contains HFCS, as do a lot of other beverages. It's a small thing I can do, even if I am not great at cutting out all sugars, I can do this one.
- Avoid meat from CAFOs. I will continue to eat meat (for now) but when I do it will be better quality, and supporting a local meat economy.
And now for some food-porn...(photos courtesy of Naomi)
cauliflower in a cast iron pot with our vadouvan roast-puree-raw-“couscous”, brown butter toast amuse bouche:
our carta da musica with truffled pecorino fresh-picked GREENS, lemon, ROSEMARY, trumpet chips:
and finally deep-fried egg with tartar sauce & black garlic smoked potato salad, grain mustard, roast cippolini onions:
Can't wait until I get an iPhone so I can blog about the food I'm having, while I'm having it!.
Stay tuned for my wine tasting notes, I will try to transcribe them when I am back in Canada next week.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Week 7, 8, 9, 10 update...
Um, Hi!
So I got a little busy...
Let's see - Andréa came to visit, so did my Mom. I've been working a ton and taking on lots of new responsibilities - with great responsibility comes longer hours and more tiredness.
Also there was Frameline - Allyson, Christina and Amy were here from Toronto. We saw some movies, I met some new people including some of the staff of Frameline who are super nice. Attended some interesting Q&A periods, went to a filmmaker's brunch, spent many hours in Dolores park.
I've been swimming a lot, running a little, biking around. My mom was here and we biked across the Golden Gate bridge which you may notice in the pictures is a little fogged out. It was an exhilarating ride because there was a combination of elite cyclists trying to cross quickly and shouting at people to move over alongside tourist with rented tandem bikes who weaved around and almost crashed many times in front of me.
Since it's been a while, I can really only remember this past weekend. I was supposed to go to LA for Outfest. I had a plane ticket and a place to stay arranged. It was making me anxious though - and I kept wanting to cancel. In the end I did cancel, and stayed here to go to Joey's goodbye party at the Lexington where I stayed way past closing and had tamales from the Tamale Lady SF, and chatted with one of the bartenders for several hours. One of those nights where you just aren't tired...oh and maybe you've had a few whiskeys.
Then on Saturday I went out to Oakland in the daytime so I really got to see it for the first time. It was so pretty and felt much more neighbourhoody than anything I've been in so far. Stormy was having a birthday bbq in a back yard with lots of great folks and I made a few new friends, visited with old ones and played with the pictured baby english bulldog named Tug. I NEED one of those!
Sunday I woke up early and went with Naomi and Sam to Green Gulch which is a Zen Buddhist center. We did a "sit" for about 40 mins, then had a break and then listened to a speaker - this was followed by an exceptionally tasty lunch. There's so much that was great about the experience that I don't even know what to highlight. Sitting was interesting. I haven't done anything like this since I was pretty young. I'm not that keen on organized religions, but this was very relaxing and since there's no overt god-ness about it, I didn't really have trouble with it.
The speaker was pretty funny and made lots of wise comments that still ring with me. I'm curious to learn more about Buddhism - I always knew that I liked the ideas behind it but it's much more tangible here since more people in close proximity to me are practicing. There's even a group called Dharma Punx that meets here and I've downloaded some of their podcasts to check out.
What's amazing about being in California, working, is that I have way more spare time that when I am in school and working. The school part makes sure that you never really feel like you're done. There's always something to be working on. So all this free time is really giving me opportunities to do so much more, and to experiment with new pastimes. I've been hiking and being outdoors more. Biking around SF is easy and practical with the price of gas around here. And now I'm checking out meditation. I'd say that California is agreeing with me.
At work things are great too. The stuff I'm working on is in the spotlight a little bit right now and so that's keeping a fire under me. The summit in Whistler is coming up and I'm going to be meeting people from the community all over the world to talk about the future of the organization. Also, it's a possibility that I could keep working on my team as a part-timer throughout the school year. My fingers are crossed that this happens because it would be a perfect scenario. Not only to keep working on a project that I'm enthusiastic about, but also it would be the best fit with my hectic school schedule. This fall I'll have 6 courses again and it looks like 3 out of 4 days will be 9 am - 5pm up at York. Having work that I can do in the gaps between classes will be key.
Okay - that's my big update. I must say that now I have crossed the halfway point. It's closer to the time I will be going home, and that is feeling good to me. I've started to miss home, miss my people, my home, family. Hope everyone there is having a good summer.
So I got a little busy...
Let's see - Andréa came to visit, so did my Mom. I've been working a ton and taking on lots of new responsibilities - with great responsibility comes longer hours and more tiredness.
Also there was Frameline - Allyson, Christina and Amy were here from Toronto. We saw some movies, I met some new people including some of the staff of Frameline who are super nice. Attended some interesting Q&A periods, went to a filmmaker's brunch, spent many hours in Dolores park.
I've been swimming a lot, running a little, biking around. My mom was here and we biked across the Golden Gate bridge which you may notice in the pictures is a little fogged out. It was an exhilarating ride because there was a combination of elite cyclists trying to cross quickly and shouting at people to move over alongside tourist with rented tandem bikes who weaved around and almost crashed many times in front of me.
Since it's been a while, I can really only remember this past weekend. I was supposed to go to LA for Outfest. I had a plane ticket and a place to stay arranged. It was making me anxious though - and I kept wanting to cancel. In the end I did cancel, and stayed here to go to Joey's goodbye party at the Lexington where I stayed way past closing and had tamales from the Tamale Lady SF, and chatted with one of the bartenders for several hours. One of those nights where you just aren't tired...oh and maybe you've had a few whiskeys.
Then on Saturday I went out to Oakland in the daytime so I really got to see it for the first time. It was so pretty and felt much more neighbourhoody than anything I've been in so far. Stormy was having a birthday bbq in a back yard with lots of great folks and I made a few new friends, visited with old ones and played with the pictured baby english bulldog named Tug. I NEED one of those!
Sunday I woke up early and went with Naomi and Sam to Green Gulch which is a Zen Buddhist center. We did a "sit" for about 40 mins, then had a break and then listened to a speaker - this was followed by an exceptionally tasty lunch. There's so much that was great about the experience that I don't even know what to highlight. Sitting was interesting. I haven't done anything like this since I was pretty young. I'm not that keen on organized religions, but this was very relaxing and since there's no overt god-ness about it, I didn't really have trouble with it.
The speaker was pretty funny and made lots of wise comments that still ring with me. I'm curious to learn more about Buddhism - I always knew that I liked the ideas behind it but it's much more tangible here since more people in close proximity to me are practicing. There's even a group called Dharma Punx that meets here and I've downloaded some of their podcasts to check out.
What's amazing about being in California, working, is that I have way more spare time that when I am in school and working. The school part makes sure that you never really feel like you're done. There's always something to be working on. So all this free time is really giving me opportunities to do so much more, and to experiment with new pastimes. I've been hiking and being outdoors more. Biking around SF is easy and practical with the price of gas around here. And now I'm checking out meditation. I'd say that California is agreeing with me.
At work things are great too. The stuff I'm working on is in the spotlight a little bit right now and so that's keeping a fire under me. The summit in Whistler is coming up and I'm going to be meeting people from the community all over the world to talk about the future of the organization. Also, it's a possibility that I could keep working on my team as a part-timer throughout the school year. My fingers are crossed that this happens because it would be a perfect scenario. Not only to keep working on a project that I'm enthusiastic about, but also it would be the best fit with my hectic school schedule. This fall I'll have 6 courses again and it looks like 3 out of 4 days will be 9 am - 5pm up at York. Having work that I can do in the gaps between classes will be key.
Okay - that's my big update. I must say that now I have crossed the halfway point. It's closer to the time I will be going home, and that is feeling good to me. I've started to miss home, miss my people, my home, family. Hope everyone there is having a good summer.
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