Canadians were apparently just too stable for feet alone.
Sunday, January 04, 2009

And so one by one, we challenge ourselves on skinny slices of steel.

Last year....


This year?




Phewf. I feel like a proper Canadian father now.

Posted bythemikestand at 6:40 PM 1 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: kids, on being canadian, winter

Cramming
Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Here you go, folks. If you've learned nothing (else) this year, it's not too late.


From the Globe and Mail's Social Studies column, by Michael Kesterton:

Oh, we are surprised

Some results from a round-up of this year's research studies that The Sunday Times of London labels "bleedin' obvious:"
Call centre staff who try to be your friend by using your name - dubbed synthetic personalization - are irritating, concluded Oxford University researchers.

Parents whose children will not eat vegetables can succeed in disguising them in other dishes by mushing them up, according to research by Penn State University.

Men prefer blondes, says research by a team of Polish psychologists on the perception of hair colour in women over 35.

Posted bythemikestand at 8:38 AM 3 stepped up to the mike  

7 Days Winter 2008 -- the recap
Sunday, December 28, 2008

Another 7 Days of Self Portraits project has come to a close. Having 7 Days happen during Christmas brings its own set of challenges: getting pictures done on a daily basis, getting comments in on everyone's pictures, and trying to find the time to get it all done while you still have some "chipper" left in your mood can be quite difficult. But this isn't really about the pressure as much as it is about the inspiration and camaraderie, which of course were present in spades yet again. I had some inspired moments, as you may see from what's coming up, and in the aftermath, I'm once again driven to improve my photography (and perhaps make progress to upgrading my equipment, no thanks to kvon who just picked up a Canon 5D Mark II. We can dream, can't we?

Anyway, on with the pics, starting with Day 1:

On the way home from ultimate tonight, I cruised through the city looking for a good vantage point to get some city lights in the background. But given that it's -15C out there, I didn't really stand around too long.

Sail out the basin directly behind me for two or three days and you'll wind up in Bermuda, which now that I think of it, sounds like a nice idea.

Solstice isn't something we celebrate in the "traditional" sense, but it is something we recognize. Because it's so cold and dark these days, you'd be hard pressed to not look forward to the growing days and the promise of not starting and ending your workday in complete darkness. Every day brings a little more light. And the cycle continues.

Personally, and perhaps unsurprisingly, my spiritual awakening occurred some time between high school and university. I started paying closer attention to my natural surroundings, and took profound notice of its magnificence -- the mountains, the vast prairies, the ocean, the weather; recognizing that these surroundings were what comforted and inspired me. I hope that we can instill and support those same values and respect for nature in our boys.

Today started with 100km/hr winds, 20cm of ice-crusted snow on the city, an impromptu shoveling session at 0630, and a slow, convoluted commute to work. After work was a whirlwind trip through the grocery store to prepare for a winter / holiday cocktail party at our place.

By the time it was all over, I was more than ready to hit the "command + Q" on my day and get some sleep.

Winter. It is here.

The story of Butternut Squash Soup

Helpful tip! Never try out a new recipe remotely close to Christmas, lest you be asked to reproduce it on Christmas day, for eighteen guests.

Large picture: Find possible candidates for butternut squash soup. Hint: Start with butternut squash, that tall drink of water on the left. You may need another in case you don't get enough squash from that gourd. Or if you're feeding 18.

Top row (left to right): Selecting your squash; You'll need to add two leeks (just the white part, sliced and cleaned) and 4 tsp of minced ginger; Roast your gourds for 1hr @ 400F; Chop leeks and mince ginger furiously.

Middle row (left, right of main pic): Sautee leeks and ginger for 10 minutes; add roasted and cooled (if you're a wuss) squash and 4 cups chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Bottom row (left, right of main pic): Puree until smooth; add back in pot, add 2 more cups chicken stock and 1tsp of salt (seriously? 1 tsp?).

Not shown: toast remaining squash seeds and chop cilantro or parsley for garnish.

Yield: 4L of soupy goodness.

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Not really much challenge in the "where am I" theme, but by the end of the day today, I was plum out of ideas for my submission.

This year's hearth conversation was slightly less humourous than last year, when we were informed by the older boy that lighting a fire in the fireplace would surely make Santa come out.

One of the Christmas traditions my late father left us was Irish Coffee on Christmas morning. Not very religious, mind you, but it certainly gets a person out of bed and into a good mood expeditiously. And after the first one, the ratio of whiskey to coffee gets much better.

The background here, some may remember, is my sister-in-law's place on a lake just outside the city.

Just adding to the neverending Playmobil saga -- we received a boat load (really, including the viking boat) of Playmobil this year. Pictured is the youngest directing all the Playmobil people into the safari/dinosaur hunter cage, soon to be accompanied by a rather vicious prehistoric beast. He also received a police paddywagon which would have done the trick, but there you have it. I'm actually playing the part of police man with canine companion, perhaps checking out a viable alternative to the 'wagon.

a quickr pickr post

Posted bythemikestand at 7:54 PM 4 stepped up to the mike  

Three!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Somebody turned three today.
Originally uploaded by themikestand

Posted bythemikestand at 11:39 AM 4 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: birthdays

Say brrrrr... or, maybe just cheese.
Friday, December 19, 2008

7 Days of Self Portraits is back, and I'm giddy with anticipation.



Stay tuned to this station, or check out the flickr group for everyone's submissions over the next week.

Posted bythemikestand at 8:20 PM 0 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: 7Days, photography

Sadness on the scotch front
Tuesday, December 16, 2008

This bit of news makes me terribly sad:

Whisky-loving Maritimers face a crisis of the spirit

High global demand for single-malt Scotch puts Nova Scotia at risk of running out of key brands, draining the rest of the East Coast dry

OLIVER MOORE
November 7, 2008

HALIFAX -- The province may be named for Scotland, but that's not enough to bump Nova Scotia up the queue as demand outstrips supply of the world's most popular single-malt whiskies.

And aficionados won't be able to dodge a looming provincial shortage with a quick road trip. Hugely popular single malts could soon be unavailable across the Atlantic provinces, a trend retailers blame on booming demand for premium spirits in Russia and China.

With little new product expected to come in, liquor corporations are warning they could run out of such iconic Scotch brands as Talisker and Oban.
"No Lagavulin? No Talisker? Those are staples," Sasho MacKenzie said last night as he sampled at a tasting event put on by the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp.

He said he's been drinking single malt for only about five years but was "thoroughly addicted." A fan of strongly peated whiskies, he struggled to think of a label that could replace his usual choices.

Kyle Carpenter called the news "devastating," but added he's well stocked to ride out the shortage. He's got a case of his drink of choice set aside.
Maritime aficionados of the so-called Classic Six whiskies - Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Lagavulin, Oban and Talisker - are soon going to be out of luck if they don't plan ahead. And for some unhappy drinkers, the end is already in sight.

"If you love your Lagavulin, break out your credit card and go get it," warned Rick Perkins, spokesman for the NSLC, who said they had fewer than 50 bottles of the 16-year-old product in the province.

Others he cited on the critical list in Nova Scotia were the Lagavulin Distiller's Edition, two whiskies from Oban, a Talisker and a Dalwhinnie, all distributed by the global giant Diageo.

"There are no ready substitutes that have the same characteristics," Mr. Perkins said. "These are the top of the top; these are brand names in the single malt world. There's a reason they're so popular."

The retailer has not been allocated any new Lagavulin or Oban through all of 2009. They will get a few hundred bottles of the 10-year-old Talisker, most of it in the spring, but none of the 18-year-old. In the last quarter of the year they expect to receive no single malt at all from Diageo.

New Brunswick is facing shortages of many of the same whiskies, as well as the labels Brora and Clynelish.

On Prince Edward Island, there's enough Talisker and Oban to tide them over until spring. That is, under normal circumstances.

"I'm sure if Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have a shortage we'll be out in no time," said Brooke MacMillan, CEO of the island's Liquor Control Commission. "We're just a short drive away."

Liquor corporation officials in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick believe they are suffering from Diageo's desire to divert stock to more lucrative markets overseas.
The company makes no bones about its unhappiness with profit levels in Canada.

"In Canada, the taxation levels and markup structure in place, render the profitability of scotch (and all spirits) to be significantly lower than the majority of other countries around the world," according to information provided to one of the Maritime liquor corporations.

"When there is pressure on stocks due to high demand ... companies take into consideration factors such as value generated when deciding where to sell."
That information referred to reduced supplies of blended whisky but insiders at the Maritime liquor corporations say they have been told by senior Diageo officials that their single-malt access is falling victim to the same logic.

Diageo spokesman Bob Paling acknowledged "there will be some markets that suffer" since these products are manufactured in limited quantities, making it hard to meet the demand.

He said that the surge of wealth in China and Russia has prompted new thinking in the premium spirits world but denied there is a direct link between Scotch shortages in the Atlantic provinces and these booming markets.
He said that this is just the normal ebb and flow of the business and that the situation could always change.

"There will be more Lagavulin in the future," he said.




All of that said, any and all of you are welcome to serve as whisky mules if you're passing through the region from the "have" provinces, or from the US. In the meantime, I may be forced to roll my nickels and pennies to buy one last bottle of the good stuff before it's all gone from local stores. Speaking of which, I still have to post about the bottle of Peat Monster that I finally tasted.

Posted bythemikestand at 8:06 AM 3 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: scotch watch

LOLitics
Friday, December 12, 2008

This just seemed like too much fun to pass up... so here are some tidbits from the week's news.









Let's see yours! Ideas, links, and pictures welcome.

Posted bythemikestand at 10:11 AM 0 stepped up to the mike  

Labels: lol, news, politics