Eating in a car

William and Ryan chow down on Burger King food

After invigilating an exam at York U, the prof, his cousin in law and I wound up eating in a burger king parking lot. I'm not sure what the reason for us going there was. Maybe it had something to do with the Star Trek glasses that were being sold at the restaurant chain as a cross promotion tie in with the movie. We are suckers for cheap movie trinkets that will eventually make it to some shelf for the express purpose of collecting dust.

The drive thru was open. I think I hate drive thrus. Well hate is a strong word but tonight I felt like we were caught in a funnel. As we drive up to the order taking speaker/microphone we noticed that you couldn't get the star trek glass on it's own. You HAD to buy a meal combo of some sort. We were also disappointed that the only choice in glass cups was the Nero version. Boo. Kirk, Spock, heck, even Uhura would have been better but they weren't available.

If we could wander into the restuarant we could have read the menus and just walked right back out but it was late and after "normal" restaurant hours. The drive thru was the only way to get food and now that we weren't as crazy about getting anything we were stuck, sandwiched between two other cars.

Both Ryan and I caved in and got the Nero cup. William managed to drive through and not get anything. I feel weak for this experience and the cup is sitting in front of my computer, still in it's box, collecting dust.

Another cat named Simon

Simon, the twenty five toed cat.

While visiting Leanna to help her install Windows XP I met the neighbour's cat, Simon.

I should have taken photos of the six toes on one paw. One of the toes was more like an opposable thumb. I'll have to go back one day and photograph that. It was truly amazing. Kind of like the evolution of the cat.


Simon attacking my feet.

TV dinners

The Swanson Hungry-Man "fried chicken" TV dinner

As a kid, Swanson TV dinners were the staple meal to eat as a result of being a really good and well behaved kid. At least that's what the parents told me. Little did I know it was actually a break for my mom from prepping and cooking food.

It seems like such a ruse now but back then, as a kid, I loved TV dinners. It didn't matter what the reason for having them were. The compartmentalization of food had a space age coolness to please any 9 year old Star Wars brainwashed kid. Plus the meals came complete with some kind of cake desserty thing that you could eat before or along with your meal when the parents weren't looking. Hurray for the TV dinner!

We would gather around the TV with the TV tables set up in front of the couch, tune into whatever Christmas special was on (most likely Charlie Brown) and chow down on the food surrounded by aluminum foil. It was so good.

As an adult one generally does not have the restrictions set by parents. As soon as we move out the limits set on us can go out the window. Dinner after midnight, dessert with no dinner, a dinner with no vegetables, a cupboard filled with jelly logs and Tang, heck even a freezer filled with TV dinners. It's like a dream. I realize as I say this I sound a lot like a single bachelor. That I am and while I am I will take in the full opportunity to stock piling junk food and enjoying it to the fullest.

It's been years since I had my last TV dinner. I keep a look out in the frozen food section every now and then to see what's available but never reached out a grabbed something until today. The TV dinner sale at the local grocery store had the dinners marked at only $2 each. "Wooo" I thought to myself as I started loading my shopping cart with a few boxes.

I only bought three. Partially due to freezer space and partially because I wondered if they still contained the same goodness as when I was a kid. Memory gets all blurred. TV shows you used to watch as a kid do not always hold up as an adult. Food could be the same.

The packaging of the TV dinners were different now. Labelled "Hungry-Man" and boasting one pound of food! They seem more sensationalized than I remember. Even the aluminum foil wrapping was gone. The food is now stored in ergonomic plastic with a transparent plastic sheet covering the food. Ah yes, with the advent of microwave technology aluminum foil can't be used any more.

The fried chicken was more like large chicken nuggets than actual fried chicken as for the rest well you can't really mess up instant mashed potatoes, or corn, and the chocolate brownie still tasted okay.

What worries me is the heating up the plastic which surrounds the food. Even if the plastic doesn't give off cancer forming dioxens and what not, I was a little concerned when it left a bunch of black gook on my place mat. It's possible that the black gook was from something previously burnt on my cookie sheet but I'm not sure.

I suppose I should buy more TV dinners to do more research.

The one two combo

Nichol Robertson (guitar) and Fred Spek (vocals & sax) of Camp Combo

There are times when a fire under your ass isn't enough. Sometimes it takes a one, two, punch to get you going again. For the last three weeks I've been infected with some cold/flu virus. While the brunt of the virus only lasted three days, a lingering cough and liquid in the lungs have lasted the whole three weeks.

The result kicking my ass, making me extra tired and wanting to sleep so I didn't have to live through wheezing and a bunch of coughing fits. Coughing fits bordering on black outs. Fun indeed.

It's been a slow month work wise. Perhaps the universe has taken into account that my body needs some down time. But with just over half the month to go the job prospects have been starting to come in again. Whew.

Paying rent is the fire under my ass but actually having a gig to shoot is like the one, two punch, that got me going again. No longer did I have a sleep schedule that mimicked a hamster. I actually woke up at 5:00am today. Granted that's way too early for someone that used to wake up at 10:00am on a regular basis but it's more normal than waking up at 5:00pm.

I'm actually amazed at the productivity in the early pre-sun up hours. Grocery shopping, laundry, ad design, and sifting through all the derby photos taken this month. I am a machine.

Today's photo shoot of Camp Combo at the Gladstone was a nice gig to start things off. As the week fills up with more assignments I'll feel more relaxed as the money for rent starts to pour in.

Did someone say "Pie"?

Devil-girl with pie in face

Instead of attending the usual Victoria day fireworks I spent today, all day for that matter, helping out a friend with a film project involving half naked women, burlesque dancing, and pie throwing.

I realize that some people may look at this and say "Wow, your life in interesting." and for once I'd have to agree. Days like this don't come around that often. It could be an interesting day in exchange for three weeks of being bed ridden and really not doing much but sleep.

Funny how things balance themselves out.

Ted's Book

Carson Kressley interviewed by FAB's Max Macdonald

Today's FAB adventure took me to Teatro Verde, a store that sells high end furniture and interior decorations. It was here that the Fashion Editor of Fab magazine, Max Macdonald, would interview Carson Kressley. I would tag along and take photos.

It was because of this interview that I was reminded to return a book I borrowed from Ted. The book title is "Off the Cuff: The essential style guide for men and the women that love them". The author, Carson Kressley. Yep, the same guy being interviewed.

I've had the book for quite a while now. Over a year. Maybe two. It got packed up when I moved. I lost track of it for a while until it resurfaced when I was looking for my Joy of Cooking book. It is now sitting on a shelf waiting to be returned. It's been sitting there for at least a year. I might re-read it, not only because I really need help with the clothing myself bit but I remember the book being quite humorous. Meeting the author in real life you realize that the book is quite reflective of his real personality. Carson is that funny, witty, and entertaining.

Even though Ted said I could take my time reading the book I don't think he meant a year or more. I have successfully become one of those bastards that don't return things. I hate those people. Not returning things in a timely fashion is right up there with talking in the movie theatre, or blabbing on the cell phone on public transit. Who raises these inconsiderate people who only think of themselves? Can't pin the blame on the parents, this time it's 100% me.

I suppose there are worse offenders. Those would be the people that return the stuff they borrowed in worse shape than they borrowed it. Personally I've had stuff return in bad shape. The borrower generally doesn't offer to repair or replace the item either. Scum! I find this consistant with destroying your stuff. They just don't care.

I put these people on the "never lend anything to these people ever again" list. Maybe if they offered to put up a deposit I might give them a second chance. That or I don't care what happens to the item being lent out. I swear I have "friends" that could destroy an anvil if I had one to lend.

Things I've lent out that came back in worse condition

• Spider-man pocket novel - front cover ripped off
• Loreo 3D camera - looked like it was put through a rock tumbler
• blender - stripped motor gears
• fan - motor burnt out
• Star Wars Definitive Laserdisc box set - water damage

End of rant.

Mother's Day Massacre 3

The Death Row Dames of the 2009 season

While the first Hammer City bout of the season seemed a bit lop sided in point scoring, the final score being 116 Hartlots to 25 Dames, the game was still fun to watch indicated by watching the crowd interaction.


The Hamilton Harlots of the 2009 season

At this point, for me personally, it was just good seeing the skaters and fans after a long winter with no derby.