| Rodent of the day |
[Jul. 12th, 2009|08:42 am] |
We have lots of these. But I think we'll have chicken for dinner instead. |
|
|
| One subject, two cameras |
[Jul. 11th, 2009|06:56 pm] |
This really is a follow-up to the discussions here yesterday about the relative merits of compacts vs DSLR's, and their respective abilities to produce decent images with ease.
So I experimented. The subject in each case is a clivia that sits in our basement two-thirds of the year, but flourishes on our porch, right by the front door, during the simmer months. We've had it for over twenty year and it flowers every June. Anyway, both images were taken within seconds of each other, so the lighting conditioins were the same
This first one was taken on my little Lumix LX-2. Frankly I don't mess much with this camera. It's usually on one of the automatic setting, in this case close-up. I chose to exploit its ability to capture a no-nonsense image, whose merit I suppsoe is that it plays on the symmetry of the subject. It's the kind of shot that's easy to pull off on a compact. The EXIF data shows it was shot at ISO 22, f4.9 at 1/8.
The second shot is from the Nikon D90; I went fully manual on this one, deliberately under-expsoing it. I don't think I could have done this easily on the LX2 (at least without heavy post-editing); although the compact has full manual settings, the issue here is that the poor viewfinder makes it hard to see what you've just shot, so it prevents you from thinkering with the exposure after each shot, which is generally the way folks do manual. Because the ISO was pushed to 3200, you'll note that grain has set in, but I'm OK with that here. Other settings: f10 at 1/80. The next logical step would have been to convert this image to b/w perhaps, but I didn' go there, as it would have made comparisons all that more difficult.
I guess this exercise just reinforces the fact that interesting images can be taken on all kinds of cameras. You may in fact prefer the one taken here on the much cheaper camera of the two. It doesn't really matter. The point, I think, is that whatever camera you're using, there are ways to exploit its strengths and cover off its weaknesses.
What do you think? |
|
|
| Some places we've been lately |
[Jul. 7th, 2009|08:12 am] |
Victoria Inn, Gore's Landing. We had lunch here on July 1. It was Mary's birthday, so we forewent (is this the past tense of forego?) the usual Canada Day celebrations and took her and partner Carolyn, neighbours and good friends of ours from way back, to lunch instead. We sat out on the terrace overlooking Rice Lake. It was quite lovely. Lunch for me was an excellent sweet potato chowder, a really bad quiche and an absolutely classic apple crumble with ice cream. So food-wise it was mixed, but a most pleasant lunch spot nevertheless.
Karma's, Peterborough. (This is the alley beside the restaurant) We went there last week, with Daniel and Douglas, our friends with whom we try out a new restaurant each month. Karma's is another of those odd Asian fusion restaurants with a menu that touches on Thai, Indian, Tibetan and more. (I love menus like this.) I had a mango shrimp salad, some kind of Thai noodles and no dessert - they don't serve any here, boo!. The others that chose the Tibetan fare did better, but this place is a good choice for interesting food, a cheaper version of Cosmic Charlies, for the locals reading this journal. I like.
Two dinner parties this past weekend. The first on Saturday at Robert's house (we lived in his cottage all last summer while our house was being built.) Pictured above is our Sunday dinner at Carol and Christopher's, an all-gay affair except for the hosts (that is sooo Nanookville) which featured croquet and boche ball, then dinner in this gazebo thing. Robert was there with Justin, also Mary and Carolyn, Daniel and Douglas and a few others. It was a lovely meal with ham the main course, and an apple crumble for dessert. But we had to retreat indoors as the light faded and the pesky mosquitoes moved in.
So . . . quite a bit of eating out lately, but we are being good on those days we eat at home, largely sticking to Meirions's WW regime (he's lost thirty-two pounds to date.) Last night I made beef and mushroom stew in the slow cooker. Entirely un-seasonal I know, but boy, was it good! I served it with new potatoes and fresh peas; the latter I haven't had in years. I even resisted eating most of them while I unshelled, unlike as a kid, when I would eat three for every one that went in the pot. Perhaps I've grown up? |
|
|
| Rodeo |
[Jul. 6th, 2009|12:02 pm] |
To the rodeo last Saturday. It's always an engrossing event, even if it is much the same every year, not least because it features a brand of old-fashioned machismo that's rare in the world of sports - or anywhere else I know, for that matter.
All the events - the bareback riding, the steer wrestling, the calf roping, the barrel racing etc. - all lead up to one that everybody wants to see and which is saved until the end, bull riding. It's the biggest, boldest and often briefest of them all. The rider has only to stay on for eight seconds, holding on with just one hand, but most are thrown well before that. It certainly looks dangerous; once the 2,000 pound bull has unseated its rider, as it always does, the bull is often not done with him.
So we start off here with a lad saddling up in the bull-riding regalia, a mixture of the practical and the showy that marks this sport. Often these guys seem impossibly young, like teenagers on a dare, but they are brave ones indeed, and highly skilled too. There's a lot of mental and physical preparation here for something that will last only a matter of seconds. I love watching them getting psyched up.
Photographically speaking, the rodeo represents a bit of a challenge too. You have to be in full control of everything - aperture, shutter speed, ISO and focussing method. And it's still hard to get anything good, because the animals and their riders have to be doing the right things too. I didn't get any iconic shots this year that I'm totally happy with, but there are a few others behind the cut that are OK. Clicky?.
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Pride 2 - in which the author reveals his profound affection for the TD Bank |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|01:31 pm] |
Banks get a bad rap. They do! I worked for one - well, two actually, one in the UK, and one here in Canada, and though the second one drove me quite bonkers, I still have some mild affection for the industry. Because they paid me well, and that's all that matters really, isn't it? I mean forget sky-high credit card interest rates, nickel-and-diming service charges, a propensity to turn a quick trip to the bank to pay your gas bill in to a one-hour lesson in lining-up, and inept management that lends money to all the wrong people, and then throws the entire world economy into chaos, the banks are our friends. They mean well, they really do.
At least the TD Bank does. They are special. They gave me some free sunglasses on Pride Day. They have bright green frames that look like they glow in the dark and the name of the bank is printed on the sides in black letters. I will wear them all the time so that the whole world knows how nice the TD Bank really is.
But, smart folks that they are, it's not just the fluorescent green sunglasses that the TD Bank uses to win us gay boys over. Nooooo, they bring out the big guns, a parade of rather attractive young men in swim suits that I'm thinking you'll never see the likes of behind the counters. During Pride, they hang outside the TD branch at Church and Wellesley, the centre of the gay universe, like a flock of go-go dancers on a smoke break. Thus providing one of THE photo ops of Pride, in my humble opinion.
Trojan does this too. They have their own gaggle of moonlighting strippers dressed as gladiators, cheek to cheek with the TD muffins, peddling the joys of condoms. Or at least that's what I think they are doing. Gladiators always used condoms, didn't they? The advertising message kind of gets lost amidst that sea of unnaturally smooth chests and tight speedos.
Anyway, one of the TD Bank hawkers caught my eye in particular, a wholesome young man in the Steve Reeves tradition, who should go far, if not behind the counters of the TD bank, at least in the male escort business.
There are couple more of him behind the cut ( there would be more but I don't want to seem more like a perv) plus a roundup of other folks who provided distraction on Church Street before and after the actual parade. While the cool, wet weather for much of the day meant that most kept their shirts - and shorts - on, there is a bit of flesh on display too, so I have to give the obligatory NSFW warning. Unless you work for the TD bank, where, it seems, anything goes.
Did I mention I bank there already? And on behalf of starving young strippers everywhere, I encourage you to do the same.
Clicky?
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| A taste |
[Jul. 2nd, 2009|07:14 am] |
Another day yesterday with precious little time to finish editing the rest of my Pride pics. But here's a taste. |
|
|
| Donkeys |
[Jul. 1st, 2009|07:50 am] |
I know, I know. I was supposed to post pics of Pride hunks today, but I ran out of time. It's not a trivial exercise to review, edit and then post so many pics - and so I'm postponing all that until tomorrow. Besides, it's a national holiday today, so I'm holidaying. Happy Canada Day, everybody.
Instead you get some images from my camera's club's excursion to a donkey farm last Saturday afternoon. These outings are designed to challenge, but it's hard to do anything very different with a donkey. Still, I spent an hour or so getting down low and pointing my camera up their nostrils, and these are the result.
The camera club is still in its early days, but seems to be doing OK. I was interested to learn they're planning a photo-taking trip to Vermont in the Fall, for which I would definitley be game, and perhaps Utah next spring.
In other news, and this has absolutely nothing to do with donkeys, I swear, did anybody see the premiere episode of HUNG on HBO this past weekend. The premise sounded - errmmmm - interesting, so we're taping it, but haven't got around to watching it yet.
HBO seems to be responsible for a string of winners, doesn't it, though? It's a great station, even if its schedule of repeat broadcasts can be annoying. Still any network that has brought us faves like Carnivale, Six Feet Under, Flight of the Conchords and now True Blood is not to be sneezed at.
Someone here turned me on to True Blood, btw. Whoever it was THANK YOU. It's a fascinating, original and twisted show. The fact that it's a) from Six Feet Under director Alan Ball and b) chock full of sex featuring the easy-on the-eyes and often stark naked Ryan Kwanten are only two of the reasons to see it. But the second reason is a big one, as this photo from the series only hints at . .
 |
|
|
| Pride One |
[Jun. 30th, 2009|08:19 am] |
This will be the first of two posts. Today: the parade. Tomorrow: the rest, including the hotties. Although you'll find a couple here today, including the lovely and talented ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) paulintoronto, pictured above, who I've never met, but spotted on a float. He spotted me at almost the same instant, I think, no small achievement in a crowd of a million or so. It was a nice moment.
It's always an LJ blast to read of Pride festivities here and elsewhere. The experience of Pride clearly reflects nothing if not the diversity in our community, and certainly there are a myriad opinions of what Pride looks like these days. My view must be of the rosy kind. I experience it - the parade at least - as two hours of celebration of our community, at times joyous and silly beyond belief, at times deeply moving. I just don't get the much ballyhooed corporate vibe, which you'll see precious little of in these images. It was less visible, and highly regulated, this year anyway. What you do see, though, is completely overshadowed by the overwhelming presence of hordes of the community groups, activists and others of similarly energetic bent who make up the bulk of the parade.
In short, it's a fun, but highly politically-charged, event which can be experienced on a variety of levels. That it has a very sizeable straight audience bothers me not one iota.
That some view it as too lewd, too outrageous, too poor a reflection on our community disappoints, but I've heard it all before, and it's boring. In truth the cool weather kept much of the usual displays of flesh under wraps this year (damn!), although you'll see some here. And drag queens. Lots of drag queens.
Anyway, I had just about the best spot for photographs. I staked it out early, rain or no rain. And there was rain prior to the parade start, lots of it. Unbelievably, the rain stopped promptly at 2pm, exactly when the parade started. God Loves Fags.
Here they come . .
More - much more - behind the cut. There are a few that are NSFW due to flashes of dangly bits. Clicky?
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| One year ago this week . . |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|07:29 am] |
. . . . the drywall had just been installed. We were very happy with how the house was shaping up. Outside, a huge rig was stationed on our hillside. Although the water diviners had assured ss it was there, we were on tenterhooks wondering how far they would have to drill to hot water - and, truth be known, how much it would cost.
Twelve months later, our home seems such an established home, it seems strange to look at these pics. We have settled in nicely. And the house looks like it belongs in this spot.
We are delighted at seeing what's happened to our hillside. We planted wild flower seed where our makeshift lawn met the meadow, but heavy rains not long after we planted washed much of it away and dashed our hopes of it coming to much. Whether the seeds actually took hold or mother nature took pity on us and stepped in instead, we have a lovely show of wildflowers right now. The picture below shows what was just barren earth during construction. These are mostly bugle weed, in great abundance too, and also some nice patches of white campion(?),yellow someting and native grasses. It's exactly he look we wanted, even if more through luck than judgement.
Meanwhile, the dogs are thoroughly at home too. It's been quite hot lately, so they spend a lot of time just sitting together on the porch, or better still, indoors sprawled out on the bed. They like their air conditioning, after all.
Dudley has this habit of shaking his heard vigorously from side to side when he gets up. I think other dogs do this too, but Dudley's oversized ears and flopping jowls seem to make it more of a production number. In any event, I had the camera set at fast speed when I captured yesterday morning's ear flapping thingy . .
 |
|
|
| Going home |
[Jun. 22nd, 2009|11:31 am] |
Last weekend, finished with my conference, and Meirion also finished with whatever business brought him to the city, we decided to drive through our old neighbourhood. The streets looked inviting in the late afternoon sunlight, and we had a bit of time to spare. So we parked the car and walked around. The first picture is the view of a street I've walked a million times; our old house is half way along there on the left.
This street, at least the north side shown here, is notable for an unbroken row of what were once workers' cottages, built I think in the 1870's, which languished in a rather grubby neighbourhood that started to go upscale in the 70's, as renovators moved in. The neighbourhood, known as Cabbagetown, is now a good address, with prices of even these tiny houses in the $600K range.
This one (with the light blue door) was ours. It hasn't changed much since we left there thirteen years ago for Nanookville, although what was once a tiny perfect garden isn't quite so perfect anymore.
After we'd walked down the street, we turned left at the end and took a stroll down the back alley. I always thought this was a photogenic spot, but at the time it was also a hangout for hookers at night, a dark spot where they could bring their clients. Our parking spot, because it was recessed from the lane and therefore somewhat private, was a particularly desirable location for their activities, which riled me no end in those days. Often was the time I would run out of our back gate with a flashlight in hand and break-up those trysts; the johns would drive away hurriedly with their pants still around their ankles, cursing I suspect, but likely thinking themselves lucky it wasn't the cops.
The joys of city living! But it was a nice place to live - a very neighbourly neighbourhood in which it was easy to ignore the very close quarters every body lived in. Nowadays of course, now that I've become used to having a dozen or so acres, it all looks terribly cramped.
We were very house-proud in those days, undertaking some major renovations and also doing a number on the back yard. We turned it in to a tiny oasis with a Japanese theme. I couldn't resist peeking over the back fence to see how much of it remains. The Japanese maple we planted twenty years ago is still flourishing, and they haven't changed the backdrop - not even the colour - including the glass block feature we put in the kitchen - but most of the Japanese touches, the exotic ferns and other carefully chosen plants are gone. Still, it remains a pleasant little backyard.
Wanna be nosey and peek over the garden fence like I did? Clicky then . .
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Don't sneeze . . |
[Jun. 22nd, 2009|08:07 am] |
I have a cold. Don't feel much like writing . . .
So I won't. |
|
|
| Tux and tension |
[Jun. 20th, 2009|01:01 pm] |
Here's Meirion all dressed up.
The occasion was our community's Black and White Ball, a fundraiser for the local hospice. We've always turned down attending this annual event - it's just not our thing. But we were asked to help out this year. Meirion was to sell liquor tickets, I was to be the official photographer. Initially I said no, then I said yes. So did Meirion.
Meirion rented a tux for the occasion. I wore a black velvet jacket with a D&G white shirt. There are no good photos of me that evening, but this is one of those I took of Meirion.
In an entirely different mood, I took this next one at our last camera club outing to the suspension bridge in Campbellfird. I was trying to do something different with an over-photographed subject, so I tried a bunch of shots which explore the subject of tension, using the bridge as an allegory for this. Or something.
I don't know how they were received, I wasn't at the last club meeting. In any event, they make a change from the kind of stuff I usually post here. There are more behind the cut.
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| All creatures great and small |
[Jun. 19th, 2009|07:13 am] |
As you know, we feed the birds religiously here, which means we also feed the squirrels. They are almost always at our feeders, in fact, and I've grown to quite like them.
We have three kinds here - red, black and grey. This one is what we would call a red, but actually they are a kind of copper colour. I seem to remember reading that these are the marauders, the bad guys of the squirrel world, if you go for that kind of logic, but honestly I don't see them acting very much differently from their differently-coloured colleagues.
They are all pretty greedy, of course. In my mind, though, there is absolutely no point in attempting the impossible - keeping them away from the feeders. They are all god's creatures, they all get hungry, and we like them all equally.
I've written here before how we humans have the odd habit of sorting out the animal kingdom in to the good guys and the bad guys, when they are really all just going about their business. Same as racoons. I'm guessing most city dwellers don't like them for the damage they do. They don't exactly have a winning way with unattended garbage, for instance. Here they're pretty innocuous. We see them less than one would in the city; they just do whatever they do away from mankind, and more than occasionally run afoul of traffic.
One of our acquaintances found a litter of baby racoons in the attic of his shed recently. I'm not sure what had happened to the mother, but the babies were rescued, and when we visited, they were enjoying a meal of hot dogs, as seen here.
Before I forget, squirrels haven't been the only visitors to our bid feeder lately, if fact it's been hopping. Besides the usual winter visitors I've mentioned here before, we've had a ton of goldfinches, grackles, red-wing blackbirds, also rose-breasted gross beaks, humming birds, a brown jay (slightly rare in these parts) and one much oohed-and-aahed-over indigo bunting. In our fields we've seen Baltimore orioles, cardinals, bluebirds and kingbirds, and a wren has been occupying our nesting box.
I love the birds.
There are baby horses next door too. This one isn't sick; the youngsters just spend a lot of time laying around, until their legs become strong.
Have a great weekend! |
|
|
| I'm back from Guelph . . . |
[Jun. 18th, 2009|03:32 pm] |
I'm not sure I'm not tired of this gimmick, but here's the usual photo of my room, this time at the Delta Guelph. And here's the obligatory view from the fifth-floor window. OK - there was a screen in the way and OK, they built the hotel in a location with all the charm of an airport runway, but it was a handy spot for the university. I could walk there, in fact. And the presentation at the sexuality conference went well; there were four hundred attendees but many concurrent sessions, so ours attracted a small group. It felt relaxed and conformable, though. Which was also the tone of the entire visit.
I had an afternoon free beforehand, so I took the opportunity to bus my way to the other end of the city to see lynedd, whom I've never met, but who is a frequent commenter here. She's nice. If only we could have had more time, but she was busy minding the store, so I took the opportunity to buy three shirts there (bargoon time!) and then took off back downtown. Where I had a good few hours photographing Guelph.
Its a pleasant town, very Ontario, very laid back in the afternoon sunlight. Want to walk its not so mean streets? OK. Follow, this guy - or me. Take your choice
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Say cheese . . |
[Jun. 15th, 2009|07:20 pm] |
Who doesn't like cheese? I don't know many people, and those I feel sorry for. And who hasn't noticed that the cheese world has in the last few years got very, very interesting.
I think in my day it was mostly cheddar, mostly mild. Or Swiss, too innocuous for words. Or those little wrapped crescents of pasteurized cheese that came in a round box with a picture of a Swiss miss on the lid. (They still sell them, btw.) Then came imported cheeses by the dozen, followed by artisan cheeses, which currently seem to be all the rage.
Nanookville is - or was - known for it's cheese. The cheese-makers have mostly gone now, and derelict cheese factories dot the landscape. Only one area cheese factory remains, making mostly cheddar and its variations, albeit very high quality cheddar.
When we were in Toronto at the weekend, we stopped off at the new little cheese store on Church Street, in the heart of the gay village. They sell mostly Canadian cheeses of the artisan kind, ones you've never heard of before, but they will cheerfully slice you off a piece if you are in doubt. Many of the varieties on sale come from Quebec, and include some artfully decorated, uber-expensive goat cheeses like the ones emblazoned with preserved flowers, pictured above.
Meirion's WW diet means he needs to stick to the low-fat types, of which there were just a few; I can't recall their names, but we bought one with a nice tang to it. (Neither of us really like mild cheeses.)
The store has a cool, airy vibe to it that encourages sampling - and spending. Artisan cheeses are never cheap and these ones are no exceptions. But a small piece goes a long way . .
About Cheese is at 483 Church Street, with another retail outlet at 3467 Yonge St. Highly recommended.
Lest you think I'm a cheese snob, by the way, know that I'm a big fan of Cheez Whiz; the Mexican flavour in particular is really quite yummy on crackers.
In other news, I'm off to Guelph tomorrow by train, leaving bright and early so that I'll be refreshed and ready to speak at the Sexuality Conference at the University the next day. Home Wednesday afternoon.
Now I just have to figure out what one wears to a sexuality conference. And how did this ex-banker ever end up there? |
|
|
| I'm back - for a day . . |
[Jun. 15th, 2009|07:59 am] |
So here's my room at the Marriott in dowtown Toronto, a fair-to-middling hotel handy for the conference. Particularly as the First Annual Symposium on HIV Law and Human Rights, or most of it, was right downstairs.
This hotel backs right on to the gay village, so the view from my room presented me with a prime chunk of largely gay-occupied real estate.
Funny how we choose to live, isn't it? (There's a larger version of this behind the cut.)
The highlight of the symposium was a public address by Justice Edward Cameron of South Africa's equivalent of the Supreme Court. He's HIV positive himself and is a vocal spokesperson these days against the criminalization of HIV transmission except in very limited circumstances. The address was held at Osgoode Hall, HQ of the Law Society of Upper Canada,.
We were directed to the law library, a small but grand book-lined auditorium with beautiful stained glass windows where Justice Cameron was to speak. His address lasted about an hour and was passionate and moving. This is a very complex and divisive issue, of course, but his position is that prosecution is only really appropriate where there is a) nondisclosure of one's positive status, b) intent to harm and c) actual transmission as opposed to exposure occurs. (In fact this combination of circumstances involves sociopathic behaviour that is extremely rare.) I particularly like this quote from him, which involves a key element in this debate, the issue of shared responsibility for safer sex. "Unprotected sex always entails the risk of transmission. This fact raises the question: if an individual consents to unprotected sex, do they consent to the risks that go along with it?" Food for thought, eh?
Right now, surprisingly, good old progressive Canada leads the world in the number of criminal prosecutions involving alleged HIV exposure/transmission per capita. Most informed sources acknowledge, though, that the law as it is now being appied is a mess.
Having said all this, the issue has divided our community. You'll find vocal proponents and opponents of criminalization in our midst. I'm firmly in the latter camp. I'm happy to defend that position here, but understand that the issue is quite complicated.
In any event, for me this was a pretty good weekend - and I got to meet too 2fruition who was also attending, but in a reporting capacity.
For those with an interest in this topic, certainly a hot one in our community, you can read more on Justice Brown's address here, which article includes a reasonable overview of the arguments for and against criminalization.
Anyway, enough of the controversial stuff. Want a closer look at those big old gay apartments? Clicky then.
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Our neighbours |
[Jun. 11th, 2009|10:24 pm] |
Leaving all this for Toronto first thing tomorrow. First, I take the dogs to the boarding kennels - they'll be there for two days (don't worry, they love it) - and then as Meirion also needs to be in the city, I'll get a lift in from him.
I'll be attending the conference on HIV criminalization issues at the Marriott, back Saturday night.
In the meantime, have a good weekend, everybody; behave yourselves while I'm away. |
|
|
| More things I like . . |
[Jun. 11th, 2009|07:23 am] |
Trust toddpage. In a comment on someone else's journal, he alerted me to the fact that the score of the Broadway musical In the Heights is a good one. It won Tony's for best musical AND best new score in 2008, after all . I've been listening to the soundtrack for the last few days, and I'm sold. In facts it's quite brilliant. This mix of rap, Latin and Broadway is an odd fusion that works beautifully, which fact the above clip only hints at, but nevertheless shows how full of life- and rhymes - the show is. I like. edit: see toddpage's comment below for a better clip.
Something I also quite liked that clearly most others think didn't work was Valkyrie, recently out on DVD/Blu-ray. It seems to me to be a case of someone associated with the project - in this case Tom Cruise - being so uncool he couldn't get a good review for anything he's in if he tried. (It's a bit like the Celine phenomenon I talked about a while ago), Having said that, he IS bad in this movie in so many ways, but the rest of the cast - a showcase of top-drawer English talent like Kenneth Branagh, Terence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy - is very good indeed. So are the production values; it's a visually stunning film as a result. It's a thriller that works, in my book, and I'd ignore the critics on this one, and Tom Cruise if you can, and give it a chance.
I also like the fact that So You Think You Can Dance is back. Now we've got through all the audition round nonsense, we're down to the good stuff. It continues to both amaze and please me how such a previously obscure art form as dance has made it to the big time Needless to say, I really, really like this show.
What else am I liking lately? Well, I 'm also enjoying life, particularly life her in our new home. It's in such a lovely spot. We sat on the porch yesterday and just enjoyed looking at the green. I'm loving too how the area around the house is starting to naturalize, how the wild grasses are growing in, how the wild flowers are starting to take over too. And how we feel at home here - and the dogs too.
Yesterday, after our sit on the porch looking at bluebirds through binoculars, we went for a walk, Meirion and I. The dogs always follow us down the driveway until they come to the invisible boundary they know they must not cross. So they lie just inside the invisible fence, and wait for us, noses aligned. When we return, I'm struck by how comfortable they are with their surroundings. They've made this their home, like us.
 |
|
|
| Dinner at the Merrill Inn |
[Jun. 10th, 2009|07:22 am] |
It's a high falutin' place, pricey too, which are two reasons why it wouldn't normally be on our list of places to eat. Plus it's in Picton, an eighty-minute drive from here. But we have history with the owners. A good friend of ours is the mother of one of the them, and as mother Claire and husband George are peeps we have regular dinner dates with, we thought we'd keep the business in the family for a change, and eat with them at the Merrill Inn.
This is one of best-rated country inns in Ontario, btw, with a restaurant - and a chef - with a formidable reputation They didn't disappoint.
First we were served am amuse-bouche - I always like my bouche amused - of smoked trout, not pictured here. My first real appetizer was an asparagus soup, streaked with truffle oil - or something pretty. Simple but very classy. I liked.
Second course: a wild mushroom and goat cheese puff-pastry, served amidst a bed of greens. It seems serving food - all food - in precariously balanced little heaps remains in style, at least in these parts. Anyway, I love this kind of food, all light and delicious, and it was gone in no time.
If I'm up to it, btw, and the menu is interesting like this one, I love having two appetizers. It's indulgent, of course, compared to how we eat at home, but that's the point really, isn't it.
The main course I chose was described as a saffron seafood risotto. It was not what I expected to arrive at the table, but pleasantly so. There was a bed of golden-coloured risotto all right, but on top of it were balanced a couple of large seared scallops and one very large shrimp, topped with something salsa-like. It was absolutely brilliant tasting..
Finally, the desserts. At the waiter's suggestion, I suppose because he picked up on the fact that I'm English, I chose an item he recommended that was not on the menu - an old-fashioned sticky toffee pudding. Now steamed puddings like this are the stuff I grew up on. They seldom appear on menus here, and when they do, I snap them up. This one was classically good, tarted up in a way that made it look something special - and it was, while still retaining it's delicious English-y comfort food roots.
Altogether, a close-to-perfect meal. I told the waiter I rated it a ten, although I jokingly wouldn't tell him how many that was out of. Meirion gave his meal a 9.5; his dessert was an unbelievably elaborate towering creation, but he didn't like the mascarpone-hazelnut-banana ingredients. All in all, though this is a restaurant choice to savour, share with friends and go back to - when one's budget can afford it!
In other news, we're booked in to Wynn in Vegas at the beginning of August for four days. I hear it's rather special too. |
|
|
| Another update - direct from the robin's nest |
[Jun. 9th, 2009|07:33 am] |
 
Another week and they'll have left the nest. Whether I'll be there to catch their first flight is iffy, but who knows.
My journal seems to have taken a turn for the rustic lately, dominated by baby animals and other rural doodads. Sorry about the excessive cuteness but that's Nanookville in spring for you.
After a bit of a lull in my HIV work, the pace picks up again at the end of the week, when I'm off to Toronto for a conference on the increasingly disturbing trend to criminalize HIV transmission. The following week, I'm a speaker at Guelph University, speaking at a sexuality conference about the HIV stigma campaign I was involved in, and the role of blogging in HIV prevention work in particular.
In other news, looks like we will be going away this summer after all. Meirion (emjaybaxter) has always held out about not going to Vegas - we drove through it once and that was enough for him. Looks like he's had a change of heart and we'll be there for his birthday in August, as much to explore the desert as to do Vegas-type things. We'll meet up there with The Cloyce and Lorenzo (reader4life), it looks like, as well as with our friends from Vancouver, Stephen and Tyler.
Finally, here are photos of a place closer to home. It's Picton, Ontario's Regent Theatre. Now it hardly rivals the Vegas strip, but small-town neon has its own charm, I think.
Viva las Vegas Picton! |
|
|
| LGBTTIQQ2S |
[Jun. 7th, 2009|07:59 am] |
I see Toronto Pride Parade (June 28 btw) is billed by organizers as a celebration of the LGBTTIQQ2S community. Seriously!
What does LGBTTIQQ2S stand for? Why - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgendered, Intersexual, Queer, Questioning, 2-Spirited, of course.
But - gawd - we haven't run out of letters of the alphabet yet, so I'm sure this is a work in progress. |
|
|
| Gertie's |
[Jun. 4th, 2009|02:34 pm] |
I've mentioned before that we like to explore new-to-us restaurants with our friends Douglas and Daniel. Each month one of us picks a place; the only real criteria is that it's within driving distance. It's fun, particularly as we tend to otherwise get stuck in a rut, eating at the same old places. (We're eating out less and less, btw, now. That's in part because of Meirion's Weight Watcher regime - he's lost 27 pounds now - and the fact that, well, I just like home cooking.)
Anyway, this time, Daniel picked Gertie's, a place in Peterborough he'd been curious about. It's a forty-five minute drive from Nanookville. It turned out to be busy, with a pubby atmosphere reinforced by the wooden booths and an unpretentious pub/diner menu.
For my appetizer, I ordered French onion soup. Done well, it's a classic favourite of mine, but they were out of it, so I chose one of the soups of the day, a simple chicken vegetable affair.
I was tempted by the meat loaf entree; it tends to mean there's a commitment to doing comfort food staples well. But at the last minute, I chose the stir fry instead. It came as a rather unappealing looking pile of rice, but with plenty of chicken and sparce but nicely done vegetables in a suitably spicy sauce. As stir-fries go, it was about average.
Full, but always with room for dessert, I finished with a chocolate cake. It came richly dense, just how I like it. But I know my chocolate cakes, and this one didn't come from this kitchen. Still, they got points for at least ordering it from a good supplier - and for making it look pretty.
The two guys both ordered fish and chips. It came with two sizeable pieces of fish per order, which were unfortunately not halibut, but the much cheaper haddock. It looked fancier than fish and chips need to be - a pile of chips and a hunk of fish is all that's really called for, and if they come wrapped in newspaper, so be it - but the guys liked it.
All in all, a pleasant enough meal, but not exactly a destination restaurant; more somewhere to go if you have an appetite for ordinary food, done reasonably well. Which, let's face it, is what we want most of the time. |
|
|
| Green Day |
[Jun. 3rd, 2009|07:40 am] |
We've been having a lot of rain lately, so that, combined with the usual early summer growth, there's an incredible lushness in our rural landscape. Everything is very, very green.
So green happens to be the subject of today's post. Its my favourite colour, I think, although noticeably lacking in my wardrobe (what's up with that?) Anyway, yesterday I went in search of green and today's images are the result.
Green comes in lots of flavours right now, as you'll see.
The subject also caused me to delve in to the YouTube archives to find - what else - Somewhere That's Green from the 1986 movie version of Little Shop of Horrors. This track features the amazing Ellen Greene, plus a cameo appearance, although you have to look carefully for it, by a Dudley look-a-like.
As an aside, If this track doesn't quite give you an idea of the considerable vocal talent that is Ellen Greene, a better example is here, also from the Little Shop of Horrors. It's Suddenly Seymour.
Anyway, want more pics of what's green in our neighbourhood? Clicky then - and relax, because isn't that what green's supposed to do for ya?
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Yet more baby talk . . |
[Jun. 2nd, 2009|11:00 pm] |
Update: there were eventually four eggs, rather than three.
They all hatched this past weekend.
The babies are kind of ugly. Mind you, so was I at that age . . |
|
|
| America, get your act together. Now, please. |
[Jun. 1st, 2009|07:04 pm] |
The Edge, Boston, this week broke the news that Canadians with HIV are still being denied access to the Unites States. Here's an except from their story.
"The United States remains one of the world's nations that denies entry to persons from other countries who are living with HIV/AIDS. That includes Canadians, as up to 60 would-be visitors from our northern neighbor discovered.
A May 28 press release from Housing Works alerted the media that as many as 60 Canadians had been turned away from the U.S. border in spite of "stated U.S. policy that foreigners living with HIV would no longer be barred from entering the country."
However, even though Congress acted to repeal the law that keeps HIV+ visitors out, relevant U.S. Department of Health & Human Services regulations have not been revised, and HIV+ visitors are still not allowed to enter the country.
Noted the release, "The 60 Canadians had planned to attend the North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit in Washington, D.C. from June 2 to June 5."
My reaction? I'll just say this action on the part of the U.S. is so shameful it's not funny.
You can read the full story here |
|
|
| Going their separate ways . . . |
[May. 27th, 2009|07:00 am] |
A few weeks ago I posted photos of a litter of four pups, six weeks old. They belongws to the folks who we occasionally board Dougall nad Dudley with, Swiss Paws Kennels. Ed here breeds these Bernese Mountain Dogs, as well as St Bernards, which are larger still.
I recently photographed the pups again, this time at ten weeks, just days before they were to go their separate ways. All four had been sold, one to a B.C. buyer (Ed was flying out there with it the next day); the others, I believe, were all going to buyers in Ontario.
I don't think I could ever breed dogs. It must be terribly traumatic to say goodbye to the pups. Hard for Ed. Hard for the mother.
Anyway, three more. I fund them more than a little poignant, but I know Ed will love having the pics to remind him of his time spent with them on walks like this.
 |
|
|
