Things that made me smile this week

1. Spending the day on Saturday walking from flea market to flea market, going to the Italian Market Festival, and wandering down to South Philly.

2. Seeing (but not buying) an old board game called Ka-Bala.


3. Getting a sweet deal on the TCM Scene It and the Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture DVD games and a couple of the flea markets ($2 and $3 respectively). Now I need to find people willing to play them with me...

4. Gorging myself on kettle corn at the festival

5. Hanging out with the Gay Swim Team at my neighbor's house

6. Finding a great new neighborhood restaurant, Saute, and being treated to a delicious 4 course meal (fried sweetbreads, yum!)

7. Making chicken mango curry sandwiches for dinner with the most delicious mangoes of the year

8. Finding out that many of my favourite TV shows were renewed: Chuck, Dollhouse, Better off Ted, Castle

9 Getting a good deal on my flights this summer. More money for interesting food!

10. Managing to post to my blog even though Facebook and Twitter have pretty much taken over my online social life.

Joe-A-Day Part 5

Coming into the homestretch...

Episode 4 has the Eckville song!

Eckville came to national attention in 1984 when the mayor and high school teacher Jim Keegstra was charged and convicted of hate speech. I remember my dad going to see a part of the trial (either the original one or the appeal in 1990, I'm not sure).

Joe-a-Day, Part 4

Here's Episode 3 of the Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie show, which includes the immortal legend of the little beefalo and the hilarious NHL Does Shakespeare skit.

Joe-A Day, part 3

Here's episode two of the Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie show

For those of you who don't know Joe

I've been posting (and will continue to post) stuff about Joe Bird this week. I figure I should also post the lovely article in the Edmonton Journal. I feel bad because I'm on the other side of the continent and can't be at the memorial tonight, but I know that the theatre will be packed and there will be as much laughter as there are tears.

Here's the article by Liz Nicholls from the the Edmonton Journal:


Remembering Edmonton musician, actor Joe Bird
By Liz Nicholls, edmontonjournal.com April 3, 2009



EDMONTON — With the news that Joe Bird died Wednesday — felled by a heart attack at the absurdly young age of 41 — Edmonton seems a sadder, drabber, tamer, cloudier place today.

For one thing, we’re now a place where a person won’t, any time soon, catch sight of a man in a skirt, rollerblading down Whyte Avenue with two guitars and a mandolin on his back. That indelible image would be Bird — composer, musician, comic, actor, writer and free spirit — on his way to preside over open-mike gigs at O’Byrne’s Pub.

That gig, along with membership in diverse rock bands, was central to his musician’s life for the past couple of years. But Bird, the sunniest of men, spread his warmth, originality, and a certain puckish spirit of why-not? over every aspect of the entertainment scene here. And that, of course, includes theatre.

In 1985, Bird and his high school pal Wes Borg formed a theatre-sports improv team with an enigmatic name, Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie. A year later, with Paul Mather, the Trolls were revealing their signature combination of kooky and literate in sketch comedy at the Sidetrack Cafe. Cathleen Rootsaert joined, then Neil Grahn.

In the eight years that followed, before the Trolls membership again dwindled to Borg and Bird, the Trolls gave Edmonton and the Fringe Festival “the hottest tickets in town,” as Grahn puts it. “Buzz, energy, excitement.” And that gave the Trolls “a taste of what it must feel like to be rock stars, in our small, goofy theatre-troupe way.

“Actors, real theatre types, would ask, ‘What have these guys got?’ They’re idiots!’ ” says Grahn. “We couldn’t argue with them. We knew we were.” He’d first seen Bird and Borg at Yuk Yuks. He recalls being particularly struck by “the duelling banjos” routine. “It was so stupid,” he laughs approvingly. “They’d start that Deliverance thing, and end up smashing each other over the head with their guitars. … Ah, these guys I like!”

He remembers sublime Troll moments at the old Theatre Network, whose home in the ’80s was a defunct Kingdom Hall near the Coliseum. “We were doing some German expressionist dance number, Freedom. Joe had Cathleen on his shoulders, and ran right off the stage. He just drilled her head into the ground. Beautiful and tragic.”

Bird’s musician chops meant that he created many of the Trolls’ comedy songs, including the hit that landed them a six-show CBC contract: The I Hate Toronto Song, which detailed the shortcomings of everywhere in Canada, except Alberta. Bird was responsible for the Hinterland Who’s Who-type theme that included the daffy Legend of the Little Beefalo Calf and the rousing North Pole union song-gone-wrong that brought down the house in the Trolls’ seasonal collaboration with Atomic Improv in Cry Santa!

The sight of Bird as General Brock in The War of 1812, a subject sadly neglected by musical theatre both before and since, isn’t something I’m going to forget. Neither was Bird as sex-craved Joseph, singing to his pregnant virgin girlfriend, in a version of The Messiah in which the Trolls teamed with the rock band Jr. Gone Wild.

Last summer, Bird did the comedy songs for the CBC Radio initiative The Irrelevant Show, including a theme for Grahn’s “favourite bit, Radio Stunt Man. … Joe wrote this great tune, sort of Peter Gunn and Mission: Impossible.” “My God, he was a beautiful songwriter,” says Rootsaert, who left the Trolls in 1994 to pursue playwriting and acting. Both she and Grahn note the cruel irony of Bird’s comedy song We’re All Going To Die. “Joe was supposed to be killed by killer bees,” she says sadly.

“Joe greeted you, always, with a smile and a hug,” says Rootsaert. “He was also so … lively. I’ve laughed harder with him …”

Grahn, who calls Bird “an equal opportunity hugger,” concurs. “He made us laugh. He was so horribly inappropriate at times, you couldn’t help but love him. So vibrant. It’s really so shocking.”

We all agree. The old theatrical axiom about suspending disbelief was never harder.

Joe-A-Day

Here's Day 2 of my tribute to the man in the skirt (and one of my first crushes). I didn't know Joe Bird personally very well but I was a recipient of a few of his famous hugs.

The CBC aired 5 episodes of the "Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie" show back in either 1991 or 1992. I taped it at the time (off rabbit ears, even - we didn't have cable then!). It's been sitting on videotape for the last two decades or so, and I've finally converted it and uploaded it so everyone can have the Dead Troll experience. Joe's the hot one with dark hair :)

The week of Joe

In memory of Joe Bird: founding member of Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie, the guy who taught me men can look hot in a skirt, musical genius, great hugger, and all-around hilarious guy.

Here's a video of Joe and Wes performing "The War of 1812" song (in the US, brave bastards). For those that don't know him, Joe's the dark haired guy on the left.

Romance

This short film made me smile.

The Great Tourist Cheesesteak Taste Test

This week my old friend J. from University is in town with the Stars on Ice tour (no, he's not a skater). I took Tuesday off work to spend the day showing him around the city.

As a tourist he could not not go to Pat's and Geno's for cheesesteak, that quintessential Philly food. But which one to choose? Thus began the Great Tourist Chessesteak Taste Test.

We got a cheesesteak with onions from bot Pat's and Geno's (American cheese from Pat's and Provolone from Geno's - it didn't look like provolone was an option at Pat's). Since it was cold out, we brought them home and began the test.















First impressions: Geno's was pretty skimpy on the meat and Pat's had far more meat and onions. The bread at Pat's was softer and the bread at Geno's had a much firmer crust.

We both agreed on the results of the taste test. While Pat's had far more stuff in the sandwich, the flavours were bland and the bread was too soft. In comparison, the steak from Geno's, although skimpy on the fillings, had a much more developed and savoury flavour and the bread had a nice amount of chewiness. It might have been the different cheeses, but the Geno's steak won hands down for flavour and texture.







































This win by Geno's is disappointing to me since Geno's is the restaurant with the disturbing sign in the window that say "This is America, When ordering speak English" I also don't like the sign that says "If you can read, thank your teacher. If you can read English, thank a marine".

But I don't have to go there again, because that's one more tourist experience crossed of my list. Locals know that to find a good cheesesteak all you have to do is head out to your local food cart.















J. went out on Thursday to a cart around 20th and Market and got a cheesesteak for $2.75 less than Tuesday night, with more stuff inside (as well as mayo, which makes it nice and juicy). His verdict was that the cart steak was better than the Tuesday night tasting steaks.

Another delicious sandwich is the Chicken Cheesesteak, which was not part of the test but my personal favourite in terms of really unhealthy Philly food that I probably shouldn't eat.

Grammar, and why it's important

Truth in Advertising

Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work

A walk to work

Yesterday it snowed in Philly. I think it's the most snow I've seen in years here, and the city closed the schools (of course they do that when it sprinkles, so not a big deal). My first thought when looking out my window was "Cool, I'm totally walking to work today!"



So, I put on my boots and grabbed my camera and headed out. Here's my walk to work today in pictures:

The great Dunkin Donuts/Tim Horton's Taste Test

I was back in Edmonton last week to surprise the folks (totally worked, mom was speechless. If you know my mom you know how unique that feat is). The weather was unseasonably warm for most of the trip - it was about 15 degrees warmer in Edmonton than Philadelphia until Thursday, when I finally got Canadian winter and the mercury dropped to -36 Celsius.

Anyway, some of the highlights of the trip included filling an entire suitcase with chocolates and cookies (Tim Tams, Penguins, McVitties, Viva Puffs, and Pirate cookies), seeing Slumdog Millionaire (totally not a feelgood movie, but fantastic nonetheless), hanging with old friends and colleagues, and wedding dress shopping with my sister.

Of course, I bought many many Tim Horton's Timbits to bring back with me on the plane. I brought a separate box for my roommate, but found out when I got home that she's off the sugar (horrors!) so she can't eat them. So they'll either wait in the freezer for her to get her teeth fixed, or I'll eat them myself.... I swear every time I go through the Edmonton International Airport either Customs or Security tells me that I can't take my Timbits with me and that I'll have to leave them in their care. Funny the first time, rather tedious the 10th time.

Anyways, I always get sour cream glazed Timbits (doughnut holes) because they're my all-time favourite. Today as I was walking home I popped into a Dunkin Donuts and saw that they too have sour cream doughnuts. Well, the stage for a taste test was set! I bought a doughnut and brought it home:















I then pulled my box of Timbits out of the freezer (the glazed ones freeze very well) and pulled out a couple of the sour cream glazed timbits:
















The Dunkin' Donuts doughnut looked more fried, and smelled like deep fried goodness.
The Timbits looked less crunchy and didn't really smell that much of anything.

Onwards to the testing. The DD doughnut was definitely more well-done. It had a sturdier, more rigid texture, crumblier rather than soft inside (bear in mind that I defrosted the Timbits and they were slightly warmer than the doughnut)















The Timbits had a much thinner outer crust and were not crumbly at all, they were very dense and soft inside (again, this might be due to temperature).
















Tastewise, the DD doughnut - I could taste that it was deep fried and it reminded more of a funnel cake than a sour cream doughnut in taste. It was a light taste, with not much depth and a very definite sugary finish. The Timbits had a deeper, richer taste, you could taste the sour cream and they didn't feel deep fried. They also weren't as sweet. If taste was music, I'd say the DD doughnut was a high note and the Timbits were a middle note - I was actually thinking this as I ate: light soprano versus richer contralto. Yes, I'm pretentious about my doughnut tastings.

Anyway I think I could eat a whole box of the Timbits and not feel heavy. On the other hand, after one DD doughnut I felt as if I had stuck my tongue into a vat of sugary oil.

Hands down the Tim Horton's Sour Cream Glazed Timbits reigned supreme. Too bad I can only get them in Canada (or Providence, RI). I suppose not having a steady supply of doughnuts is actually a good thing...

Boggle!

When I was a kid one of the things my family did regularly was sit around the kitchen table and play Boggle. It's one of those things that slowly stopped happening and the memory faded away. This past weekend I was helping friends decorate their Christmas Tree and we ended up closing the evening out by sitting around the coffee table playing Boggle. I can't believe I forgot how much fun it is to play, and how "just one more round" became over an hour of play.


This is the game we had at home:


It's been updated to a more "modern" blue, but the game is the same.


So much fun - I think I need to own it now and make all my friends play word games with me.

I CAN HAZ GREEN CARD?

Yes, I can!

After over 5 years of jumping through all the hoops, I'm finally a Permanent Resident of the United States!

Prop 8 - the musical!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Les Misbarak

Banning books

I don't ban books, but as a librarian I am constantly selecting books for my library. When I choose to not purchase a book for the library, is that akin to banning it? I don't think so.

Here's an interesting post from a bookseller that discusses the act of selection and it's relation to banning.

Best baby halloween costume ever!

Delicious lobster baby!

200!

As of today I have completed 200 books this calendar year. 26 more and I'll beat last year's total, and that's even with a month where I only read about 6 books due to traveling.

Book 200:



You can always track my reading online and see how I'm doing.