Meat Sweats

I've been travelling this week for work and staying in Leicester Square so I've been eating exclusively Asian food for the last few days. But tonight, tonight is all about meat as a group of us from the office will be eating at Gaucho, London. The odd thing is, I'm 99% sure, I ate here a couple of years ago. My memory, fogged by pints of beer, is a little unreliable, but judging by Google Street View this is the same place. I'll only know for sure once I step inside. Unfortunately, Street View doesn't go inside restaurants.

UPDATE: Gaucho is definitely in the neighbourhood of a consultant's office (which was very close by) but this was definitely not the same place. All the cuts they offered were first shown then explained and an assortment of sides were brought with the mains. Great place and we had a great time.

Made in China 

Can't the Chinese Army just go back to hacking the New York Times and leave my e-mail alone.


screen shot of recent spam e-mail

Really? Who are they trying to fool? One fun thing to do was run this through Google Translate - which just revealed it as a nonsensical collection of keywords… or maybe that's what Google translates everything as?

Hardly Frightful

I went for a run this weekend and when I looked up the weather report it said this, "-10°C, feels like -19°C, blowing snow, poor visibility. Take caution if driving". But it looked like this:

Winter Dusk vine.co/v/brYtAgZIBI0

— Peter Rogers (@rowdyman) February 17, 2013

I wasn't the only one scratching my head. More than a few people had posted similar comments to the effect, "Not here" or "Where is this weather report from?"

Only the Web masters know.

Of the Feathered Kind 

Blue Cochin Bantam Pullet. Photo by Tamara Staples via Slate.com

More beasts - chickens this time. Take a look at a few photos of some fancy chickens at Slate.com. Is there anything these fine fowls can't do? Okay, I'm sure there are plenty of things they can't do. Still, the eggs and the "tenders" are pretty good, right? They provide protein and look good doing it. Tamara Staples scouted them at various county fairs before going to the birds' homes to create portraits for two books, the latest, The Magnificent Chicken is available this week. I guess there's no Westminster Show for these birds but it'd be fun if there was. They'd give Banana Joe a run for his money (and why yes, Banana Joe is my new ham radio handle! Though Bearded Buff Frizzle Polish is a close second.)

Besties of Beasties

Take a look at this photo gallery of the Westminster’s Best of Breed from the New York Times. You won't be disappointed. Also note the dogs' full registered names. More than a few are hilariously overdone. I guess cats aren't the only animals with "ineffable effable" names.

Deep and Inscrutable 

Keena in halcyon repose. Ottawa, Ontario. Date unknown.

I knew a phone call at such a late hour probably wasn't something good (weird how the brain does that). It was Angela telling me that Keena, feline friend of over 18 years, had died.

I never wanted to admit, even to myself, how much I missed Keena. When I first moved into this apartment I still expected her to come to the door, say "hello" then turn around again. One time while coming back from the airport, I started dozing off in the cab and I thought how nice it would be to walk into Fern Avenue and be greeted by Keena. When I remembered where I was actually going, I felt a little cold.

Since I've lived in this apartment, there have been times when I have been asleep on the couch on a Saturday or lying in bed, and I hear various noises, I was so sure I heard Keena's complaint come from another room. I think I may have even called out, "Keena!" In the mornings she would moan-meow to be fed or at night when we'd just gone to bed and turned off the lights, you'd hear her, "ooowllrr". For some reason, just calling out her name would quieten her. Then you'd hear her padding into the bedroom, give another noise as if to say, "oh, you're here. Well whatever." and then make her way downstairs.

She could be a contrarian and anti-social but what few people knew was she was also a mouser. Patient and ruthless. Keena. The Keenster. Madame Piedlourde Kowalski.

“When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation”

What did T.S. Eliot say of the naming of cats? Read more »

You May Ask, "Why?" 

Toronto is a northern city, but only just barely and the fact that a storm of 25 cm of snow is the worst we've had in five years is a pretty clear indicator of how generally mild winters here are. Image via TopLeftPixel

Apparently, yesterday the GTA got about 25 cm of snow with some 35 cm falling in some places. Now this storm is headed eastward and will no doubt pick up more moisture thus drop even more snow on already suffering Canadians. All of these reports prompted my brother Mike to ask, "Why?" Why do people behave the way they do during a storm?

It seems rhetorical yet I would like to try and answer these questions if I may.
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Work From Home Day 

Happy WFH Day Eastern Seaboard! vine.co/v/bnEvrUl0rwO

— Peter Rogers (@rowdyman) February 8, 2013

Partly Unclear with a Chance of Vagueness 

Apparently, according to weather reports on television and radio, Toronto is "gonna git it" tomorrow. Prophetic warnings of commuter armageddon are forecast with dire warnings of 10-15 cm of snow during tomorrow's rush hour. Now, I realize that if you live in Newfoundland where you just got hit by storm winds that knocked out power and accumulations of 46 cm of snow, that kind of forecast is probably picnic weather. But in Toronto it really could snarl traffic, public transit and just generally suck.

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Seen in January

Marcello Mastroianni in Fellini's 8-1/2 - image via L'Aragosta

I've noticed of late that my descriptions of what I've watched is getting more and more verbose which is curious. In the future I will aim for Twitter-esque, laser-like succinct re-caps, without spoilers, and a minimum of adjudication. Well, less judgement. There will always be judgement.
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