Archive for January, 2007
What does this country offer lovers? (Part 1)
About 11 months ago, after getting dumped, fired and beat up on the same day (my birthday), I decided it was time to hit the road and see what the country offered. Canada is often underrated as a country for lovers; if you are in love, you take your woman to Cuba or to Hawaii or Florida – what kind of cheap bastard would dare suggest staying in Canada? Well, for one – me. Most of us don’t really appreciate how splendid this country really is.
If you really want to escape the snow, I’ve been to Ucluelet and Tofino during late February/early March. I cannot guarantee sunshine, but I was fortunate enough to have sunshine for 2 out of 3 days I was there that time. The difference can be startling.
The spring, summer and fall are a lot kinder to this great place. Horseback riding, surfing, bicycling, amazing food (at Pasticceria Conradi (311 Neill Street)) and one of the toughest nature trails in the world – you can find them all. There is also a lot of beautiful places to stay; stargazing from the beach is nearly a religious experience.
Picture Of The Day: January 9th, 2007
Cathedral Grove is a beautiful spot on Vancouver island. The lack of a tripod (and the lack of automatic focus/exposure) proved a bit of a challenge when I took this picture of myself on my old Nikon FM-10. One of these days I’ll go back and take this picture again.
Picture Of The Day: January 8th, 2007
5-10 degrees in January in Montreal???
“The ****er owes me 20$”
Yesterday was an, uh, interesting night.
I was wandering up and down St. Denis after doing something for my father. It was about 11:30 or so when I noticed that I was next to Schwartz’s, and there was no lineup. Smiling at my good luck, I walked into the store. I had been there before, but there was no one to assign a seat (since it wasn’t quite as busy as it is the rest of the day). I sat down at the front table and ordered a lean smoked meat sandwich. I was pleasently surprised to receive it almost immediately, and I got straight down to devouring it. Suddenly, a Haitian gentleman entered the establishment. He was swearing and sat right next to me and asked for a “big big smoked meat sandwich and french fries”.
The man was a complete alpha male; he demanded a new glass because his had a chip in it, and told the waiter in no uncertain terms to throw out the glass he gave him. More interestingly, he struck up a conversation with the butcher (who was right in front of us). He started swearing and talking about how a cousin owed him 20$. He said the guy had promised to be somewhere at 6 PM, leaving my neighbour driving up and down Montreal for 3 hours trying to find him. Finally the wayward soul’s mother calls and says she will pay the loan.
My neighbour was disgusted and indicated that if he didn’t get his money, the indebted fellow would be beaten to an inch of his life. I actually choked on a piece of smoked meat at that moment. Both men looked at me and I smiled and offered some ketchup to my neighbour. He graciously accepted it. At that moment, I took a look into his eyes.
It was only for a moment, but I had seen the eyes of a killer. I choked down my food, paid the $7.50 it cost, and vanished before I heard anything else. Frankly, I didn’t want to know anymore.
Picture Of The Day: January 7th, 2007
Another picture; Montreal at Night is quite beautiful, although the fog obscured much of the city. If you want to see how much is obscured, look at this:
