Wednesday, April 22, 2009

I *Heart* Hot Sauce

I love hot sauce. It really does make everything better.

For chinese or thai food, I like the chicken hot sauce...Sriracha:

You know: The one w/the big cock on the front. :wink:

For a more tangy hot sauce, I like the green hot sauce that is made in-house and sold at one of my fave restaurants in Toronto...it's called Utopia (the restaurant) and I couldn't find a pic of the hot sauce online, but it is awesome! If I've taken you to eat there, and I didn't encourage you to try to the hot sauce, feel free to smack me next time you see me: I deserve it.

I also enjoy Cholula, from time to time, though hot sauce snobs claim it's fairly pedestrian..(perhaps I've been hoodwinked by the cute, little wooden knob on the top and the fact that I just looove saying the world "Cholula"...c'mon, say it...it's fun!)

I reeeally like "Valentina's"....it's perfect for Mexican dishes, but I put it on almost everything..I have a bottle at home in the fridge and I keep a bottle in my desk at work...

My question relates to this particular hot sauce...in the store they have a "Red" version and a "Black" version...nowhere on the bottles does it explain the difference between them...the only english writing on the bottle is the "nutrional information". I've searched online, but have come up empty-handed. Anyone know?

While searching for this info, I discovered something else: There are a surprising number of blogs out there devoted to hot sauce! Who knew?

On one of them, the guy set out to consume an ENTIRE (different) bottle of hot sauce EACH DAY!...I have to admit, it was riveting...I read several weeks worth and will probably go back for more later...it was called "The Smoking Tongue":

http://smokingtongue.blogspot.com/

I also found these...but I don't have any comments yet, as I haven't had a chance to peruse them...at a glance, I can see they all do reviews of various brands of hot sauce...an excellent resource!

http://www.hotsauceblog.com/

http://www.frommildtowild.com/blog/

http://www.sweatnspice.com/567-10.htm

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Saturday in Toronto

I had a ridiculously fun day today..went to the Jays game with some great friends, Chad & Sarah, who garnered a babysitter and took the train in from their burbalicious homestead.

It was supposed to go up to 22 degrees celcius today...while I'm not sure if the temp actually reached those lofty heights, it was definitely a gorgeous day, though very cloudy and the roof at the SkyRogersCentreDome was not open (which was a good thing, as it turns out, cuz it was raining quite a bit when we arrived).

Anyway, we met up w/Chad & Sarah about 15 minutes prior to the game and went in to enjoy a lovely afternoon of baseball (and they bought most of the drinks, so that's always a bonus!)

The Jays ended up winning 4-2 in extra innings, thanks to Lyle Overbay, who blasted a 2 run homer in the 12th, justifying his bobblehead game on Sunday. Way to go Lyle!

The only issue I have with the game, is with the fact that some people are fucking assholes. Dude..

Sarah and I went to the bathroom at some point, I think it was in the 4th inning...we came back and heard an incredible tale of assholishness...apparently, some folks were talking to other folks who happened to be a few rows ahead of them...

Note: During breaks in play, they play really loud music.

So, what happened was, these people were chatting (probably loudly, because the music in the stadium is incredibly loud) and some total cunt looks at them and says, "Were you born like that?"

It was a good thing I was in the bathroom at that point or this bitch would have had her asshole verbally and possibly surgically removed and handed to her.

But I was not there.

So Sarah and I returned to the seats and heard the tale of the bitch who didn't approve of chatting during baseball games.

We continued to enjoy the game.

Of course, later on, another 2 guys/fans, got chastised because they were standing up! Oh no! Not standing up!!

So the usher comes down to ask these 2 guys to sit down..and they politely asked, "Why?"

The usher said, "People were complaining. You have to sit down."

Then some grumpy fucking asshole, sitting a few seats behind them (probably the dick who complained that they'd been standing, in the first place), says, "She told you to sit down! So sit down!"

Hey, fucko, it's a BASEBALL GAME not the fucking SYMPHONY! FUCK OFF!!

Anyway, the usher gets them to sit down...and then I decided to stand up at every conceivable opportunity...sure, I had the usher bitching at me....I took that chance to call her a nazi...

Yay, Saturday! Yay baseball! OK! OK! BLUE JAYS! BLUE JAYS! LET'S PLAY BALL!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Weekend in The Cleve

For those of you who are wondering why I keep referring to Cleveland as "The Cleve", it's a "30 Rock" reference.

"For God’s sakes Lemon, we’d all like to flee to the Cleve and club up at the Flats and have lunch with Little Richard, but we fight those urges."

And for those of you who didn't know it was a "30 Rock" reference, we are officially no longer friends--I have no desire to associate with anyone who doesn't watch 30 Rock. What kind of asshole doesn't watch 30 Rock? An asshole with whom I don't want to be friends, that's what kind!

Anyway...

My (# 1 in the AL East) Toronto Blue Jays were playing a series in Cleveland over Easter weekend and, naturally, we decided to go!!

After a leisurely Good Friday, doing a whole lotta nothing, we drove down to Niagara Falls for the night...gambled for a few hours and got a good night's sleep, since we had to hit the road pretty early in order to make it to the stadium in plenty of time for the 1 pm game.

Before we left, we managed to grab a pair of 2nd row tickets (below face value, no less) from "StubHub"--right behind the Blue Jays dugout!! Woohoo!

We woke up Saturday morning and it was a beautiful, sunny day (a huge improvement over the previous day's rain--and the previous day's 3.5 hour rain delay of game in Cleveland!), however, once we stepped outside we realized it was fucking freezing!! Good God.

We had an uneventful drive to Cleveland's "Progressive Field" (formerly known as "Jacob's Field" and (still) affectionately referred to by those "in the know" as "The Jake"). Once we found parking (right across the street from the stadium), we exited the car (with fingers crossed no one would vandalize the car for bearing an Ontario license plate)and realized it was even colder, in Cleveland, than it was in Niagara Falls!! D'oh!

Speaking of "d'oh", I stupidly forgot my gloves in the car. Nor did I bring the blanket with me from the trunk. I'm so stupid.

Indians fans were everywhere, heading in to the stadium, though we did spot more than a couple of Blue Jay hats, here and there, in the crowd. Cleveland is the closest city for which Torontonians can travel for professional baseball or basketball, so it's no surprise that a number of folks made the trek--particularly since this was a long weekend!

I've travelled a lot and been to a number of cities for both Jays and Raptors games. For the most part, people in these cities (and inside the sporting venues) have been remarkably, overwhelmingly friendly and welcoming, even when I'm sporting my team's paraphernalia!

That's not the case in The Cleve.

Fans in this city are rabid & vicious! We previously attended a Cavaliers vs Raptors game and encountered exactly the same thing. Psychos abounded!!

We had wandered around the concourse of the stadium for a bit (freezing!) trying to locate our seats...(and what great seats they were!!). However, when we went to sit down, a crusty old man in the seats beside ours snarled, "I go to ONE GAME A YEAR and I have to sit by JAYS fans...why didn't you just stay home??!"

Well, thanks for the warm welcome!


I ordered a cocktail (something called a "Jelly Bean" w/vodka, watermelon liquor & cranberry juice...it's allegedly some kind of Cleveland Easter treat, though my friend Kimmy, who's lived in the area her entire life, had never heard of it...anyway, it was DELICIOUS! It was also very well iced and the ice didn't melt even a little bit, due to the extreme temperatures, so it was semi-painful to hold).


I'm not sure how cold it actually was, but we could see our breath, and the wind off the lake was very strong that day and, obviously, extremely chilly. Thank goodness there was not a cloud in the sky--it would have been far more uncomfortable than it was if the sun hadn't been beating down all afternoon. In fact, the staff were actually moving people from one side of the stadium (that was becoming more and more shadow-covered as the day wore on) to the other so they could be in the sun!


The game was amazing...the Jays pulled out a victory despite the best (aka worst) efforts of BJ Ryan (the Blue Jays' ostensible "closer") to ruin all the hard work done by ace Roy Halladay, the starting pitcher, and the collective Blue Jays bats....

The Jays were up 5-1 (I can't recall if it was in the 8th or the 9th that Cito brought Ryan in) and Ryan managed to walk the bases loaded. I was so distraught I actually left my seat and paced around the concourse--I couldn't watch! It was too painful!

Anyway, final score was 5-4 for the good guys. :)

Oh, and, Indians fans: Well done! You made us feel so welcome in your city!

"JAYS SUCK!!" ~ Some guy coming out of the washroom, upon seeing a Blue Jays cap--charming!

"She's a JAYS fan." ~ Dad, grumpily, explaning to his young child why I was cheering when the Blue Jays got a hit.

"JAYS SUUUUUCK!" ~ Dad a few rows behind us

"Daddy, what's suck mean?" ~ Child of the dad who believes the Jays suck

"It means they SUCK! I hate them! They SUCK!" ~ Same dad, doing some just excellent parenting...


Overall, we had a great time...I'm also pleased to report that not everyone was as rude to us as the Indians fans inside the stadium were. As we left the game, a gentlemen wished us a "Good night" and then, noticing our hats, laughed and said, "I *know* you two will have a good night..you're Jays fans!!"

After the game, we went to meet my friend Kimmy & her wonderful son (yep, he's one of the few kids I actually LIKE!) JD for dinner at one of her favourite restaurants, with lots of veggie options, called "Tommy's" on Coventry Street. If you're in the area, I highly recommend it!

We arrived pretty early so we parked the car and explored the neighbourhood a bit (after cleverly side-stepping some puke in the parking garage...stink-o-rama!) Very cool area, major hippie vibe, lots of places I'd like to go eat should I ever make it back to The Cleve!

We decided to go for a drink at a bar/restaurant called the "Laughing Lizard" (I could be wrong about the "laughing" part...but I know it had an adjective before the word lizard in the title...it could have been "laughing"...). The drink selection was gargantuan...I was having trouble deciding...I ultimately settled on a Bloody Mary and it was GENIUS! Mmmm...(((Genius Bloody Mary)))...

After dinner, we went to what must be one of JD's favourite places on earth, a crazy novelty store called "BIG FUN". As you can see, it was, indeed, BIG fun.



The GPS lady decided to take us on a scary trek through Sketchville (not a real place) on our way out of town...we were stopped at a light, for what seemed like an eternity, and I don't mind telling you, I was becoming a little bit nervous. In any case, we glanced over at the mini-strip-mall style store to the left and noticed that the windows were all covered with ads for the store's products/services..."Bibles: $6.95 and Up!"... "Crucifixes: Sm/Med/Lg"..."Rat Bait"

Wait--what?

Then we noticed the name of the company:



Wow. What a combination of services!! And, from the looks of things, they started out exclusively selling Christian supplies. Then, for whatever reason, they decided to expand--logically, into pest control!

I have a theory that perhaps, over the years, customers would come in for their religious materials and mention how bad off they were, pest-wise...and T & L, being shrewd business owners, decided to take advantage!!

And that was our trip to The Cleve! A whirlwind of adventure!!

See ya next time, Ohio!

And Cleveland sports fans: Stay classy!

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Movie Crushes from the 80s III

This is one of the movies from the 80s that I remember seeing at the theatre and it had a HUGE effect on me....it was like one of those perfect confluences of experiences..(bad) music, (bad) fashion and (bad) timing.

And I loved it all (at the time).

And it's apropos because I hear they're producing a re-make (Editorial Aside: Leave the classics alone, fuckers!):

FOOTLOOSE!

Omigod.

I think I was in grade 5 or 6 when it came out...the soundtrack was beyond awesome at the time.

I remember our grade 5/6 3-day camping trip..we had a ghetto blaster and plenty of batteries and a Footloose soundtrack...we played it over and over and over and over...

I distinctly remember arguing with one of the guys, because he just wanted to play "Footloose" (Track 1) over and over and I had to negotiate with him just so we could at least hear "Let's Hear It For the Boy" (Track 2) at least a couple of times (never mind the whole album).

We finally got to see the movie and I was blown away...

I lived in a small, cloistered town..

I imagined myself in the environment from the movie, meeting Kevin Bacon (REN!) and beating the redneck townsfolk and their racist, pedestrian, closed-minded ways...oh, it was a glorious, divine fantasy for a 12 year old. :)

I am torn about the news that they're thinking of remaking this film...

On one hand, if they could formulate a modern version of this movie, with its elan, modern kids would likely respond to it the way I did, when I was their age: As an inspiration for them, something that speaks to them.

On the other hand, it's almost sacrilegious, to sully the name of such a classic flick!

I pray the filmmakers show due reverence in the new version. ;)

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

I Club My Cat

One day, several years ago, my friend Gill & I were out and about and noticed a car sporting a bumper sticker with the following (endearing & oh-so-clever) message on it:

Gill, horrified, exclaimed, "I *CLUB* MY CAT??!!!"

For a moment, I was confused, both by her vehemence and her response...

I paused for a moment before replying, "Um...yeah...Gill? That's a spade...I *spayed* my cat...."

We still get a good laugh about that one.