Jen and I headed over to her brother’s backyard for an “end of school party” this weekend. It was a carnival theme with lots of fun games for the kids, and a great little bar for the parents. Unfortunately, the party was scheduled for the only 4hours of rain we got all week, so we were all huddled in tents for most of it.
One of the wineries Jen reps is Beringer, but she was surprised to see a 2007 Beringer White Merlot on the bar. She hadn’t seen it before. So I whipped out the Flip and we did an instant tasting.
To achieve the perfect color in their White Merlot, Beringer’s winemaking team gently destems and presses the Merlot grapes, leaving the red skins in contact with the juice for approximately three hours. As soon as the desired soft, red-purple hue is achieved, the juice is removed. Slow, cool fermentations follow to retain the bright acidity, fresh melon and citrus flavors. The resulting wine is a vibrant blend of fresh berry and zesty orange peel flavors, with a hint of nutmeg spice.
It’s all that and more. When it’s hot and you’re just chilling looking for something sweet, this would be PERFECT! If you can find it. The wine isnt listed in the BC Liquor Stores, and Jen doesnt have it on her roster to distribute, so look for it in the States.
BTW, I love how “Wine Wednesday” has become totally random and postable whenever we have wine. lol.
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Get ready to read that a lot this year. For sure the Vancouver Canucks will be a consistent sell out again this year, but more and more season ticket holders will be dumping their duckets faced with watching a losing team 41 times this year.
When Francesco Aquilini fired Dave Nonis and brought in Mike Gillis it was under the impression that the previous regime wasn’t getting anything done. They weren’t moving forward fast enough. Well, Mike Gillis has sped up the momentum of the franchise, unfortunately the rookie GM has his gearshift backwards and the Canucks are sliding downhill faster than the skate on their old jerseys.
In the past 2 weeks with a trading frenzy at the NHL Draft, and the start of NHL Free Agent season, Gillis has managed to add a grand total of 9 goals to the lineup while missing out on all the big ticket items and losing his grip on former client Markus Naslund.
The owner said he wanted a more uptempo, aggressive, offensive, exciting hockey team. Well, here’s how the lineup looks today, you tell me where the goals are coming from.
D Sedin - H Sedin - Pyatt
Raymond - Wellwood - Pettinger
Burrows - Kesler - Johnson
Hordichuk - Rypien - Cowan
Wooo! Plan the parade.
Sure, we have a solid defence and goaltending, but we had that already. It is going to a pain full season, gang.
In the next couple of weeks, I’ll be heading down to GM Place to pick up my half season tickets for 2008-2009. I was thinking about upgrading to a full season package this year and auctioning off the extra tickets to raise money for Team Diabetes.
Now I’m not so sure there will be the demand above face value to make it worthwhile.
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Today the celebrations have started to commemorate the 400th birthday of Quebec City. But it’s more than just a party in the Capital of La Belle Province, it’s a time to pause and reflect on the birth of our nation.
On July 3, 1608, Champlain landed at the “point of Québec” and set about fortifying the area by building three main buildings (each two stories tall), to which he referred collectively as “l’Habitation”, and also a moat 12 feet (4 m) wide. This was to become the city of Quebec. Fortifying Quebec City became one of his passions, which he embarked on periodically for the rest of his life. [wiki]
We didnt make it to Quebec City this year, but it was special to visit Honfleur, the port where Champlain started his voyages to found what would become Canada.
Vive Le Quebec. Vive Le Canada. Bonne Fete!
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Jen and Z took to the pool, while I set up a little table and break down a different way for you to have sangria - with white wine!
My Macbook died right at the end, here’s what you missed: it tastes great!
Here’s what you need to know about making sangria.
1. it doesnt matter which wine you use, it can be white or red, just pick some of your cheaper stuff off the shelf
2. dont use sugary pop. try seltzer, or soda, or san pellegrino, or 7up. all you want is some fizz and citrus to hit the wine, not all the sugary sugarness. you only need about 1 can of fizz for 1 litre of wine
3. cut your fruit in thin slices so a piece or two splashes in each glass.
4. freeze the fruit before you make your sangria and it will keep it cold without diluting
The 3 litre boxes are on shelves now and keep easy in your fridge door. Bust off half the box into Sangria for a bbq on the weekend, and then keep the rest in the fridge to have a refreshing glass with dinner the rest of the week!
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I have been in love with Canada today. I just look at the flag and get chills and tingles and a big screaming smile. It’s the most perfect flag on the planet. The colours are bold, it’s simple and it has a unique motif right in the middle. Those Euro flags bore the stink out of me. Yay, 3 colours some horizontal, some vertical - how creative! Just check out Z waving and smiling like a proud little beaver.
That was the highlight of the day. The rest of it was just kinda “meh.” If you splash landed in North Vancouver today and wondered what Canada was all about you’d think we were a nation of salmon eating special interest groups who adore politicians and rock n roll cover bands.
That’s what Waterfront Park had to offer in North Vancouver today. Assorted booths from federal and provincial politicians, tents for Community Corrections and North Shore Immigrants. Some 50+ man I didnt recognize was talking municipal political shop with equally senior members of his generation in the salmon line up while a cover band sang “Surfin USA” (they couldnt even change the lyrics?). There was a big map on the side where people could push a pin to show where they’re from. (Even on Canada Day you get to hyphenate your nationality)
I don’t know what I’d rather have seen done differently. Perhaps a wider expanse of food options? (There was salmon, burgers, smokies). Perhaps a venue that is stroller accessible? (5 flights of stairs to get from one side to the other). Some kids playing street hockey, a lumberjack show, some highland dancing, maybe even the anthem?
Heck, Jen and I did the HBC Run For Canada this morning, and they didn’t even play the anthem before that started (odd).
In the end it was a Canada Day celebration that was just kind of “there” you know? Not spectacular, not atrocious, it just showed up and made an effort - just like Canada, but unlike our flag.
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Daniel Hurtubise had been living with diabetes since he was 15. 2 weeks ago, at 50, he launched an effort to cycle across Canada raising funds and awareness for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He was joined on the ride by his son Alexandre, his daughter Sonia, and a friend.
Eager to leave an extraordinary legacy and to help a cause that affects the lives of many Canadians, our friend asked his children a simple question that would change their daily lives. As they were cycling on a sunny Sunday afternoon in 2005, Daniel exclaimed: “Hey! Alex, Sonia, how would you like to cycle across Canada to raise funds for diabetes research and increase diabetes awareness?” [JDRF]
In 2 weeks they logged over 2 000 kilometres. They had just entered Manitoba when the ride came to a sudden and tragic end this weekend.
They were riding on a section of the Trans Canada without a paved shoulder. Their support vehicle was stopped up ahead when the entire group was hit from behind by a driver in a Honda Civic. Daniel, and his friend were killed instantly. Daniel’s son was taken to hospital and released, while his daugther remained in stable condition. [CP]
The journey was dubbed the Ride of a Lifetime. It certainly was. You can experience their ride through their blog at Readers Digest.
There are many research groups dedicated to discovering more about Diabetes. I am running in support of the Canadian Diabetes Association in 2 marathons in the next year; one in Disney World in January, the other on Easter Island in June.
While I’m not running in direct support of the JDRF, my cause is still to raise awareness and funds for those living with Diabetes, people like Daniel.
Here’s an excerpt from Daniel’s blog that give some insight into why athletic endeavours like Team Diabetes and the Ride of a Lifetime are important, and a huge accomplishment for diabetics.
Day 13, Swift Current to Moose Jaw 177km. For some unknowed reason I had a very bad day with my diabetes, during the whole day I could not transform my carbohydrates and protein to energie. The whole day I had a terrible headache, I was weak and could not think straight. Alex, Sonia Robert and François were very concerned, everyone was very quit and did not know what to do, I told them that despite the situation the day had to go on. A bad day for a diabetic trying to control his/her energy is much worst than riding 177km… Ask any type 1 diabetic and they will all agree with me… [Ride of a Lifetime]
If you’ve been moved by the tragic end to Daniel’s dream, there are 3 ways you can help out.
- Pablo Su was in the right place at the right time with the right camera. Check out the spectacular image he snapped as a lioness captured a golden eagle at the Greater Vancouver Zoo.
- If you missed the Greek Day party on Broadway a few weekends back, you can still soak up the souvlaki on Boundary as the Greek SummerFest is on now!
- You've got your cheque from the government, now get ready to give it back to them. The Carbon Tax goes into effect tomorrow jumping pump prices 2.5c a litre.
- Angelina Jolie may be one of the most famous actresses in the world, but she's never really had a box office hit - until now.
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The sign outside the hall said “please enter quietly, an author reading is in progress,” or something like that.
There was no “reading”, there was no reason to be quiet. Gary Vaynerchuk was holding court with about 75 or so Vayniacs in attendance, fielding questions on everything from his rotisserie baseball team, to a diabtribe on the uselessness of decanting, from his dream to own the NY Jets, to the environmental practices of winemakers, from terroire to twitter, it was all covered and none of it was read.
101 Wines is the book Gary was in town promoting, but there was no need. It was sold out before it started. Go figure. I always thought book tours were done to promote sales with boxes and boxes unleashed upon the masses, but not at this joint. They were sold out. So I got to watch Gary not read from his book and wax on about things that I share a passion for. Wine, web, sports.
Gary is a very very passionate man. He’s all about breaking molds, doing things differently, not buying in to conventional wisdom and just squeezing every second out of life. There were at least 3 of us at the back of the room capturing the session on Flip cameras. I’d love to toss some of it up, but the Flip Ultra doesn’t play nice with my Mac.
Gary had some great and strong ideas about social networking, talking about how he’s a very public and not private person. If you’re semi private, you’ll have some issues with the way these networks operate.
He talked about his vision for Corkd, a social wine site that he’s owned for a couple of years and hasn’t really done anything with. Gary’s idea is to have it work like Pandora, or Last.fm (my comparisons not his) where you would input meta data on your favourite wines and it would help suggest new ones you might like. He also wants to take it mobile, where you could snap a photo of a wine label and the site would send you back all the data you, or your friends, have inputed about that wine.
I loved what he said about Twitter when responding to calls that Twitter is dead. “Is Twitter dead? No, 99.9% of the people in the world haven’t even heard of Twitter.” Gary admits he’s always looking for the next big thing moving from Friendster to MySpace to Facebook to Twitter, but at the same time we need to take time to make them more than passing fads.
I kept thinking the whole time how Gary is so much like Seth Godin. A natural. An outside the box thinker who is constantly innovating, but at the same time using the most basic of tools to build his brand - relationships. Gary even name checked Seth saying he’s heard the comparisons before, but doesnt buy them. He says he’s never read any of the big buzz business books. He doesnt have time to read blogs anymore. He’s just himself. He believes in himself. And he believes in his relationships.
Gary may have been there to promote his book, and he may be famous for his Wine Library Thunder Show, but if you look a little deeper and spend a little more time at GaryVaynerchuk.com you’ll learn things a lot more valuable than the difference between Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc.
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Earlier this week, the blogging gang got together for SteakCamp at The Brave Bull. [read Raul and Karen's reviews.] I couldn’t attend as I was at our daycare’s BBQ. It’s one of the things about being at the higher end of the SocMed demographics. Most of the gang in town are single, or married without children. Not me, I gots responsibilities.
The tag line is “making eating out child’s play.” The concept is a large open area for the children to frolick freely, while around the outside moms and dads chill with lattes and salads and have a stressless visit.
It is novel. I’ve seen many a mom with a squirmy son while she tries to kibbitz with her girlfriends on a Starbucks patio, this is the kind of place they could now frequent. Moms get to gossip, kids get to squirm wherever they want.
You do have to pay to play, $4 for the kids and $2 for the adults. They’re selling memberships at $125/yr for kids and $75/yr for adults. That’s about $25 a month to have a membership at a cafe with a playroom. Seems a little steep. But then again, perhaps that’s the crowd they’re going for. The National Post piece is nothing but dollar signs and name droppping.
… crawling with $1,000 Bugaboo strollers .. after several Vancouver-area house flips, raised the equity (just shy of $300,000) … The adult chairs are Eames and the $425 highchairs are HiLo, by Montreal’s Age Design … These are the kind of kids who learn sign language just for fun. … there is organic buffalo meatloaf on the menu, and Weleda nursing tea … wooden trucks by Fagus and bright plastic Trioli chairs … our stylishly rounded-off James Burleigh table … the designer toys, the melamine dishes, the German wallpaper … [National Post]
It all sounds veryPosh and Becks.
The food is all organic, and ultra healthy. I had a Portuguese Stew, Jen had some salads while Z had brown rice pasta with turkey quinoa meatballs.
My stew was all potato with sauce, Jen’s salads were a little too much to have as a full meal (as in the taste got boring quick), while Z licked and smacked his fingers inhaling the meatballs and pasta. The portion was huge for $5 and we have some locked up in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.
babyeats has only been open a few weeks, and, as you’d expect, some of the things just didnt quite seemed finished about it.
Rachel, the owner, admitted they didnt have the rice balls that were on the menu because they hadn’t found an appropriate rice yet. We weren’t given napkins or wipes and the highchairs were very high for Z (our $40 ikea chair at home blows the stink out of these $425 beasts). The place is called babyeats, but at a larger 13months, the tray was almost tight under Z’s armpits.
Would we go back? I don’t know. $4 for a 13 mo old to mess around for a while seems a little steep, especially when you toss in $2 for each adult. Our entire meal came to $36, which felt expensive for what it was. Jen wasnt a huge fan of the toys either. There were lots of sharp edges and a few of the heavier toys (like a wooden cash register) weren’t attached to the shelf and came crashing down.
I asked her if it was a place she would come with her girlfriends and relax while the kids ran around, again she wasn’t sure.
The demographics seem a little off, for what they offer. There was one child there pushing 5 who seemed really bored, the walking toddlers had a bit of fun, and you really had to hover over Z to make sure he didnt bonk himself, so the demo seems tight. 2-4 year olds only.
It’s a fun and interesting and fresh idea, will it still be open in 2 or 3 years? Not so sure. Then again, we don’t have a Bugaboo stroller and a Danish au pair.
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The journey was dubbed the Ride of a Lifetime. It certainly was. You can experience their ride through 
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