Yet Again

Yet again I go to Dorval in the now-$45 cab, get on the asshole-cheapskate flight to Vancouver that I paid $4500 for and then get on that interminable flight to Japan. Then arrive have one day there and get to do it all over again in reverse!

So far I haven't lifted a finger to prepare. I'll do it when I do it.

Pity me . . . and be so thankful it isn't you.

Moron Blogs

I really hate the word. I will never stop hating the word. But "blog" is just an extension of a diary. Issues can be presented. News can be broadcast; just look at the brave Lebanese who blogged during the crisis of 2006 or the Iraqis who do the same. Or the Chinese, the Burmese . . . the list goes on.

But, like Anne Frank, it's relevant . . . and no one is paying you for it. You don't have to adhere to a preconceived agenda. It's just like writing "What I Did on my Summer Holiday". Except for twenty million people.

There is no editor, no arbiter, no censor, no cynic. Just your uncensored, unpaid opinion, pure and simple. And if newspapers think they'll be able to imitate a true blog any time soon, they've got several other thinks coming . . .

Aches and Pains

Hmm . . . how are you ever able to jusdge what's worth the goddamn hassle of going to a doctor?

Aches and Pains

Hmm . . . how are you ever able to judge what's worth the goddamn hassle of going to a doctor? How many times have you been concerned enough to actually go and then be told that you're fine? When is the Big One going to happen? If it does, should you care?

I've had a pain in my lower left back that hasn't gone away for three or four days. It screams kidney infection, but all the literature suggests side symptoms (appetizers?) that I don't have. So, let's hope that it's just a huge muscle ache.

But it's of particular concern because I have to be on a plane to Japan this Sunday.

Should I call the doc? Should I not?

The eternal dilemma.

Well . . .

Wow, as Corey Urman pointed out in his comment, I'm kind of ahead of my time in some respects. I just have to say that in many ways, even my little puppy, montrealfood.com has gone the way of the dodo. It's extinct, man, dudes, dudettes, whatever the name is these days. Do I regret it? Not much. As Christie Blatchford says in her column, the days of notebooks are so, so gone.

But you have to remember that this is coming from someone who did graphic design with a square rule and rapidograph and had fonts scripted at the typographer; how many of you even have a goddamned clue what I'm talking about? I hope not many, because I for one don't regret those days having long since gone.

But the difference between what you are reading right now and what you read in the newspaper . . . well, there should BE a difference. Although I have been paid to write for a newspaper in the past, I sure as hell wouldn't presume to charge for it now.

For better or worse, much as Christie Blatchford mourns the past way of doing things, it's all over now. I realised it a long time ago and I think it's a good, even great thing.

The written word should not be the property of a few privileged individuals. Gerald Durrell, of all people, was a genius of the pen yet he couldn't spell worth shit. But what tales he had to tell. And he was always reluctant to tell them -- he hated writing.

I can't believe how many people I've corresponded with recently who are able to write, and not just write, but write WELL! They are every bit as talented as those who write for newspapers or magazines. I am so not worried about the future of writing, just glad that more talent is going to be involved. It's the way things should be.

Now that the playing field is leveled a bit, let's enjoy the bounty,

Shall we?

Blogspaper

It seems to me that in many respects, the differences between blogs and newspapers have become so blurred, it’s quite difficult to say why, basically, this person is being paid to blog and this person is just blogging.

Sometimes the quality of the writing in a personal blog is far, far better, possibly even more succinct and organised than in the newspaper.

I was just reading a piece by Michelle Lalonde in the Gazette and it basically struck me that it was just a blog post. Then it struck me that the newspapers are deliberately trying to imitate blogs, to seem fashionable, “with it” . . . so cynical, but I can see their point.

After all, blogs have so totally undermined newspapers’ relevance except as purveyors of hard news . . .

My Asian Pantry

I just went to Kim Phat to replenish my Asian pantry. It’s all I ever seem to eat these days, because the cuisine is a) spicy, and b) very vegetarian/pesco-friendly.

So I thought I’d just assemble what I have for your amusement. I left out some of the almost-empty bottles in the refrigerator, but here’s what’s in this photo (click on the photo to magnify):

From left to right, top row: Tamari soy sauce, spicy Thai chili sauce, plum sauce, sweet red chili sauce, (top) sambal oelek (bottom) coconut milk, (top) Mussamun curry sauce (bottom) green curry sauce, (small jar) shrimp paste, (top) tamarind sauce (bottom) kimchi, mirin bought in Japan, (top) Thai green curry paste (bottom) “goma” sesame salad dressing bought in Japan, dark shoyu bought in Japan, ultra-high-quality shoyu bought in Japan (haven’t had an opportunity to use it yet!) sesame oil bought here, and ultra-high quality sesame oil bought in Japan.

Front area, left to right: turmeric root, Thai stir-fry paste, rice paper, rice vermicelli, lemongrass and palm sugar. There is galangal in my freezer and numerous Asian condiments in my refrigerator that I’ve left out, but this is my basic Asian pantry. What’s in yours?