Tomorrow is opening night at the SkyDome as the Jays play the New York Yankees: Halladay vs. Clemens. Hope they get a good turnout at the gate. I got myself a six-pack of tickets for the season... for the past couple years, I've just been going on freebies or doing a last minute purchase for a big game. Should be fun.

Went to the Milestone's at Yorkdale for lunch today. Not a bad place, had a curry dish with chicken, mighty tasty. Trying to avoid Chinese places for the next little while, although it may be a bit of paranoia, that SARS stuff going on right now is some scary stuff.

Who's lying and who is being honest with me. Personally, I figure that most people who I deal with in my workday life are just a bunch of two-faced liars, but hey, that's the way it is in the working world. There are some people out there however who I would prefer to be honest rather than pulling my strings. At the same time, I need to be honest and realistic with myself as well.

Well, have learned in recent Friday afternoon beer shananigans that I pull my Jekyll and Hyde routine when I have my beers on a totally empty stomach. From now on, gonna grab a slice of pizza before I go in for a beer (although I'll do it before I head onto the patio, waiter wasn't too amused about my bringing the slice to the table). Hey, I've bought enough beer and food from that place for me not to feel guilty about doing it this one time.

Got a new banner graphic and slight change in design on the food site. Thanks cuz. Font in the neighborhood table is still screwed up though.

Big rally next Friday at Toronto City Hall to "protest the protestors" and the recent actions of the Canadian Government. More details to come as the day gets closer.

I've been getting my afternoon kicks from the Maple Syrup Lattes at Second Cup all week... been collecting tons of coupons that they've been sticking in the newspaper to buy these lattes for the price of a regular coffee. Only lasts for about three more weeks though. The Second Cup at John and Queen must hate me by now.

Someone stole my rules of slack! Was browsing through the local Chapters store this afternoon, and stumbled upon "The Lazy Person's Guide to Success: How to Get What You Want without Killing Yourself for It". Basically, his basic premise is instead of working hard and lots of hours, to get the perfect balance and happiness in life, you have to work smartly in fewer hours. I whole-heartedly agree!

Whoo-Hoo! An Oscar win for Eminem! Too bad he wasn't there.

Surprised that Gangs of New York was completely shut out, they deserved better.

Expected Michael Moore to do his rant when he won. Freedom of speech is a right, no matter what your views or opinions on the issues of the day are.

Finally, the silent minority is starting to speak up, instead of being forced to keep quiet about our opinions. Freelance journalist Jay Currie has started up his Canadian Friends of America Web site to counteract the ill-advised statements of the Chretien Federal Liberal government. The last Toronto Star poll has 35% of Canadians fully backing the decision of the US Government (higher if you exclude Quebec), that is not an insignificant number. I am also glad that at last night's Leaf game at the ACC, the US anthem was given a loud standing ovation, countering the jackasses in Montreal, and the full support of Don Cherry speaking on behalf of Canadians in support.

I took off a couple of marks off my rating for The Queen Mother today. Went there last Thursday, and instead of ordering the usual pad thai, decided to try their lamburger. Not very good at all.

Oscars start in an hour. My pick for best movie is The Gangs of New York. But it's certainly not the favorite tonight amongst the film pundits. I'll watch a bit of the show, I always enjoy the host's (Steve Martin this year) comedic montage of all the nominated movies at the beginning of the program. Eminem isn't performing though, so I'm somewhat disapointed.

It seems like (as far as the media is letting us know anyways) that there has been minimal fighting back from Iraq. Seems almost too easy. Something might be up.

The Trudeau/Chretien/Copps left-wing Federal Ottawa Liberals do NOT speak for all Canadians in their view on the current state of view of world affairs. And their actions and words of this week prove that all that jackass cares about is current public opinion, not for doing what is right, and what is in Canada's best interest. Well, your short term popular stand will result in nothing but long term pain, both economic and otherwise, for all Canadians.

--The silent and angry minority

So I signed up for a CN Tower stair climb today to benefit the World Wildlife Fund. I must be nuts. Well, it's not until April 24th, so about a month to get my stamina up to do the climb.

Alright, it looks like war is going to be starting tomorrow. Now, being a (under most circumstances) a Conservative myself who, for the most part (although with some reservation), support the actions against Iraq, it puts me into a difficult position as to when to speak up. One group of friends I have are all of a Conservative mindset, and I have no problem talking to them about my opinions. However, other groups of friends are either ambivilent (no opinion one way or another), totally uneducated, or are downright hostile anti-American Saddam apologists. So, I gotta learn to watch what I say when I voice my opinion, depending on who the audience is. But isn't that what I should do in general. On the other hand, I can not bother to give a f*ck, and just voice my true opinion all of the time.

A good St. Patrick's Day all. Yeah, I got back early, but only felt like having a couple of pints as I needed to drive home afterwards. Went to the Flatiron and Firkin; this is the best Firkin I've been to I think. It's in the basement of the old Flatiron building at Wellington and Church, and the place actually feels like a London pub. Great place. Took a walk down to Fiona McCool's afterwards, but the lineup was around the corner, so screw that. That place is too corporate anyways.

Back to the office downtown tomorrow, after my week away doing training in Etobicoke. Should be an interesting St.Patrick's Day tomorrow. I also go in with my "new, old face" for the first time tomorrow (with goatee), wonder if anyone will even notice.

Just got back from a first-timer Jamaican cook making jerk pork, breadfruit, and ackee & saltfish, among other dishes. Excellent job!

Was down at the Esplanade Bier Markt last night. The live music was advertised as "R&B and funk", although they played nothing but covers last night, including Aerosmith and U2. Not quite what they advertised. But at least the beer was good (all sorts of beer from around the world), and the place doesn't have the nickname of "Esplanade Meat Market" for nothing :-)

I got that last issue of Shift yesterday... no word what happens to the subscription since the magazine is now dead (see previous post). Still a great read, hoping that it will be resurrected.

Is Eminem nuts? Turning down a chance to perform at the Oscars, the biggest world stage of the year??? Now I have one less major reason to actually watch the ceremonies on Sunday night.

Went to the Montana's Cookhouse Saloon at Steeles and Don Mills for dinner tonight. I always go there specifically for their ribs, and Wednesdays (unplanned) happens to be their all-you-can-eat ribs night. Now, you may think when you hear all you can eat, it's like "what a deal!", especially after my sushi post a couple of weeks ago. But realistically, how many ribs can you really eat? I'm full after a full rack, getting another half is just too much for me, and I shouldn't be eating that much anyways.

This is hilarious... political animator Mark Fiore created a Flash animation featuring North Korean leader Kim-Jong Il's difficulty in getting any world attention as the world is focused on Iraq. Here's the cartoon.

Doug Gilmour is back in town!!! GO LEAFS GO!!! The spirit of the 1993 run returns ten years later as the Leafs make another run for the Cup! Down with the Senators!

I took the subway for the first time today down to the west end of the Bloor Line (Kipling Station), for a training course that I'm taking this week. Well, I've now been on the entire TTC Rapid Transit system except for the Sheppard stretch between Bayview and Don Mills. Nothing significant really, guess I have nothing better to write about today. Not a whole lot out there by Kipling Station. But the area around Old Mill Station looks like it's a nice area, lots of older style houses.

Jackass Chretien, you're an idiot again and again and again.... "the U.S. has already won the war, Iraq has no more weapons of mass destruction" he says on a major American Sunday morning news program. Be more blind u jackass.

Although The Toronto Star is probably the best overall newspaper in the city, and definitely the best for covering GTA issues; on national and international issues, they are without a doubt (Toronto Sun for dummies excluded from this comment), the most unbalanced and biased paper in the city. Putting opinions on the op-ed page is one thing, or even having columnists that lean one way can be acceptable as well (although The Star has far too many that lean one way). But today's paper took the cake... "Oil War: 23 Years in the Making" screams the headline on the front page. Another article right below has "Seeking Shelter from the US Storm", about so-called refugees who were perfectly happy living in the US for years suddenly deciding it's not comfortable for them, and they want to come to Canada. These two screaming headlines are just indicative of what today's paper is like, the Star being the "only way that we can be pro-Canadian is to be anti-American" paper of the city. Sadly, too many people rely on the Star as their only source of information and does not consider other viewpoints.

Sorry, these people are NOT true refugees, they are "economic refugees" just trying to keep up their perfect little life. Canada is supposed to be implementing the third-party safe harbour law in the summer exactly for the reason of preventing people who have already landed in the US to come to Canada to claim refugee status. Implement it NOW. Toronto is better off for having diverse cultures and peoples rather than the WASPy nature of the city's past, but most people came to this country legally, not to feed off and take advantage of the system.

All is cool I think. Made the best out of a bad situation. And decided that this is just one part of the ultimate year.... well, as part of my realizations, although there is still a very long year-plus until I get my condo, it is time for me to dump my boring 905 lifestyle, outlook and attitude that I've had since my return to the GTA, and adopt a 416 downtown life. Will be made a bit difficult while I am still in the 'burbs, but I will see what I can do.

Again, I will stick by the unpopular stand of supporting the war against Iraq. I have yet to hear what the so-called anti-war protesters propose as an alternative to this situation. And I especially appreciate the story earlier this week about the well-intentioned citizens who went to Iraq as human shields, and then within two weeks all left Iraq when they realized what an asshole Saddam is. Here's a column by Andrew Coyne in today's National Post where he rebutts every single argument that the anti-war protesters are making.

Is this winter ever gonna end? Another big snowstorm yesterday. Can't wait until I can just hang out at the patio.

St. Patrick's Day makeover, I am declaring for myself. Since I have to go nowhere near the office for 10 days, decided to bring back the goatee.

What a b'yatch. Mississauga West MP Carolyn Parrish was actually on the Mike Bullard show last night boasting about her "American bastards" comment. And she also admitted that the prime ministeral jackass hasn't criticized her once about it. All I can say is "damn Chretien Liberals... I hate those bastards".



Image credited to Tony Bock of the Toronto Star

Forget about shifts in outlooks over a few days.... how about shifts in outlooks within a couple of hours? All I will put into this blog is that . I shall chalk it up as a learning experience and leave it as that.

Despite what people may say or think about Eminem, the man is definitely a musical genius. Seems a bit odd for me to bring this out of the blue, but "Lose Yourself" has got to be one of my inspirational songs of all-time.

What a strange change in the weather here in the GTA, from a really nice mild days on Saturday and Sunday, to downright record cold today, to another mild day tomorrow (although with 5-10 cm of snow). Kinda like how shifts in viewpoints can change quickly. Who knows what goes on next.

Ice Cream and Reese's Pieces... the greatest picker-uppers in the world.

Mixing drinks and other stuff in one session (i.e. consuming beer, red wine, and other "happy happy items" all in one session)... you would think that at my age, I would know a lot better. To all you kids out there just starting out... never mix different types of drinks! Stick with one thing for the night.