West of Samoa

I think seeing Kip and Shaz twice in a week is a brand new record, and that's a good thing. Sadly, our visit last night to West 50 will likely be the last time I see them for quite some time as they prepare to make their way to Milwaukee. Hopefully we'll see them around these parts, and hopefully get a chance to read on some of their new experiences on their blogs.

But as noted last night we headed to West 50, on Burnhamthorpe across the street from Square One in Mississauga. Things started off poorly - it appeared Mary and I barely beat them there and got a table, but when Kip, Shaz, and Shazia's brother arrived moments later they were told we hadn't arrived yet. So Mary and I were reading the menus while our friends were on their first pints before a text message asking if we were lost made me realize we were all in the same restaurant after all. Now, what we ate:

We started off with the Spring Roll Sampler (vegetable, beef, Moo Shu), Parmesan Dusted Onion Ring Tower, and Crispy Buffalo Chicken. I didn't sample a spring roll but the onion rings were good and the buffalo chicken was well received by the table. I went on to have the "Oh Canada" burger, described as having a "one inch crust of pulled bbq smoked pork, maple bacon, roasted onions, and cheddar cheese" with a side of their Beer, Beans, & Sausage Soup. The burger was good, the pulled pork could be better, and the soup was nice with a far-too-crusty crostini floating inside but taking on no liquid whatsoever. Shaz's brother had the same with the substitution of a house salad topped with Asian Ginger Sesame dressing. Kip got the Cuban Roasted Pork sandwich with a house salad and Savoury Lemon dressing, described as tasting like "oil" by the man himself. Shazia had the Wheat Beer Roasted Beef Shepherd's Pie which she noted was very well done with excellent quality beef, but came floating in an ocean of grease that seemed too much to get past. With Mary enjoying her 3 Foot Long Spaghetti Noodles with Cheese Stuffed Meatballs, Garlic and Mushrooms in a Tomato Basil sauce it was only Shazia's dish that failed to impress on some level. We were all confident that once they've had a chance to exist a bit longer and work out some kinks that everything will taste much better.

And for you beerophiles we made sure to sample quite a few. I enjoyed my Mill Street Coffee Porter, Fullers ESB, Big Rock Traditional Ale, and Holy Smoke Scotch Ale; not so much the Muskoka Hefeweizen. I lost track of what the others were having but I believe Shazia enjoyed a couple pints of Blackthorn Cider and her brother liked Kip and Shaz's recommendation of Waterloo Dark. I remember Kip having, and not enjoying, Affligem Blond and De Koninck Amber Ale. I think he shared my sentiments of the Muskoka as we both tried that one. As a sidenote, make sure you ask what their features and seasonals are, they don't advertise them but they do have them.

We'll have to attempt an OA meetup in the spring when it's beer season again!

Today's Random Links
Well, if nothing else the 'Brief Safe' should keep things.. safe..
Worst-Dressed Teams In Sports, courtesy of Shady
Turning works of art into ads.. genius!
Confirmed LCBO Winter Release

When All the Stars Were Falling

Since I don't feel like doing the Entertainment section anymore it would be proper to alert some of you to things of importance over here. First and foremost that the long-awaited 'The Amazing Race: All-Stars' was announced today. Yes, thankfully, Rob and Amber are all but confirmed for a second shot at the prize, and their fourth chance each at reality tv cash. We're told the couple that narrowly beat them, Uchenna and Joyce, are also coming back along with recently cast asunder David and Mary. They need to bring back the bald guys from the first one as well as the incestual siblings. They're missed.

Another big deal as of late appears to be the fact that guest-host Clay Aiken dared to silence Kelly Ripa with his bare hand. KELLY RIPA IS NOT SILENCED. This is evident by the fact that she hasn't shut up about it since, going so far as to phone in to other shows (ie. 'The View') to whine about it. This whole "feud" makes this picture just that much more entertaining.

Oh, and 'Heroes' fans - the kid on the left in the blue shirt is Hiro, back in 1987. Heh.

Today's Random Links
David Caruso's 'CSI: Miami' one-liners, all in one place. MUST WATCH.
Lois Griffin listens to Air Supply, now we can be friends.
Jones Soda's Holiday Packs are out.. mmm..

Brothers In Arms

Had a chance to do one of a few catch-ups with Kip and Shaz last night before they head off to Milwaukee. It was decided that we'd meet at the Woolwich Arms in Guelph, a great pub that appears to serve only Canadian microbreweries (with one exception - Moosehead) and several authentic cask ales, something Shazia had noted I hadn't yet sampled on my journeys. This sister pub to Toronto's Bow & Arrow also features above average pub fare and some great burgers. I had tried the Blackened Bison Burger with Tzatziki Sauce last December, and so I was driven to try to the Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Bison Burger this time, with a side of Vegetable Black Bean Soup. All components were good although I was hurting from the sheer mass of garlic mayo. Very tasty, though.

The Wooly does 5oz samplers for $6 so you can try four different draught or cask brews for a reasonable cost. My first sampler consisted of a St Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, Wellington Arkell Best Bitter, Headstrong Munich Lager, and a house beer I assume to be Wellington's contract brewed Big Hole Headstrong Pale Ale, based on the receipt name "HPA" and the fact they appear to have every other Wellington product on tap. The St Ambroise I've had before and it's one of the world's best stouts, hella-highly recommended. The hand-pumped cask best bitter was good as an experience but not my favourite taste - I do love to try something I haven't done before, though. Second round brought McAuslan Apricot Wheat, Wellington County Dark Ale, Wellington Special Pale Ale, and something called Nickel Brook 80 Shilling. Odd because I've been able to find no reference to Nickel Brook offering a beer named 80 Shilling, but I continue to search. The Apricot Wheat is great for a fruit beer, with the sweetness only a component of the brew, not the main show. Oddly I prefer County Dark on draught than hand-pulled cask, it just seemed to be a muted version of itself. The SPA was nice.

Not sure if any of you can make it or not but Kip, Shaz, Shaz's brother, and possibly Kip's sister will be meeting Mary and I at the West 50 this coming Sunday at 5. We'd love to catch up with some more of you if you're up for the trip to Mississauga!

Today's Random Links
Finally, an ad that tells the truth about underwear ads! (NSFW)
Stephen Beaumont didn't like his Beer Store calendar..
An amazing Japanese massage chair. (Thanks, Paul)

Soul Survivor

Good news, Cliff! Our Toonie Bear will not be going by the name of Plouf, as I had voted for in an attempt to give Canada the stupidest mascot name possible. However, the Toonie Bear does have a new name:

So our bear is Churchill, as voted by 34% of 166,635 people. I suppose it's better than Makwa.

Also of note today, for fans of the show, is that Les Stroud has announced that 'Survivorman' is returning for a second season. He's on his way to the Amazon jungle in less than a week, and will follow that trip with the Australian Outback, African desert, African bushland, Alaskan coast, and Northern Labrador. The show should hit the air in February, but in the meantime will feature live blog journal updates as he finds himself marooned.

Finally, for those interested, you're welcome to join Kip, Shazia, and myself at West 50 Pour House on Sunday, November 26th if you're so inclined. Just let me know ahead of time in case we need to make some reservations. They'll be returning to Milwaukee very shortly, so this will be one of very few chances to meet the faces from the Zonk. Adding in 115 draught taps you'd have to be crazy NOT to come!

Caledon Votes (Where They Can) 2006

It's been a night of ups and downs, with one notable down:

So while my candidate didn't win, there is a story to tell in a minute. In other races I had successful candidates (Annette Groves with 70% of the vote; Jason Payne with 37% of the vote) and a significantly unsuccessful one - Garry Moore at Mayor with 5084 votes to Marolyn Morrison's 7150. It's a tough blow for a Town that were never full aware of the damage this lady has caused, and who are likely about to find out in a big way.

For Tony, there's some good news. Number one, his goal of knocking off three-time winner Nancy Stewart was realized. He established enough doubt in voters minds to sway their attention off of her. Unfortunately they weren't willing to give him the ball to run with, going with the 17-years experience of Richard Whitehead. Here's where things get interesting.

As previously noted, Tony's signs went missing en masse twice. Last weekend they all left my Greenpark subdivision here on the south end of the ward, including the one on my lawn. Last night, every sign in Caledon East (the entire village) went missing. These were significant as they were near a major polling station which now had no Viola coverage. It gets better. The two polling stations in the south, where Tony's support was, were the only ones in Caledon requesting identification. Best of all, an area in south Albion where it was well-known Tony would do well due to the sheer number of signs and support, went completely missing from the voter list. Everyone there would have to add themselves, all during the evening drive home.

So sadly we'll never know if these "events" cost Tony the couple hundred votes that might have made the difference. But in the end I sadly acknowledge a failed effort to get Tony in, regardless of a noted great campaign. We tried hard, we did our best, and by God, we got rid of Nancy Stewart. Huzzah.

Boris the Spider

The campaign trucked right along this weekend as we continued to hit the subdivision we need (mine), and by all accounts turn out is good today. Sadly our competition decided to remove a significant portion of Tony's signs from Caledon East, just as her allies removed those of Garry Moore and Annette Groves previously. On one hand it's interesting that they've become so afraid they've stooped so low as to remove our signs and violate the very rules they placed in effect by putting signs wherever they want without permission. On the other hand, a fair fight would have been preferable. Results in a couple hours, I can't wait.

My reviews on RateBeer.com earned me an invite to Neustadt Springs Brewery this weekend to try some reformulations of their core products, as well as the promise of a cask-aged version of their Big Dog Beaujolais Porter. It's only about 30 minutes away from Mary's family farm so we accepted and I'm glad we did.

On the drinking side, I tried reformulated versions of the Lager, Big Dog Beaujolais Porter, and 10w30; I was also treated to the Scottish Ale and rarely seen Manchester Bitter. The Lager was significantly improved with a terrific hop profile that really raised it in my books. The 10w30, which I already loved, didn't taste much different, so I think what I tasted a month ago was the reformulation. The Porter is insanely good in all forms, but beyond description on cask. We just kept going back for more. The Scottish Ale is terrific, albeit a bit light in body. The Manchester Bitter - well.. let's just say I'm one of the last to sample it, as I don't think it'll be coming back.

The coolest part was the tour. As with most breweries it was interesting to see the machinery and equipment, but Neustadt has a much cooler history to share as we headed into the basement, or "caverns" as they're called. The brewery was built by 40 German stonemasons in 1857, specifically placed over the source of the crystal springs to create the Crystal Springs Brewery. A fire changed things up, but the building I was in was almost as is from an 1869 repair. Crystal Springs Brewery closed in 1916 and bought by Val and Andy Stimpson in 1997 to create Neustadt Springs Brewery. Into the basement we found very little natural light (ie. none) with a few candles and lights to guide our way through the man-made stone walls with arched ceilings. Sloped floors brought us 27 feet below grade to the source of the spring, the same spring they use to make the beer today. Inside these caverns is a plentiful supply of albino spiders - pure white and playing dead, although they weren't. This glimpse of history was the perfect end to a great day, and anyone heading northwards (ie. Owen Sound, Hanover, Walkerton, Collingwood) would be well-advised to pop in for a tour and tasting.

Today's Random Links
Beer Blog's take on the Neustadt tour (with pictures)
The official Neustadt Springs Brewery page
BeerAdvocate.com: Neustadt Springs Brewery
RateBeer.com: Neustadt Springs Brewery

I'm Not Bitter

Mississaugan drunks need wait no longer, you won't need to Go bus it to Toronto to get your fix - West 50 Pour House is set to open shortly. Located in the Sussex Centre on Burnhamthorpe this "poorhouse" looks crazy and offers an insane 102 beers on 115 draught taps. I've got the list of what they'll have and placed it below the drop down simply because of the sheer size of it. They could open as soon as tomorrow, and I'd love to meet some of you there just to check the place out. I can't imagine it'll be cheap, though, and it does beg the question of stale product. How can you rotate 115 taps in Mississauga?

Also freshly open is the new Mill Street Brewpub, found at 55 Mill Street in the space formerly occupied by the Mill Street Brewery. Thankfully, they appear to be doing things a bit differently. Apparently the food is excellent and quite reasonably priced, although warnings to vegetarians in advance, as apparently they're not terribly concerned with you. All of Mill Street's commercial offerings are available on tap - the amazing Coffee Porter and Tankhouse Ale alongside the poor Stock Ale and Organic Lager. However, they've also created or reintroduced some past offerings on draught, including a Bitter, Kriek, India Pale Ale, Barley Wine (2004 vintage), Belgian Wit, Pilsner, Oktoberfest Lager, and most importantly, a Stout. A retail store on site will soon allow for growler pick-ups, meaning they'll let you fill a jug with beer and bring it home.

Coupled with beerbistro and Volo it just means I never, ever have to set foot in C'est What again. w00t for small victories.

And without further ado, I present the 102 offerings of the West 50:

West 50 Pour House Draught Selection
Affligem Abbey Beer, Belgium
Alexander Keiths India Pale Ale, Nova Scotia
Amsterdam Blonde Lager, Toronto Ontario
Amsterdam Nut Brown Ale, Toronto Ontario
Arkell Best Bitter, Guelph Ontario
Bass Pale Ale, England
Beck’s Lager, Germany
Belhaven Original Best Cream Ale, Scotland
Belle Vue Kriek Cherry Lambic Ale, Belgium
Big Rock Traditional Ale, Alberta
Black Jack Lager, Toronto Ontario
Blackthorn Cider, England
Blanche de Chambly White Ale, Quebec
Blue Light Pilsner, London Ontario
Blue Pilsner, London Ontario
Boddingtons Pub Ale, England
Bud Light Lager, United States
Budweiser Lager, United States
Caffreys Irish Ale, Ireland
Caledonia 80/- Ale, Scotland
Cameron’s Auburn Ale, Oakville Ontario
Cameron’s Cream Ale, Oakville Ontario
Canadian Lager, Toronto Ontario
Carlsberg Lager, Denmark
Carlsberg Light Lager, Denmark
Clancy’s Amber Ale, New Brunswick
Cool Beer Lager, Brampton Ontario
Coors Light Lager, United States
Creemore Lager, Creemore Springs Ontario
De Koninck Amber Ale, Belgium
Delerium Tremens, Belgium
Double Diamond Burton Ale, England
Erdinger Dunkel, Germany
Erdinger Weissbeir, Germany
Export Ale, Toronto Ontario
Fosters Lager, Australia
Fruli Strawberry Wheat Lager, Belgium
Fullers ESB Pale Ale, England
Fullers London Pride Pale Ale, England
Golden Horseshoe Premium Lager, Toronto Ontario
Grasshopper Wheat Ale, Alberta
Guinness Irish Stout, Ireland
Hacker~Pschorr Edelhell Munich Lager, Germany
Hacker~Pschorr Weiss Bier, Germany
Harp Lager, Ireland
Headstrong Pale Ale, Toronto Ontario
Heineken Pale Lager, Holland
Hoegarrden Wheat Ale, Belgium
Holy Smoke Scotch Ale, Campbellford Ontario
Kilkenny Irish Ale, Ireland
King Dark Lager, Nobleton Ontario
King Pilsner, Nobleton Ontario
KLB Raspberry Wheat Ale, Ontario
Kokanee Lager, British Columbia
Kronenburg Lager, France
Labatt 50Ale, Toronto Ontario
Leffe Blonde Abbey Ale, Belgium
Leffe Brun Abbey Ale, Belgium
Maudite Strong Red Ale, Quebec
McAuslan Apricot Wheat, Quebec
Mill St. Coffee Porter, Toronto Ontario
Mill St. Organic Lager, Toronto Ontario
Mill St. Tankhouse Ale, Toronto Ontario
Moosehead Lager, Nova Scotia
Muskoka Lakes Hefe Weissbier, Ontario
Muskoka Lakes Red Cream Ale, Ontario
Neustadt 10W30 Brown Ale, Neustadt Ontario
Neustadt Scottish Ale, Neustadt Ontario
Newcastle Brown Ale, Scotland
Niagara’s Best Blonde Ale, St. Catherines Ontario
Nicklebrook Green Apple, Burlington Ontario
Old Credit Amber Ale, Port Credit Ontario
Old Speckled Hen Strong Ale, England
Red Baron Blonde Lager, Waterloo Ontario
Red Cap Ale, Waterloo Ontario
Red Leaf Lager, Toronto Ontario
Rickards Honey Brown Ale, Toronto Ontario
Rickards Red Ale, Toronto Ontario
Robert Simpson Confederation Ale, Barrie Ontario
Route 666 Devils Pale Ale, Toronto Ontario
Sleeman Cream Ale, Guelph Ontario
Sleeman Honey Brown Lager, Guelph Ontario
Sleeman Original Draught, Guelph Ontario
Smithwicks Ale, Ireland
St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, Quebec
Steam Whistle Pilsner, Toronto Ontario
Stella Artois Lager, Belgium
Sterling Lager, Toronto Ontario
Stiegl Lager, Austria
Taps Red Cream Ale, Niagara On The Lake Ontario
Tennents Lager, Scotland
Tetleys English Ale, England
Trailhead Lager, Guelph Ontario
Tuborg Amber Lager, Denmark
Upper Canada Dark Ale, Guelph Ontario
Walkerville Blonde Lager, Windsor Ontario
Walkerville Superior Light, Windsor Ontario
Warsteiner Pilsner, Germany
Waterloo Dark Ale, Waterloo Ontario
Wellington Special Pale Ale, Guelph Ontario

Whipping Post

It's a good day to be Tony Viola. The campaign keeps on truckin' as we head to the Monday finish line. We had a small crack in the armour Saturday with the Enterprise's attempts to fix the election, but all was redeemed today. I did some hard work on the local rag (Enterprise) and newspaper (Citizen), managing to get favourable press in both. The Enterprise printed a letter reacting to the "no match" comment on the oft-read letters page. On the Citizen we actually took an ad out to highlight a few more points Tony wanted to make, and a press release/letter to cover some reaction to the debate. Thankfully, they put the reponse letter inside the debate coverage, so anyone reading the debate coverage would instantly find a response. Awesome! The ad we took was formed as another press release, so it appears more as an article. Score.

Why post a picture of Bea Arthur in shock? *shrug*

Must. Keep. Working. Hang in there, and once again, let us all thank Rob and Mark for the shining examples of witty and informative posting, without which there'd be no reason to visit this site.

Today's Random Links
The best video game ad of all time? I'd think so..
Mr. Sub makes the strangest ads.. (1 | 2 | 3)
'Indiana Jones 4' is dead?

oa.com Podcast v2.04

Welcome to week one of the Best of Indie Rock. The vast amount of excellent music kept underground could fill many podcasts, but I've attempted to secure an hour's worth here. All of these artists do it on their own, and most of them I've discovered via MySpace. For that reason I've included links to their MySpace pages as well, so you can check out a bit more if you like what you hear. Enjoy!

Subscribe to the Podcast:

01 DramaGods - Pilots
02 Marwood - One Mile Down the Road
03 Matt Hoffer - Standing Eight Count
04 The Lonely Hearts - Passive Aggressive
05 My Morning Jacket - Wordless Chorus
06 The Dears - You And I Are A Gang of Losers
07 raisinhill - Nameless
08 The Nels Cline Singers - Square King
09 Glen Phillips - Easier
10 Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers - Sleep Like A Baby
11 Rift - Nameless
12 Just About to Burn - Nervous Girl
13 Strays Don't Sleep - Cars and History

A Century of Fakers

Looking at that picture you'd have to wonder how I didn't see it coming. Let me start by saying that I'm not judging, I'm not against his being happy, and I'm not a communist. But Neil did lead me and others to believe he was a sharply-dressed ladies man, something that was quite clearly a lie. So alas I shall no longer caps-lock his name. But I'm still a fan. Maybe, if he stops lying, he can earn my trust back.

So it seems just when I start gaining steam on regular posts here I'm back a week later apologizing for my absence. C'est la vie. I continue to work hard reinventing my position with the day job folks in the face of what we like to call a "changing climate". Then, the off-hours, I'm still working my butt off trying to get Tony Viola elected. Oddly enough there doesn't appear to be any strong wind his way or anyone else's, and it appears to be a three-horse race right now. Who knows what happens once people actually step to the polls. My hatred for the local rag Enterprise is well known and continues now after they stated Tony was "no match" for his opponents in their editorial on Saturday. We dropped by the office to "coerce" them into running a response.

Thankfully, these days, stress doesn't seem to factor into my life. I'll put some thanks for that into James MacDonald. Up to you stressed types if you want to give it a shot.

Today's Random Links
A marvelous and child-friendly introduction to the values (*cough*) of Democrats..?
Who's in for a visit to the Marvel Super Heroes Science Exhibition?
Naked man arrested for concealed weapon. (Thanks, Rob)
An odd British commercial.. did you catch this?