Christmas is a time for traditions that include time with family and friends, enjoying dinners, drinks, going to parties, decorating your house and watching all your classic Christmas movie favorites!  Some of the original classics could be considered as: It’s a Wonderful Life, A Charlie Brown Christmas, White Christmas, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Miracle on 34th Street, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and A Christmas Carol (to name a few).  But in recent years, this list must include some more modern favorites: A Christmas Story, Elf, The Santa Clause, A Muppet Christmas Carol, A Very Brady Christmas, Die Hard (yes, many consider this a Christmas flick – check out my friend Jorden’s blog post), and of course National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!  This is definitely a classic that I watch a number of times during the season.  Clark W. Griswold and his good ol’ fashioned family Christmas.  We’ve all had little things go wrong at Christmas but nothing like Clark and his family (well, mostly just him!).  Here are a few of his Christmas challenges:

• Fried pussycat (at least Eddie’s wants to fumigate the chair for himself).
• One year enrolment to the jelly of the month club (although it is the gift that keep on giving the whole year).
• SQQQQUUUIIIIRRREEEEEEELLLLLLLL! (Too bad Eddie found out they were high in cholesterol).
• Going for a new amateur saucer-sled land speed record using a non-caloric silicon based kitchen lubricant creating a surface 500 times slipperier than any cooking oil.
• The newel post.

I could go on forever.

I think aside from all the fantastic quotes that makes this movie amazing (I would probably list most of the script as my favorite memorable quotes so I am not even going to attempt that), it’s the images that this movie creates that make is unforgettable.  Again, I am not even going to make a list of my favorite screen shots or scenes as it would again be most of the movie, but the scene that many want to recreate is the exterior illumination comprised of two-hundred and fifty strands of lights, one hundred individual bulbs per strand, for a grand total of 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights.  Please take a moment to appreciate the brilliance in this Christmas marvel:

Here is their house in the daylight:

Here it is all lit up (the little lights aren’t twinkling):

And a scene from above:

One day, I will create this for my own home…  it’s my Christmas dream!

With one sleep until Christmas Eve, I wish everyone a very Merry Clark W. Griswold Christmas.

Until next time…  Happy Holidays!

Welcome to the holiday season!!!!!  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Joyous Festivus to everyone!  It’s been a while since an update here, but the holiday parties are in full swing and it’s been difficult to devote some time to here!  Earlier this week, I went to watch a choir sing and it was a bit of a sing-a-long and some of the holiday lyrics really got me thinking?  Like who was Parson Brown?  What is a-wassailing? Gloria in Excelsis Deo means what?  Well, thanks to Google, all these Christmas Carol lyrics stumblers will be answered!

Let’s start with my main inspiration for this entry…  Here We Come A-Wassailing (or Here We Come A-Caroling).  Many of us now this as here we come a-caroling but have also heard it as A-Wassailing.  Easy to figure out the wassailing means caroling.  Ah, but there are other definitions.  First enjoy one of my favorite versions of the song from A Muppet Family Christmas.

So where does the term wassailing come from?  There are two definitions I found.  The House-Visiting wassail, very much similar to caroling, is the practice of people going door-to-door singing Christmas carols. The Orchard-Visiting wassail refers to the practice of singing to trees in apple orchards in cider-producing regions of England to promote a good harvest for the coming year.  Both fairly good peaceful customs, however it has not always been so innocent.  In early New England wassailing was associated with rowdy bands of young men who would enter the homes of wealthy neighbors and demand free food and drink in a trick-or-treat fashion.   This can be seen in a couple lyrics such as “bring us some figgy pudding” and “good cheer”, without which the wassailers in the song will not leave, “we won’t go until we’ve got some.”  You think this is what Bert and Ernie wanted when singing to Kermit and friends?  You know, I wouldn’t put it past them.  Take a look below at few lines from the song and you can surely see the song is more about begging for food, beer and good cheer:

We are not daily beggars

That beg from door to door;

But we are neighbours’ children,

Whom you have seen before.

Call up the butler of this house,

Put on his golden ring.

Let him bring us up a glass of beer,

And better we shall sing.

We have got a little purse

Of stretching leather skin;

We want a little of your money

To line it well within.

Hmmmm?  Wassail is also known as a drink (some kinda of hot punch or beer beverage)…  So, after all this, I think I will go a-wassailing door to door this weekend and demand booze from neighbors!

Now, who was Miss Fanny Bright (Jingle Bells) and Parson Brown (Winter Wonderland)?  I can’t find much of anything on Fanny Bright but apparently Parson Brown is a Protestant Minister.  When this song was written, parsons (now known as Protestant ministers) often traveled among small rural towns to perform wedding ceremonies.  This makes sense to the song.

…. then pretend that he is Parson Brown.
He’ll say ‘Are You Married?’ We’ll say ‘No man….

Now the next couple come from more traditional carols.  One lyric that I was certain referred to God is: Gloria in Excelsis Deo… but what does it mean.  This is a simple one: it is Latin for Glory to God in the highest.  I also wondered who Emanuel was.  In Hark the Herald (oooh, what’s a Herald) Angels sing there is a line that says Jesus our Emmanuel.  Well, after a quick search, Emmanuel means “God is with us”.  Another simple one!  These ones were easy!

Finally, Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  With little tin horns and little toy drums, rooty-toot-toots and rummy-tum-tums.  Well, we figured out that since Santa is flying all over the world on one night eating cookies and milk and a plethora of other treats left out by excited children, he might get an upset stomach which cause him to have the rooty-toot-toots of which he’ll need to take rummy-tum-Tums.

Happy one week until Christmas eve and during the hustle and bustle of the next few days remember:

1. Treat every day like Christmas.
2. There’s room for everyone on the nice list.
3. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

Until next time…

Update: A herald is an announcer…  so Hark The Hareld Angels Sing means, Listen, the announcing angels wanna tell us something!

Public bathrooms have always been such an intriguing place.  They are in restaurants, malls, airports, airplanes, the workplace and pretty much anywhere the public congregate.  Yet, you can never find one when you need one and when you do, there is only one stall that is usable and very little toilet paper inside it.  But when you gotta go, you gotta go. 

There is always the common debate about whether you should hover over the seat or sit right on it.  It’s about 50/50 from what I have realized.  People sprinkle when the tinkle and who knows what microorganisms are left behind from previous unsanitary users.  And in these days of diseases and H1N1 haunting us everywhere, we are trying to get in and out of these washrooms without touching anything faster than ever.  But there are things in the public bathrooms that prevent us from speeding through.  First of all, many people forget how to flush so you have to walk into 2-3 stalls before you get one that has clear water in the bowl.  Then after you hang up your purse or jacket, you fiddle with the thin paper toilet seat cover or inch by inch, you cover the seat with little sheets of toilet paper, and then you finally sit down.  Some of us practice the hover, especially if we have strong thighs or are tall enough.  Recently though, I have seen those permanent rotating seat covers that are plastic and switch out with every flush so there is a new cover for every user.  But there are challenges with those.  Like what if it senses you are done and starts rotating as if preparing for the next person?  Suddenly you’d find yourself still going, but are now facing sideways and still moving towards the back of the seat!  Do you stand up and waddle so you are facing the correct way while still going or do you try and stop and hold it until the seat cover stops and you can sit back down? 

And then there is the automatic flush.  I can’t tell you the number of times the sensor has sensed me finished my task and flushed mid-pee!  How does it know?  Is there a little camera in there and someone is working the flushing apparatus?  Or worse, there are times when you have to keep waving your hand in front of the back of the toilet as the sensor has not detected that you are finished… how long does it think you need? 

After all that, you are finally done and on to the washing station.  You put your coat, purse, shopping bags and whatever else between your legs and clench to not let these items on the floor as chances of you finding a dry spot on the counter for your items is slim to none.  You lather up by using the pump that supplies you with that foamy awful smelling pink soap or in some cases it’s automatic again for your convenience.  Convenience?  Once more, you are waving your hands at something and nothing happens.  So, you waddle over to the next sink and get more than your share of soap.  Some taps are automatic and again… you find yourself waving your hands to get the thing to start…  did you ever realized how many times you wave your hands in an automatic device generated bathroom?  It’s like you on a float in a parade waving at everyone! 

Finally, all washed up and ready to dry off and get outta there!  You can air dry your hands with those  blowers, pump up a foot or two of that brown non-absorbent paper towel or just use your pants and a good shot of hand sanitizer after your exited as you probably have to touch the handle to get out.  You try and use your foot to open it or use the paper towel you used and politely throw it down on the floor as  you race out of the there before the door crashes back on you.  All this, just to go to the bathroom!

Why can’t all public bathrooms look like this?

Halloween (also known as All Hallows Eve or All Saints Day) is just around the corner and it’s certainly a time for tricks and treats!  Typically we associate this as holiday of dressing up and going door to door filling up their pillow cases with candy but its origins are much different…

Halloween has its roots in an ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain which is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture (we just celebrated the end of the harvest up here with Canadian Thanksgiving).  This festival was a time for taking inventory supplies and slaughtering livestock for winter stores.   But why do we were costumes then if we are killing animals and checking our stock of supplies?  Well, the wearing of costumes and masks at Halloween goes back to the Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits.  It is also thought of as a time when the living and the dead can be together again.

History aside, Halloween is now all about candy corn, jack-o-lanterns, apple bobbing and costumes (I’ll touch on those topics in the coming week)!   But for today, I would like to touch on a few costumes ideas.  Since everyone gets into the trick-or-treating excitement and some go so far as dressing up their pets, take a look at a few ideas for Fido or Fluffy:

Construction Worker?

Scuba Diver?

Giraffe?

Witch?

Um, a singer?  What is this?

If you aren’t sure what to wear this year, be sure to check out Halloween Ideas by J-No, a guest-written blog by yours truly!

Until next time.

Mmm…  Tryptophan along with stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes, yams, and pumpkin pie!  Who doesn’t enjoy Thanksgiving?  Whether it be for family getting together, countless football games on TV, Black Friday shopping in the USA, or the extra day off of work, it’s a great welcomed holiday!

It’s generally a non-religious holiday celebrated by many North Americans but it’s origins within Canada and the USA differ greatly.  Up here in the Great White North, we celebrate this Turkey Day on the second Monday in October, usually at the close of the harvest season.  I’m nearing up on finishing my harvest, are you?  Historically, the day of Thanksgiving changed from year to year and was sometimes not celebrated at all, but on January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed: “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October”.  Wikipedia reminder me that many Canadians partake in weekend getaways to observe the autumn leaves or participate in various outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, and hunting.  Anyone up for hunting with me this weekend?

In the USA, the Gobble Gobble Day is on the fourth Thursday of November and has been so since 1863, but was not a federal holiday until 1941.  For the Americans, it’s also a quick off to the Christmas holiday season, with Black Friday and all the day after boasting this day to be the biggest shopping day of the year (Canada’s obviously is Boxing Day!).  Most Americans celebrate by gathering at home with family or friends for a holiday feast as do us here in Canada.  Their holiday’s origins can also be traced to harvest festivals and is also tied to the deliverance of the English settlers by Native Americans after the harsh winter at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Either way, in either country, it’s all about the food, parade, traditions and television specials:

• First of all it’s all about the turkey (or tofurky if you are vegan), stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, yams with marshmallows (my specialty) cranberry sauce, other fall vegetables, and pumpkin pie.  All of these (except the marshmallows) are actually native to the Americas or were introduced as a new food source to the Europeans when they arrived to the USA.  However, we all get our dose of tryptophan which makes us very drowsy post- feast.  While turkey does contain high levels of tryptophan, the Thanksgiving sedation may have more to do with what is consumed along with the turkey, in particular carbohydrates and alcohol.
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC, a US Thanksgiving staple since 1924 and has been on TV nationally since 1947.
• We can’t forget about Charlie Brown and his Thanksgiving Special.  The Peanuts gang make appearances for all the great holidays!
• And finally of course, there is football.  Both CFL and NFL.  I really think that this was created to get the men out of the kitchen!
• But wait, there is a new tradition started on November 19^th, 2007 that I would like to somehow incorporate in to my Thanksgiving…  Slapsgiving.  This stems from How I Met Your Mother (featuring the awesome Neil Patrick Harris portraying the legend….wait for it… dary Barney Stinson).  It’s a Thanksgiving episode and Barney is freaking out over the third slap from the Slap Bet between Marshall and Barney.  Because of the holiday, it’s decided by the slap bet commissioner that there will be no slaps on this holiday… but of course, it happens.

In the end, have a great thanksgiving, think of something you are thankful for and take two servings of dessert.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me proved to us how much many North Americans depend on fast food for their diets.  Countless studies have shown that over the years, there is a definite correlation between obesity rates and the amount of fast food consumed.  It can be safely assumed that it’s a simple formula: fast food + obesity = lethal link.  The dependence on a quick bite coupled with limited exercise and outdoor activities caused by the massive amounts of technology keeping us glued to our TV, computers, iPhones and so on, we have become an obese continent.  We have become inactive by our attachments to modern technology such as televisions, computers, iPhones and so on.  We have actually neglected the other things around our homes such as the refrigerator, stove and oven.   They collect dust.  We have become dependent on convenience.  How did this happen?  We even have an entire network dedicated to food… called The Food Network… great name eh?  We easily sit there for one hour and watch Gordon Ramsay, Rachel Ray and Jamie Oliver create these delectable dishes for us yet after this hour of sitting there on the couch starving, we are too lazy to create these dishes.  Instead we nuke something, hit up drive-thru, order pizza, it’s all too easy.

Here are some American facts on how convenient fast food is in the US:

• At least twenty school districts in the US have their own Subway franchises; an additional 1,500 districts have Subway contracts; and nine operate Subway sandwich carts.
• Taco Bell sells products in about 4,500 school cafeterias. Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza and McDonald’s are now selling food in US schools. The American School Food Service estimates that about 30 percent of the public high schools in the US offer branded fast food.
• Elementary schools in Fort Collins, Colorado now serve food from Pizza Hut, McDonald’s and Subway on special lunch days. “We try to be more like the fast food places where these kids are hanging out” a Colorado school administrator told the Denver Post. “We want kids to think school lunch is a cool thing, the cafeteria a cool place, that we’re with it.

I am certain that the Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, Arizona, isn’t hleping the obesity crisis very much either.  Their menu includes:

• the  ”Single”, “Double”, “Triple”, and “Quadruple Bypass” hamburgers,ranging from 0.5 to 2 lb of beef (and up to about 8000 calories!)
• “Flatliner Fries” (cooked in pure lard)
• unfiltered cigarettes
• beer and liquor
• soft drinks such as Jolt cola and Mexican Coke which is made with real sugar.

Customers over 350 lbs eat for free if they weigh in with a doctor or nurse (their staff dressed up as doctors or nurses) before each burger.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just North America (mostly the USA – sorry), but this link can be found elsewhere since the 1980 fast food culture boom.  In Japan and China, many abandoned the traditionally healthy diets for food served by the fast food chains.  Recently things have begun to change as we have started to lean towards a healthier lifestyle.  Big Mac’s are no longer promoted by a red headed clown in Asia, but rather a slimmer girl in a bikini promotes their healthier options.  And yes, I know, many chains are altering their menus and changing their ingredients but still many are chowing down their super size fries and extra large fountain sodas.  In fact, look at this brand new burger that has just come out in the UK: The Super Scooby Burger from the Jolly Fryer in Bristol stands 6 inches tall, weighs more than 3 pounds and is a whopping 2,700 calories!  It includes 4 quarter-pound beef patties, 12 onion rings, 8 slices of bacon, 8 slices of cheese, 6 slices of tomato, 2 sesame buns, barbecue sauce, lettuce, and a good slathering of mayonnaise.  If you can finish it, you get a free diet coke!

Here are some global facts:

• In Australia, where the number of fast food restaurants roughly tripled during the 1990s, a survey found that half of the nation’s 9 and 10 year olds thought that Ronald McDonald knew what kids should eat.
• At a primary school in Beijing, it was found that all of the children recognized the image of Ronald McDonald, saying that “… he understood children’s hearts.” Coca-Cola is now the favorite drink amongst Chinese children, and McDonald’s serves their favorite food.
• Germany is now one of McDonald’s most profitable overseas markets, with more than a thousand restaurants. “The Golden Arches have become so commonplace in Germany that they seem almost invisible,”.

Some countries never got as hefty as others.  French people really don’t get fat.  I read the book.  Of course, it’s not true for every Parisian out there but they do eat fresh foods, walk everywhere and smoke to keep their weight down.  Okay, maybe not the latter, but they understand their ingredients and now what is put into every dish.  How many people out there know how many calories in a Big Mac?  540.  Add your large fries, which is 500 and now your, uh, let’s go with a medium Coke which is another 210.  You have got yourself a 1250 calorie meal.  Mmm….. So nutritious too!

So why all the fast food?  Well, there are over 13,000 McDonald’s in the US alone.  That’s approximately 1 for every 23,000 Americans.  The map below shows how far apart these 13,000 restaurants really are.  You can be anywhere in the USA and you are never more than 145 miles away from the nearest McDonald’s.

Anyone up for fast food now?  How about hot dogs?

No thank you, I prefer slow food and real meat.

Until next time…

I love to travel and I must say over time, I have been to some amazing places: Zimbabwe, Costa Rica, Croatia, South Africa, Grand Cayman and so much more…  But I am not done yet.  The world has WAY too many places that I need to check out before I kick the bucket.  Often before I travel, I decide if I want to just go to by my gut, let fate take its course and just fly by the seat of my pants when I arrive at my destination or do I want a day by day planned itinerary?  I have done both and both were equally satisfying for very different reasons…  Either way, Australia in on my lists of places that I NEED to see.  So, how excited was I this weekend when I sat down to enjoy my Mini-Wheats when National Geographic had a special on Oz?  But 3 minutes in, I realized that is was a show on Australia’s DEADliest creatures.    Uh yeah…  I learned that Australia is home to some of the most venomous creatures on the planet.  There are more toxic animals per square foot there than anywhere else.   When you think of Australia, you think of koalas, wallabies, wombats, kangaroos…  yeah, try again!!!   You got snakes, spiders, jellyfish and platypuses!  All venomous and somewhat deadly.  Yes, deadly!

Here’s what National Geographic taught me to watch out for when down under:

• The world’s top two venomous snakes–the inland taipan and the brown snake–both make their home in Australia.

• The Sydney funnel-web spider can be found creeping around homes and swimming pools. Funnel-web spiders are considered the most deadly on the planet, and are known for their aggressive behaviour, such as rearing and displaying their large fangs.

• The stonefish is the most venomous fish on the planet, but instead of using aggressive tactics, the stonefish ambushes its prey. Lying on the ocean floor, the stonefish remains still until its prey passes by. At exactly the right moment, the stonefish sucks in its meal–in only 0.015 seconds. The stonefish’s incredibly venomous spines are intended only for defence.

• The box jellyfish kills more people than sharks, crocodiles, and stonefish combined.  They have four eyes, but it’s unclear how their visual information is processed, as they have no brain. They are much stronger swimmers than typical jellyfish, who depend on the current for most of their movement.

• Platypus venom is released through spurs on the male animals’ hind feet. The venom is so intense it cannot be relieved by painkillers such as morphine–but has not been known to cause death in humans.

Wow, not so bad eh?!

Sure, so you can’t hang out in the water, your own house, or on land.  Great…….

Here are some other facts that I was not aware of:

• There are 1500 hundred species of Australian spiders.
• The average person swallows three spiders a year.
• The combined mass of all termites in the world is more than ten times the mass of all people.
• Australia has the world’s largest population of wild camels with one hump.
• The Tasmanian Devil does exist, and it has the jaw strength of a crocodile.
• Sharks are immune to all known diseases.
• There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia, and only some 20 million people.
• No part of Australia is more than 1000 km from the ocean and a beach.
• Australia has the world’s largest cattle ranch. At 30,028 km2 it is almost the same size as Belgium.
• The Great Barrier Reef has a mailbox. You can ferry out there and send a postcard, stamped with the only Great Barrier Reef stamp.
• The Australian Alps, or Snowy Mountains as they are also known, receive more snow than Switzerland.
• Melbourne has the second largest Greek population in the world, after Athens.
• The Sydney Opera House roof weighs more than 161,000 tons.
• The Great Barrier Reef is the largest organic construction on earth.

Those facts are definitely much more interesting!!!!  Well, I have many Aussie friends and know a number of people of have visited and they are all still alive.  So, then i know it’s safe to go where women glow and men plunder and where the beer does flow and men chunder.

Until next time….

The number 13, lucky for some, unlucky for others. That was one of the lines that I used in my bingo calling days as a number nickname… I also used: 22 – two ducks on a pond, 66 – clickety click, 12 – Vitamin B12; 7 – where bees go when they die. B7, get it? Bee’s heaven!?!? Okay, I must be tired because I still find that kinda funny… I called Bingo for two years and what a mentally draining responsibility that was. You had to be so careful and play by the rules but in the work environment I was in, I had to not only keep the seriousness of the game top of mind, but also make it a fun atmosphere for families. Hence the horrible jokes I used to tell. I will spare everyone those here but should I ever meet up for drinks with any of you, I will be sure to astonish you with my quick wit and remarkable sense of humour.

Anyway, I didn’t come here to discuss my days of calling bingo, hosting trivia’s or leading shuffleboard tournaments; I wanted to touch on the number 13. This number came to my attention once again last week when everything for me that day had gone wrong. I have no personal connection to this number and don’t find it lucky or unlucky in any way, shape or form, but many do. This number has got rank! If you pull this number while waiting in the deli line-up, you get a sense of wariness that washes over you. If you have a bad day and look on the calendar and see it’s the 13th, then you know what to blame for your poor day. There are also no 13th floors in hotels or office buildings – they can’t fool us though, there is a 13th floor, it’s just called the 14th! The number 13 also has its role in various religions around the world: Christianity, Sikhism and Judaism. And there is a specifically recognized phobia, Triskaidekaphobia, a word which was coined in 1911.

Here are some interesting facts about good ol’ prime number 13:

- There were thirteen participants at the Last Supper.
- The number of Norse gods (there were 12) at a banquet that was crashed by the evil god Loki (making 13) who killed Baldr with an arrow/spear made out of mistletoe using Hodr, thus marking the beginning of Ragnarok. What???
- Thirteen is the sixth prime number.
- Colgate University also considers 13 to be a lucky number. They were founded in 1819 by 13 men with 13 dollars, 13 prayers, and 13 articles. (To this day, members of the Colgate community consider the number 13 a good omen.) I am going to have to look up Colgate University – Do they study toothpaste there? Maybe dentistry might have been a better thought!
- It is at this point that a person becomes a teenager.
- Youngest age a minor can watch a PG-13 rated movie by the MPAA without the recommendation of parental guidance or parental consent. We all remember that day!
- Youngest age a minor can rent or purchase a T rated game by the ESRB without parental consent. Were any of the Super Mario’s T-Rated…? I guess I am an old school gamer.
- There are 13 players in a rugby league team. In rugby union one of the centers, most often but not always the outside centre, wears the 13 shirt.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain wore number 13. Three NBA teams, plus the Harlem Globetrotters, have retired his number.
- Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino wore number 13 for the Miami Dolphins, who retired his number in 2000.
- 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash wears the number 13.
- In Formula One, no driver has had the number 13 on his car since 1976.
- In the Great Seal of the United States there are 13 olive leaves (with 13 olives), 13 arrows, and 13 stars. These form a triangle over the eagle with the number 13 on each point. On the reverse the pyramid has 13 levels. That’s a lot of 13’s. When I first read great seal, I think of a large animal. I am tired today.
- The original number of members of The Thirteen Club. Really? I never would have guessed!
- In some countries, the number 13 is considered unlucky and building owners will sometimes purposefully omit a floor so numbered. My office building has done this, but deep down I know the 14th floor is really the 13th!
- 13 steps is a paragraph of the Final Document (agreed by consensus) of the 2000 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. I have no care in the world as to what that is.
- Before the plot was foiled, there were thirteen plotters in the Gunpowder Plot. Oh, I wonder what that is?!!? Oh, thanks Wikipedia, it was a failed assassination attempt in 1605.
- Apollo 13 was the only unsuccessful mission by the United States of America intended to land humans on the moon. Houston, we have a problem. Good movie!
- Jason Robert Brown’s most recent hit Broadway musical, Thirteen (13), stars a cast of 13 teenagers.
- Korean boy band Super Junior features 13 people.

I might have to download some of their tunes!

Well, that’s all I got.
Until next time….

What’s in a name? Apparently not too much significance if you wanna make it big in the celebrity world. Actors, singers, entertainers, authors and obviously those is the adult entertainment industry seem to change their name more frequently than I change my underwear (which is everyday by the way!). It appears that it is a long standing tradition for aspiring celebrities and star-seekers to change their names to better suit their public profile. Other times it is because there is already an actor registered with the Screen Actors Guild with their same name. The SAG does not allow duplicate names to avoid credit ambiguities. For example, Michael J. Fox wished to register as Michael Fox, but there was already one registered. He didn’t go with his original middle initial “A” (Andrew) for fears of sounding too Canadian: Michael “Eh?” Fox so decided that “J” worked well. Another reason is to make themselves sound more “STAR” like. Let’s be honest, Marilyn Monroe sounds way better than Norma Jean Baker! But who would have honestly wanted to change their name to Englebert Humperdink? That one, I just don’t get.

In the 487 names that I came across in researching this blog, I have chosen a few for you below to try your luck at matching the currently used name of the celebrity on the top list with their actual name on the bottom list! No cheaing with Google. Answers are below!

Good luck!

i (MC) Hammer
ii Alice Cooper
iii Ann Landers
iv Carrot Top
v Cary Grant
vi Charo
vii Dido
viii Elvis Costello
ix Engelbert Humperdinck
x Estee Lauder
xi Freddy Mercury
xii Gene Simmons
xiii Ginger Rogers
xiv John Denver
xv Judy Garland
xvi Kirk Douglas
xvii Marilyn Manson
xviii Meat Loaf
xix Meg Ryan
xx Mickey Rooney
xxi Snoop Doggy Dogg
xxii Tina Turner
xxiii Twiggy
xxiv Whoopi Goldberg
xxv Woody Allen
xxvi Wynonna Judd

A Caryn Elaine Johnson
B Allen Stewart Konigsberg
C Farouk Bulsara
D Leslie Hornby
E Esther “Eppie” Pauline Friedman Lederer
F Cordazer Calvin Broadus
G Virginia Katherine McMath
H Josephine Esther Mentzer
I Scott Thompson
J Marvin Lee Aday
K Chaim Witz
L Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong
M Christina Claire Ciminella
N Frances Gumm
O Henry John Deutschendorf Jr.
P Issur Danielovitch Demsky
Q Archibald Leach
R Anna Mae Bullock
S Joe Yule Jr.
T Brian Hugh Warner
U Arnold George Dorsey
V Vincent Damon Furnier
W Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra
X Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza
Y Stanley Kirk Burrell
Z Declan Patrick McManus

Answers:
(ɯ – ıʌxx ؛q – ʌxx ؛ɐ – ʌıxx ؛p – ıııxx ؛ɹ – ııxx ؛ɟ – ıxx ؛s – xx ؛ʍ – xıx ؛ɾ – ıııʌx ؛ʇ – ııʌx ؛d – ıʌx ؛u – ʌx ؛o – ʌıx ؛ƃ – ıııx ؛ʞ – ııx ؛ɔ – ıx ؛ɥ – x ؛n – xı ؛z – ıııʌ ؛ן – ııʌ ؛x – ıʌ ؛b – ʌ ؛ı – ʌı ؛ǝ – ııı ؛ʌ – ıı ؛ʎ– ı)

“A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.” Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste (1825). Who was this man behind this amazing quote that is oh so true? A French lawyer, magistrate, and politician, who wrote one of the most celebrated works on food, ‘Physiologie du gout’ (The Physiology of Taste), which was published only months before his death. There are few recipes but many anecdotes and observations covering all aspects of the pleasures of the table. He was quite possibly the greatest food critic ever. So, if he states that wine is comparable to sunshine, then it must be true.

Anyway… in hopes of bringing more sunshine into my life through wine, Wine Wednesdays was created. It occurs every second Wednesday (bi-weekly or every fortnight if you will – apparently bi-weekly could mean twice a week and fortnightly is not a commonly used term here in Canada… Maybe we should start using it), and is a gathering of some of us downtowners who meet for a glass of wine, a light snack and some good old fashioned gossip.

Our first Wine Wednesday took place at Joey’s in the Bentall One building. We decided to start with a nice white chardonnay. We totally went for a fun named wine and it was closer to being one of the cheapest on the menu. We selected a chardonnay called Whatchamacallit, California, 2006. Now we tried to be full on wine snobs and did the smelling, the swirling, the sipping and so one, but I can’t figure out all that stuff yet. Check back after about 10 Wine Wednesdays! I have Wine for Dummies, so in a few months, I hope to no longer be a dummy! We decided that is was not too oaky, as chardonnays often are, and it was sweeter than we expected. Our conclusion: it was good. How’s that for a rating? Yeah, we aren’t too great at it yet. Others have said this about the wine: Caramel, pineapple and pear aromas with mineral, oak spice and citrus notes. Toasty flavours, light spice citrus and tropical flavours vanillin oak, crisp yet rounded on the palate with a fresh finish. In reading those, I see it now and I agree with it 100%!

As a complementary dish, I guess we should know (I should pack my wine wheel with me next time) that since it’s a light wine, it goes better with seafood, pork or chicken. Other meats, like steak or game will overwhelm the flavor, so the chicken quesadilla’s were a wise choice.

Now I wanted to take some time and research the vineyard and see it’s other selections, but all I could find is that it’s from Santa Rosa, California and distributed by a wine buying group called Spit Decisions here in Vancouver. They state that they are a wine buying group like no other. They are a coalition of some of the very best palates in the industry, and they search the world over for outstandingly valued wines. Whatchamacallit is the coalition’s first endeavour. The group wished to have a refreshingly light hearted name for a most memorable wine series. I have contacted them and eager to hear more of what they are about and what they have to share.

Here’s to many more Wine Wednesdays. Cheers!
Until next time…