Let's do lunch... · Thursday February 15, 2007 by colin newell
One of my favorite places for a meal on Vancouver Island is the Crow & Gate Pub at Cedar south of Nanaimo.
I know. I know. This is one of the best kept secrets of many Islanders (and mainlanders for that matter…) and I know full well I am going to be paying dearly for letting this cat out of the bag!
Ok. So it is a pub you say. So what?
Well (more secrets about to be let out of the bag…)
The Crow & Gate is the most authentic English pub you will find in North America (I know – hyperbole)
It is as if it was transported lock, stock and barrel from England.
Except for a couple of small details.
The food is way better than the average English pub…
and way cheaper too!
I dare say I have had virtually everything on the menu; Steak Pie, Oyster Pub plate (My god! Yum!), Ploughmans Lunch… and on and on and on.
All menu items (made at the time you request them) are under 10 dollars (average price being about $7.50 Canadian)
Did I mention the food is really, really, really good?
Secrets out.
Oh yea. Why the Heli photo above?
Well. Short story. A small group of us were at the C&G a year or so ago when we heard the familiar Whop-Whop of a Bell Jet Ranger coming in for a landing… a landing in the middle of nowhere.
Picture this: Chopper cools down. Pilot jumps out and sprints to the pub back entrance. Pilot whispers a question in a waitresses ear. She nods no. Pilot returns to helicopter. Helicopter powers up and flys away.
I could not resist. I went over and asked the gal what the pilot wanted.
“Steak and Kidney Pie” she said.
“We were out…” she concluded.
It seems they get regular high-rollers from Vancouver flying in for a quick lunch.
Geeze – at 500 to 1000$/hour for a Bell Jet Ranger and pilot you would think they would call ahead.
Feeling down, feeling pretty? · Monday February 12, 2007 by colin newell
Fashion models feel less happy and less fulfilled than people in other careers, researchers in London said.
Other characteristics models tend to exhibit include low self-esteem, loneliness and suspicions of others, Sky News said Monday.
The findings, released as London Fashion Week begins, were the results of interviews by City University researchers with a group of models and other workers.
In the study, models on average scored lower on several questionnaires, particularly when asked about their psychological need satisfaction. PNS measures a person’s need to feel connected with others, their ability to feel comfortable making independent decisions and their need to feel competent in daily work.
Bjorn Meyer, the researcher who led the study, told Sky News, “These results do not mean that models are mentally disturbed but they are nevertheless concerning, and point to a potentially serious issue.” link
I don’t know – I think this scenario would describe most bloggers, would’nt you agree?
I feel pretty, oh so pretty...
Sun to set on post 9/11 police powers. · Saturday February 10, 2007 by colin newell
Canada is set to roll-back some of the police powers the Canadian government and courts granted post 9/11.
The Canadian Liberal party, currently in partnership with the NDP and Conservatives in a minority government, have withdrawn support for the controversial laws set to expire at the end of next week.
The former Liberal majority government, under then prime minister Jean Chretien, rushed the sweeping changes in the stressful weeks following 9/11, arguing law-enforcement needed better tools for dealing with the palpable threat of terror.
In response to concerns the new laws would trample civil liberties, the government of the day placed a sunset clause on the far-reaching legislation. Well, the day is almost upon us.
The current Conservative government (in minority) have tabled a motion to extend the provisions of the law for three years. Lacking Liberal, NDP and Bloc(French) support the bill will die on the vine.
This shift of thinking from the Liberal left has shocked many in the security industry, not surprisngly.
This claw-back of police powers puts Canada on a substantially more moderate track than World security partners, the U.S., Britain and Australia.
Canada’s security laws function thusly: A preventive arrest clause allows police to arrest suspects without warrant and detain them for upwards of 48 hours or more, without charge — if they (the police) suspect that the subjects of interest may do something or are thinking of doing something unlawful.
In the 5 years since the act has come into force, it has never been used. Yes neighbor, we Canadian’s are that law abiding. Although I have to admit, there have been times where I have had unlawful thoughts. You know: Will I pass the car ahead of me over a double-solid line?
Anyway, I think we are on the right track – but I can only speak for Canadians… not meaning to set any examples for anyone else, begging your pardon and all `eh.
Anna Nicole Smith dead at 39 · Thursday February 8, 2007 by colin newell
Reality TV star and former model Anna Nicole Smith was pronounced dead Thursday after being taken to a Florida hospital, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Smith, 39, collapsed at a south Florida hotel, according to news reports.
Love or hate celebrities, I cannot help but feel the loss of an interesting human being.
Anna Nicole had become a fixture on Entertainment Tonight, the prime-time gossip vid that has crept into our lives. Everybody shared the loss of her son and her never-ending battle with depression and grief.
And although she was a product of another World, totally foreign to my own, her raw and genuine humanity did show through the glamour and glitz.
So today I offer a toast to Anna Nicole.
You gave us something that the likes of Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson could never give us; a window in the painful reality that is the life of the celebrity.
You were real. And now you’re gone.
Happy journey Anna Nicole Smith!
Bonus: Bob Harris’s take on Anna Nicole in the news
