Fall Fun Food and Follies 5 Things to do while you are alive · Monday November 8, 2010 by colin newell
Yesterday my wife and I set aside some time to meet with a neighbor.
A new neighbor in fact. A lady who has located to Victoria after her husband had retired.
They had lived and worked around Canada… in places as far flung as Halifax, Ottawa, Saskatoon and Regina.
She grew up in Germany and was a young child as Hitler was beginning his reign of terror on Europe.
She is actually an amalgam of German and Danish. A handsome and studied woman, she had seen a lot of stuff in the mid-forties – and although just a child at the time (she) formed a solid impression of what Nazism and Fascism truly represented. And how we need to be watchful even today.
And here she was in 2010 telling us about what life was like for a young girl in Nazi Germany and then for a young woman starting a new life in the West.
Her story has an interesting and tragic twist. Her husband and she had just started to settle in Victoria (in their late seventies and in perfect health) looked forward to the golden years pursuing their mutual passion of sailing and travel.
A freak accident however took her husbands life a few months ago – and now she has to carry on the journey alone. Sad.
In just under 3 hours we covered a stimulating chunk of Western history, from life in Germany in the War to new beginnings in Canada in the late 50’s – The magic of Canada in the 60’s – the evolution of the Canadian identity in the early 70’s and so on.
She has over 30 years on me, with a correspondingly more encompassing sense of the big picture and an acute sense of the absurd in how some aspects of Western society have remained virtually unchanged since the last Great War.
Sobering stuff indeed.
I learned a bunch of stuff from this gal. One of them is: Tomorrow really never comes. Every day really is your last until proven otherwise. Care for those around you. Love your friends. Leave your mind entirely open for new ideas. Embrace strangers because, hey, you never know.
Keeping doors open. It is what we all need to do.
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Fall Fun and Food Follies 4 Bringing home your baker · Saturday November 6, 2010 by colin newell
I have always thought that the best time to savor a cup of great coffee is early. Preferably after you have had a light breakfast. Dumping caffeine onto an empty stomach is never a good idea. Unless you are made of stone of course.
Which is what I said to Mark Engels, of Bubby Roses Bakery, while sitting in the window at the HABIT COFFEE AND CULTURE Atrium location – Yates and Blanshard.
On a damp Saturday November morning we make a note of the ebb and flow of serious coffee drinkers around us. Habit owner/team leader, Shane works the counter with the skill of a master. While ordering my single origin mug of wonder, Shane commented that his shift is the “fill in where needed” and “normal is not a word or reality that appears in his World.”
Sitting with Mark and getting in an full cup of wisdom is rarely undisturbed – because Mark is the Baker Mayor of the Cook street village area. And everyone knows the Mayor. In the space of 3 minutes we meet and greet friends and fans of the Bakery.
Friends of the Baker.
You need the Baker. Especially when the Baker is putting bread on your table. And bringing a special social energy to your community. Your neighborhood.
So between all encompassing impressions of Victoria cafe and baking culture and sips of coffee, Mark gives me the snapshot of the lowdown in his life as he plans the latest bakery game changer.
New ideas. New locations. Fresh ambition. Finding downtime. Nailing down balance.
Mark talks about finding new strength and restoration in getting away from it all or stepping away for brief periods of time.
We are distracted for a moment by my Carrot and Bran muffin.
Baked things distract Mark – it is an industrial hazard. I come to expect it.
And even I ask, why here in the Wet Coast of British Columbia a muffin at HABIT COFFEE is called a “Nantucket Morning Glory” muffin.
Like, what local bakery would give a local muffin a name like that? It should be called the Sooke River Morning Glory muffin.
Little things that rile up a baker and a coffee web maker.
Mark and I wind down the conversation/coffee date with opinions on why social networking tools, like Twitter and Facebook are actual limiters of taking business and ideas forward. My feelings on that will be explored in more detail in a later edition.
In the meantime, I have a pile of modern coffee gear to plow through, write and review.
Because the Universe abhors decaffeination.
Colin lives and works in Victoria B.C. Canada and tries to write about it from time to time. Sometimes, Social Networking gets in the way!
Growing it for Cancer research - Movember - Pledge please! · Monday November 1, 2010 by colin newell
Fine facial hair and immaculate grooming doesn’t grow on trees. It grows on my face if I neglect it long enough.
And I have never been big on whiskers – hard enough keeping them follicles brewing on my head. But for the benefit of taking one for the team – and taking steps to promote Men’s Health – I have joined the UVic Systems Movember Team.
Photo right: A picture of my rugged mug from last year before an asteroid from the Van Allen belt rendered me hideous…
Cool. Finally an excuse to give up daily grooming and give prostate cancer a solid wallop in the nether regions.
So. If you are a fan of the Coffeecrew blog and want to keep the love coming… dig deep and toss a couple of sheckles in the direction of my chin dreads.
Please, please… pretty please?
Please donate to My Movember Team
The boys and I will be glad you did!
Goat on!
Fall fun Food and Follies in Victoria B.C. 2010 # 4 Lip Dub UVic · Saturday October 23, 2010 by colin newell
My school!
