Summer Food and Drink series - 2011 rant #30 in stickiness · Wednesday July 22, 2009 by colin newell
The year is 2011. Vancouver. The former emerald gem of the Canadian south-west is in ruin. Several years of utter neglect and government sponsored raids on the community chest have left this former city of dreams in a patina of rust and deterioration.
A private police force cautiously roam the few streets not declared off limits by endless civil strife, skirmishes between resistance militias and the almost complete collapse of infrastructure.
Those people brave enough to venture into the chaos, bewildered in the crumbling streets, look for a reason for this nightmare – and a scrap of food not already sold off to the occupiers.
I gaze across this futuristic hellscape, and I spot a gas powered automobile from the early days of the 21st century. It’s burned down to the tire rims and largely stripped of every valuable piece of metal or wire – but I can still make out the bumpersticker… shown above
Available from CafePress.Com
Buy one of these now – while you still can. Place it on your still running automobile, bicycle, rickshaw, skateboard or burro!
And thank your lucky stars you still have a job and 3-square.
For now
Summer Food Fun and Drink Chapter 13 The Two Old Goats on Tour North by Northwest · Saturday July 11, 2009 by colin newell
We were interviewed on CBC’s North by Northwest – and here is the mp3 about The Two Old Goats.
or click here for the mp3 if you cannot see the above widget.
Goats on the bleat! CBC North by Northwest Interview!
There is some talk that my band, The Two Old Goats, might be doing a limited series of live performances on Vancouver Island this summer and fall – and maybe beyond, with is a second project in the works. Who knows. I will advise.
Above is a snippet of a show we were featured on a ways back on CBC Radio 1, North by Northwest.
The “Goats” featuring Charlie Burton and yours truly, Colin Newell, got a good amount of air play nationwide as well as on NPR in the U.S.A.
You can get buy our CD and get concert updates over on our band site – e-mail me for details!
You can also have a listen to some of the solo Charlie Burton projects over on www.charlieburton.ca
March 3 2010 update – 100% of all CD sales will go to the Red Cross and World Vision efforts in Haiti and Chile.
Summer Food Fun and Drink Chapter 12 Fish and Chips · Saturday July 11, 2009 by colin newell
Vancouver Island has some awesome Fish and Chip joints – but nothing compares to the Rock Cod Cafe in Cowichan Bay, on the Eastern Side of the Island south of Duncan, British Columbia.
We get up to Cow Bay a couple of times a year – and today’s visit was wicked – it was easily 32 degrees © – about 90 (F) in brilliant sunshine. And tucking into a patio table at the Rock Cod with a pint of iced tea in front of Andrea and I was Da Kine.
I rave about Fish and Chips a lot on this Island and most of the places are fair to midland – some are downright extraordinary. Some are merely dead in the water.
The Rock Cod rules because the fish is fresh, the batter crisp and tasty – and the finished product is never greasy tasting.
Today I subbed in Onion rings and they were utterly satisfying.
With a small side of tartar sauce and a tablespoon of slaw, this was lunch perfection.
For those visiting the area, by all means visit the Cowichan Bay website – there are some other gems like the Masthead Restaurant and The Udder Guys Ice cream parlor.
On Vancouver Island, this is the good life!
Summer Food Fun and Drink 2009 Chapter 8 Challah Toast · Monday July 6, 2009 by colin newell
There are moments that redefine comfort – those soothing snapshots in life where everything is simply wonderful, carefree – that fleeting moment we are not troubled by school yard bullies, bees, taxes, looming deadlines, angry relations and unmet expectations…
They come at unpredictable times. That sweet moment of placation when your mother scoops you out of a roll of thorny brambles, and hugs each imagined injury better… the joy of a first unexpected kiss… graduation day… a job offer… the Sunny horizon of retirement.
And the first sip of black coffee on a fragrant Spring morning…
…followed by a anticipatory nibble of a City’s great French toast.
Except it isn’t really French toast at all. It’s Challah toast from the one of my favorite bakeries – Bubby Roses on Cook Street near Meares Ave.
And as much as I would like to quantify the isotopes that make up this place – to return to that place at will and relive that peaceful, easy feeling…
I can’t.
But I have discovered that this particular bakery is as reliable as gravity when it comes to delivering the goods…
whether it’s fresh bread, or a flour-less chocolate torte, a vegan brownie or a cup of Java thick enough to stop time – and it often does…
or the Challah bread: sweet as love, drizzled with Canadian Maple syrup, anointed with organic yogurt and circled with a phalanx of mixed fresh fruits worthy of breakfast plate greatness.
Pucker up Baby, it’s Challah time!
