Tower Heist

Gord and I saw Tower Heist this afternoon.

Josh Kovaks (Ben Stiller) has managed one of the most luxurious and well-secured residences in New York City for more than a decade. In the swankiest unit atop Josh's building, Wall Street titan Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) is under house arrest after being caught stealing two billion from his investors. The hardest hit among those he defrauded? The tower staffers whose pensions he was entrusted to manage. With only days before Arthur gets away with the perfect crime, Josh's crew turns to petty crook Slide (Eddie Murphy) to plan the nearly impossible ... to steal what they are sure is hidden in Arthur's guarded condo. Though amateurs, these rookie thieves know the building better than anyone. Turns out they've been casing the place for years, they just didn't know it.

I'd seen the trailer for this and it looked good ... and it was.

Yes, it's farfetched at times but it was entertaining. It was interesting to see Alan Alda as the bad guy. Eddie Murphy was back to playing Eddie Murphy, which was good to see.

I'd recommend this movie, either in the theatre or as a rental.

Gord and I fit in well, don't we?!

Here's the trailer:

Holy Chuck, Toronto, ON

I had read that Retro Burger, which was in the neighbourhood where I work (Yonge/St. Clair), was gone and Holy Chuck had taken its place. I'd only been to Retro Burger once (they weren't in the 'hood all that long) and I didn't think it was too bad.

I thought I'd check Holy Chuck out for lunch today.

What they emphasize is that they grind their burger in-house and it's never frozen ... sounded good to me!

I ordered a single burger, fries and a Diet Coke ... it came to just over $11.

I'd asked for mustard, ketchup, tomatoes and pickles on my burger. They forgot the tomatoes and pickles so I had to go back for them.

The burger was $5.49 ... not cheap for a single burger with no cheese or bacon. Here it is:

Considering the cost, it was small. The bun reminded me of a cheap generic grocery store bun. The burger was kind of tasteless and really greasy. The fries were a mixture of hot and cold fries, alas mostly cold ones.

Needless to say, I won't be back.

They have a challenge if you are up to it. If you can eat this monstrous burger (The Go Chuck Yourself - six patties, six cheese, triple bacon, caramelized onions and stacked between three grilled cheese sandwiches) and drink a milkshake within six minutes, you get it for free and go up on the hall of fame wall. The best time right now is three minutes. Ewwww!

I was the the 3,156,906,603rd person!

I saw this over at Lady Banana's ...

When I was born, I was the 3,156,906,603rd person alive on earth and the 76,916,305,937th person to have lived since history began.

Every hour in Canada, there are 42 births, 28 deaths and +25 immigrants
Average yearly growth: +1%

What are your stats? Check it out here.

East Side Mario's, Barrie, ON

I had three enrolment seminars to conduct this afternoon in Barrie.

I stopped at East Side Mario's beforehand for lunch which was about five minutes from the client's site.

I ordered Mario's Classic Chicken Parmigiana (a seasoned chicken breast, hand-breaded with herb breadcrumbs, topped with Napolitana sauce and baked with pizza mozzarella cheese; served with Penne Napolitana).

It came with herb garlic bread and salad or Italian Wedding Soup ... I went with the soup.

I love Italian Wedding Soup! It was okay ... there was a lot of bland broth and not a lot of meatballs or the little round pasta. Knowing I had the chicken parm coming, I poked around for the meatballs and left the broth. The bread was good!

Here's my chicken parm.

It was a hefty portion and looked good ... alas, it was also bland.

Nick was my server and he took good care of me ... he was friendly and quick. I thought the back of his teeshirt was a hoot!

BTW, if you bring a new unwrapped child's gift here, they will give you a free appetizer.

It's been a while since I've been to an East Side Mario's ... and I think it will be a while before I go back to one again.

Black cats down on their luck at shelters

There's an interesting story in today's Toronto Star about how black cats and dogs are adopted last.

Whispy slinks through the halls of the Toronto Humane Society, his dark figure jarring against the white floors and walls.

As its longest resident, Whispy has been living at the animal shelter since July 2010. It seems no one wants to adopt the 11-year-old cat because, workers say, he is black.

It’s a problem that plagues shelters everywhere: Ebony-coloured cats and dogs are often the last to be adopted, says Heidi Kulla, an adoption agent at the society.

“People just want that dog or that cat that looks really beautiful,” she said. “They don’t see black cats as beautiful. They just see them as plain.”

Black cats have the lowest adoption rates of all animals, said Kulla. After Whispy, the society’s second-longest resident is Lucky, another black cat who has lived at the shelter since January. The average length of stay for cats is 2½ weeks.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Really? I've had a couple black cats (Mama and Nikki) and they were very sweet and beautiful. Sister Sarah has a black cat named Shadow. That's a picture of Whispy ... isn't he adorable?!

Do you have anything against black cats and/or dogs?

Blind Great Dane and her guide dog need a new home

I read about these two dogs in today's Toronto Star.

Blind Great Dane Lily and her guide dog Madison are melting hearts around the world with their enduring tale of friendship that has seen its share of hardship.

Lily was only 18 months old when veterinarians removed both her eyes as she was suffering from entropion, a condition that caused her eyelashes to roll inward and scratch painfully against her eyeballs.

As Lily recuperated in darkness — too timid to move — her best friend Madison slowly began encouraging her sightless friend to start moving. Madison would lead the way — a guide dog for a dog, steering her pal, alerting her to danger in her path.

In time, with Madison at her side Lily regained the confidence to play outside the house. Now the pair — Lily is six years old now; Madison is seven — is facing its next challenge: finding a new home.

You can read the rest of the story here.

What great pals! I hope they find a home together.

Mucho Burrito, Barrie, ON

I conducted four enrolment seminars today.

I started at 9am and finished about 3pm ... the seminars were back-to-back so I had no opportunity for lunch. Knowing this would happen, I had a good breakfast about 8ish. But by the time I got on the road, though, I was hungry.

I stopped at Mucho Burrito just before I left Barrie (it's along the 400). I love burritos and had an excellent one at Mucho Burrito in Vancouver when Sister Sarah and I were there in May.

I got a chicken burrito with medium salsa sauce, a pop and a couple of cookies (I ended up bringing the cookies home).

The burrito was hearty and filling.

The medium sauce was hotter than I expected and there was a lot of rice ... so all I tasted was spicy rice. It would have been better had there been less rice because I could have experienced the rest of the ingredients more.

It was okay ... not as good as the one I had in Vancouver, though.

Holiday Inn Barrie Hotel & Conference Centre, Barrie, ON

I had four enrolment seminars to conduct today in Barrie. The first one was at 9am.

Rather than do the drive early this morning, I went up last evening and spent the night at the Holiday Inn which was near the client.

Here's my room ... yes, a comfy king bed all for me!!

My only complaint is that it wasn't very quiet. I could hear every thing that happened in the hallway ... talking, sneezing, doors closing, suitcases being dragged, etc.

This is minor but the curtain on the window didn't close all the way. The parking lot light was coming through the edge and reflecting off the mirror on the wall which reflected onto the bed (you can see what I mean in the second picture). So I had to make sure I didn't sleep in that spot and have the light in my eyes.

The staff at the front desk were friendly and helpful.

WIFI was free and fairly quick. Parking was free.

I had supper in the lounge last night and it was good. I had the buffet breakfast there this morning (just $10!) and there was lots of choice.

I'd stay here again.

Tattinger's Restaurant & Lounge, Barrie, ON

I had supper tonight at Tattinger's as it was in my hotel. I was tired (lots of driving and presenting earlier today) and didn't feel like going to far.

There are two parts ... the restaurant and the lounge with a windowed wall separating them. I sat on the lounge side and there were a handful of other tables of people. The lounge is cozy and comfy.

The menu has some interesting choices. I ordered the Chicken Parmigiana (only Ontario grain fed birds, a 6 oz breast butter flied, fried golden then topped with marinara sauce and a melted mozzarella parmesan blend, served over spaghetti with a rich meat sauce). My server warned me it was a large portion ... and it was.

It was okay ... the chicken is a good size with lots of cheese. The garlic bread was a bit too soggy. The spaghetti was okay.

My server was very friendly and helpful and took good care of everyone.

I'd come to the restaurant again if I was in the area. It wasn't great but it was okay.

Pizza Hut, Hamilton, ON

Steve and I had a client seminar to conduct in Hamilton today and we met at Pizza Hut on Main Street W for lunch.

I arrived first and was "greeted" by L, the manager of this location. By way of greeting, she said that the buffet was closed at 1:30 (it was just after that) and we'd have to order from the menu. No hello or anything ... just that.

I wandered over to look at the buffet as I was curious as to what a Pizza Hut buffet would have (I love pizza and pasta). L yelled over at me, "Ma'am, I told you the buffet was closed." So welcoming ... NOT!

When my colleague arrived, we both ordered calzones. When they arrived, they were mostly dough, burnt, extremely dry and had hardly any ingredients (mine was meat and his was pepperoni) ... just a bit in the middle. We didn't have time to reorder or go elsewhere so we ate them, laughing hysterically because they were so bad and our server was even worse.

We ate the middle part of the calzones and left most of the crust. When we left 20 minutes later and had paid the bill, our plates hadn't been removed.

L was extremely disinterested in her job. And it wasn't like the place was busy ... there were only three tables.

Given the nature of my job, I travel a lot so eat out quite often. This was the worst dining experience I have had in a long long long time. It was such a waste of $30. I'll never go back to this location again. With a manager like L, I'm sure a lot of people feel the same way.



November 1 update: I rarely write to a company to complain about poor service and food but I did about this experience. I left a comment on the Pizza Hut homepage. I got this email today from Customer Communications Representative, Yum! Restaurants International (Canada) Company:

Hi Teena,

Thank-you for your e-mail and we do apologize for the experience you had with a Pizza Hut Restaurant.

Please be advised that we have forwarded your concerns to the Franchise Group that owns and operates the restaurant. They will be in contact with you to review your experience at the restaurant and identify ways to address these challenges.

We sincerely appreciate being informed of this incident and thank-you once again for taking the time to contact us.

Have a lovely day ahead!

November 7 update: I got this email today from the Area Coach, Franchise Management Inc.:

Hello Teena,

I want to thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns. I am sorry that your experience with our Pizza Hut was not an enjoyable one.

At Pizza Hut, we pride ourselves on serving a great product and providing a memorable experience. Since we were unable to do this on your last visit, I would like to invite you back to give us a try again. I will mail some vouchers to the address you have listed. They are honoured at multiple locations listed on the back.

We are looking forward to serving you again soon!

November 21 update: I received $30 in Pizza Hut coupons today which expire on December 31, 2011. They can be used in many locations ... alas, none in Toronto so I'll give them to Steve so he can use them when he visits his in-laws.

Book ~ "Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man" (2011) Chaz Bono

From Amazon ~ Chaz Bono's groundbreaking and candid account of a forty-year struggle to match his gender identity with his physical body and his transformation from female to male

At first, America knew the only child of Sonny and Cher as Chastity, the cherubic little girl who appeared on her parents' TV show. In later years, she became famous for coming out on a national stage, working with two major organizations toward LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights and publishing two books. And just within the past eighteen months, Chaz Bono has entered the public consciousness as the most high-profile transgender person ever.

All through the hoopla surrounding his change, Chaz has insisted on maintaining his privacy. Now, in Transition, Chaz finally tells his story. Part One traces his decision to transition, beginning in his childhood-when he played on the boys' teams and wore boys' clothing whenever possible-and going through his painful, but ultimately joyful, coming out in his twenties, up to 2008, when, after the death of his father, drug addiction, and five years of sobriety, Chaz was finally ready to begin the process of changing his gender. In Part Two, he offers an unprecedented record in words and photographs of the actual transition, a real-time diary as he navigates uncharted waters. These chapters capture the day-to-day momentum of his life as his body changes.

Throughout the book, Chaz touches on themes of identity, gender, and sexuality; parents and children; and how harboring secrets shatters the soul. It is an amazing contribution to our understanding of a much- misunderstood community.

I watched the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour when I was a kid and remember Sonny and Cher bringing Chastity on stage with them. I didn't know too much else about Chaz other than she was gay and then recently became transgendered.

So it was interesting to read this book and learn more about him ... what life was like being the child of entertainers, coming out as gay, figuring out what to do career-wise, dealing with alcohol and drug problems, realizing he was a man in a woman's body and having the courage to go ahead with the process to be true to himself.

It's told with honesty especially regarding his mother's reaction and his relationship with his girlfriend, Jenny, and how she handled it.

I enjoyed it ... it's an interesting story.

Smokeless Joe, Toronto, ON

Smokeless Joe used to be downtown on John Street. They suddenly disappeared in the summer and there were rumours that they would opening at a new location.

Three months later they recently reopened on College Street, just west of Bathurst. We checked it out this evening.

The old location was in a basement and cavernous. The new location is on the street level (they also have space on the second floor) and they have renovated it to be similar to the old digs.

We sat at the bar ... here's Rob, the bartender. He took good care of us.

The food menu consists mainly of mussels (they are very popular). In addition to ensuring everyone has a drink, Rob also gets those ready.

Here are Gord and I.

The draft selection is good ... lots of craft beer. And their beer menu is still quite extensive, though not as large as it was at their old location.

Glad to see them back!

Bohemian Gastropub, Toronto, ON

After Gord and I saw The Rum Diary, we walked to the Bohemian Gastropub on Queen Street W for supper. It opened in July and we've been wanting to check it out.

It's a cute spot ... here's the front.

There's also a big room in the back.

We sat by the window so had a great spot for people watching on Queen Street W.

Our server came over right away and asked up what we wanted to drink and was quick about getting them to us. Then the service went downhill. We had made it obvious that we would be ordering food but it took him a long time to come back. When we tried to catch his attention, he was indifferent to our needs.

I ordered the Southern Fried Buttermilk Chicken and Mashed Potatoes.

At $16, it's expensive for what you get. A thin layer of mashed potatoes and a small boneless chicken breast. The chicken was moist and tender but the batter was fairly bland.

Gord ordered Battered Fish and Chips.

Surprisingly it's trout rather than the usual cod, haddock or halibut. At $16, this too is fairly expensive. The fries were good. Gord said the fish was mushy and not great.

Given the cost of the food, we were surprised at the low cost of drinks. A draft is $6 or $7 and a rum and coke was $6.25.

We both agreed we couldn't go back to eat there again. Gord loves beer so was happy with the beer selection and said he'd go back for a drink. There's enough bars on Queen Street W that I'd be inclined to go elsewhere.

Book ~ "Quick Study" (2009) Maggie Barbieri

From Amazon ~ In Barbieri's third book to feature English professor Alison Bergeron, Alison befriends Hernan Escalante and his extended family from Ecuador at the soup kitchen where she's doing community service north of New York City. When the beaten body of Jose Tomasso, one of Hernan's relatives and an illegal immigrant, surfaces in the Hudson near Riviera Pointe, a luxury condo development in the Bronx where Jose was a construction worker, Alison offers to help Hernan find out what happened. After a second murder at Riviera Pointe, Hernan disappears. Alison's investigation leads her and her sidekicks, including her faithful canine companion, Trixie, into all sorts of nail-biting danger. An offer of assistance from former sweetie Jack McManus, marketing director for the New York Rangers, tests Alison's relationship with her main squeeze, NYPD detective Bobby Crawford. Barbieri scores again with this high-octane blend of romance, laughs and chills.

This is the third book in this series.

Alison is a prof at a Catholic university. She stumbles into situations that wouldn't happen to anyone else. The rest of us would walk away. Instead she charges in to solve the problem.

This time she is trying to solve the murder of Jose, a fella she knows from the soup kitchen she volunteers at once a week. Even though her cop boyfriend tells her to back off and someone is leaving her threatening notes, she still tries to find out what happened.

Jack McManus, the brother of her friend who is a priest, still pursues her even though he knows she has a boyfriend.

Max, her recently married friend, is having problems with her husband, who is Alison's boyfriend's partner. I'm not a fan of Max's ... I find her self-centered.

I enjoyed the writing style and it kept me interested even though I found the plot not overly exciting. The ending was quick and I didn't really care about the bad guys who got caught in the end and what they were involved with.

I look forward to reading the next one in the series.

Wild and crazy Friday night

It's wild and crazy right now at our place.

Gord is having a nap so he can watch the last World Series ball game tonight.

Morgan and Crumpet are sleeping next to me on the couch.

I'm watching Judge Judy.

Yep, wild and crazy!