Not A Russian Politician.

We tend to associate fast food restaurants with a sort of cultural imperialism.  The perception is that the food at one in the US will be the same as the food at one in Tokyo.  But that often isn't the case.  Fast food chains often regionalise their menus to reflect local cultures.  For example in Canada Burger King offers poutine.  A dish originally created in Quebec poutine is french fries covered with brown gravy and cheese curds or some other form of cheese.  A few days ago I tried out BK's version with bacon added.



Given the plastic lid I assume this stuff is made elsewhere for Burger King and just heated up at the restaurant.



As you can imagine a combination of these ingredients tastes quite salty.  I like salty, but eating this stuff probably upped my blood pressure for a while.  I'm sure someone who has eaten poutine made in a Quebec restaurant would turn up their nose at this stuff, but I liked it and may try it again someday.

Ugh!

Looking out the window what do I see?  Snow falling from the sky.  It's warm enough that it's melting, but it's a terrifying sign of things to come.

Time to get out your toques, everyone.

Alienate.

Here in Saskatchewan we're currently drawing to the end of a provincial election campaign.  Today I saw a sign in front of a local restaurant indicating their support for the Saskatchewan Party.  Personally if I were running a business I wouldn't do something like that.  Why risk alienating your customers and potential customers who don't support the party? 

You Would't Have These Problems.

The ridiculous "Birther" issue came up again this week in US politics.  Texas governor and Reputlican presidential candidate Rick Perry flipflopped around about the issue, making it unclear what he actually believes.  Of course there's a simple solution.  Someone needs to introduce a constituional amendment to bring the US in line with a sensible country like Canada.  Make it so anyone who is an American citizen  is eligible to run for the office, instead of needing to be born an American.  Why keep a provision around that discriminates against millions of loyal Americans simply on the basis of their birthplace?

It's A Shame.

It seems a lot of my best blog post ideas come when I'm busy doing something else.  Unfortunately by the time I actually get to a computer several hours later the desire to write them has run out.  Nor would using some sort of mobile blogging platform work.  Even if I was inclined to spend the time squinting at a tiny cellphone screen I'm usually doing something that could preclude that.

Hmmm, I wonder how many great works of literature were lost because someone like William Shakespeare was too busy cleaning the yard to get them down.

Not My Pet.

This morning while sitting in the library reading a book I spotted a tiny spider on my pant leg.  I blew him off.  But he apparently liked something about my pants, as he kept reappearing after several attempts to remove him.  Finally he ended up on the floor, and the last I saw him he was running away for parts unknown.

It's interesting the difference size makes.  I wouldn't want a spider of noticeable size on  me.  But a tiny creature like that just seems cute, not threatening.  I can only imagine what kind of insects and other creatures the little guy eats.  They'd be as small or even smaller than him.  Of course not being a spider expert I have no idea how big he'll get, assuming of course he survives for long being in an environment with dozens of people walking around at any one time.

Bad Crunch Combo.

I was watching Chopped tonight.  One of the chef contestants was also a mixed martial arts practitioner.  Seems to me that's not the best hobby to have as a chef.  Have a bad sparring session and you might break a finger or two, which can't be a good thing if your day gig involves cutting food and other fine motor skills.  I would imagine having a leg in a cast wouldn't make working in a typical restaurant kitchen easy either.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 14, 2011.

Gas has gone up in Saskatoon, reversing the downward trend of recent weeks. It is now 121.9 cents a litre at most locations. Last week I speculated that the fire at the Regina refinery might cause a rise in prices, but I have no idea if this is the case.

Alas, No Bang.

I'm disappointed.  The 5 AM and 11 AM forecasts for Saskatoon included the possibility of a thunderstorm.  No thunderstorm appeared.  Early October isn't a time in this part of the world when we normally see thunderstorms, so I really would have liked to see one.

Once On The Dial.

I had a nice surprise today.  During my travels I came across a mailbox with a "Radio 600 CFQC Saskatoon" sticker on it.  I'm sure I haven't seen one of those in twenty years or more.  I really should have taken a picture.  Fortunately I came across a photo of it at the Radio Sticker of the Day blog.   It's the style at the top of the post.  Of course the one in the photo is much nicer looking than the faded example I saw.  Several decades on a mailbox will do that to an image.

My family were consistent listeners to CFQC in the '70s.  However we eventually began to listen to CBC for some reason.  Perhaps we just changed our tastes, I really can't remember.  CJWW currently holds the station's old 600 khz frequency assignment, while the callsign lives on via the local CTV station.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 7, 2011.

Down once more.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 117.9 cents a litre at most locations.  However it's possible this trend might stop.  A gas refinery caught fire in Regina yesterday, and it's possible this may have an effect on production.

What's Stew With You?

Back in July(it didn't seem that long ago) I posted about trying out the microwave beef and mashed potatoes from Hormel's Compleats line.  Yesterday I tried the beef stew from the same product line.



The photo on the package of this stuff looks more appealing than the one on the roast beef.



But here's the actual stew itself.  Not the most appealing looking stuff, is it?

The stew was okay, but I don't think I'll buy it again.  I can buy Puritan brand beef stew for a $1.25 a can at the local Dollarama, and I think that stuff is a bit better product, even if it takes longer to cook.  The Hormel stew cost me $3.50 at Safeway, and that was on sale, the regular price being $4.75 or something like that.

Old School.

During my travels today I was in a store at the same time as a mother and her two young children.  The little boy was named Josiah.  Rather an old fashioned name to here attached to a five year old.  Later I wondered if being just a couple of stores down from a Christian book store had anything to do with the enounter, as perhaps conservative Christian parents would be more likely to call their son something like that.

No Subtlety

When we think of dreams, we tend to think of a bizarre world full of strange images and events that are hard to understand.  That wasn't the case with my latest dream.  In it I was watching some sort of American political debate,  and one of the Republican speakers was Red Herring.  The name even had me rolling my eyes in the dream, because no one around me seemed to get it.  Yeah, my brain wasn't being very imaginative this time.

Gas In Saskatoon, September 30, 2011.

Yep, this feature is back on Friday, where it belongs.

Once more the trend is down.  Gas in Saskatoon is currently 118.9 cents a litre at most locations.  It will be interesting to see if prices go up at all in the next week or two, as Canadian Thanksgiving is in the middle of October. 

Hey, Rays!

You lot really should send the Orioles a big present of some sort.  They really helped you out tonight.

Rays fans...well, there really aren't that many of you, are there?   When a team can't fill its stadium when their last game of the season determines whether they'll reach the playoffs or not you can't help but wonder how much longer the team will be there.  I'm sure there's someplace in the US that would appreciate the Rays more.  For that matter I wonder if Vancouver wouldn't be a good home for you.  Not that it will probably happen, the Mariners would probably see a Vancouver team as a threat to their bottom line.

Atlanta got beaten, as they should.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, ditch the "Tomahawk Chop" crap.

The National League playoffs are shaping up to be the Battle of the Ex-Jays.  Chris Carpenter pitches for the Saint Louis Cardinals, and won a complete game shutout tonight.  John McDonald and Aaron Hill are playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks(with many suspicious they'll be back with the Jays next year).  And Roy Halladay is pitching for the Phillies.  Now, if the Jays can make it in next year in the American League....

Gas In Saskatoon, September 24, 2011.

The downward trend continues.  Gas in Saskatoon is currently 121.9 cents a litre at most locations.  It will be interesting to see if it goes down much further.  I suspect it won't get any lower than 115.9 cents a litre.

Candy Time Machine.

There are all sorts of things one might like to do if someone invented a time machine.  A new one came to mind yesterday, getting candy. 

I saw a sign yesterday announcing the grand opening of a new convenience store.  For some reason this made me think of a chocolate bar from my childhood, the Wigwag.  The Wigwag was strips of caramel crisscrossed and covered in chocolate.  Sure, the caramel tended to harden up pretty quickly once it hit the store shelves, and the chocolate tended to flake off and get on your pants or shirt as you ate it.  But I'd still like one again.  A shorter lived bar from my youth was the Caramba, a caramel fudge bar that was only around for a year.  I'd like to try one again.  Even a trip a couple of years into the past would be helpful so I could go buy a Malted Milk bar.  That one would also be easier, since I wouldn't have to hunt up 1970s money to buy one.  Of course I imagine if you had a time machine you'd have the resources to find enough '70s money for your shopping trips to the past.

YouTube Fails Me.

Going about my business today foir some reason a classic Canadian ad from the '70s came to mind.  It was a fire prevention ad based around the Little Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe.  The animated ad, which featured the Little Old Lady and her brood knowing what to do when fire broke out "Later that night, around half past two," spawned several more PSAs.  Unfortunately the original isn't on YouTube, just one of the later ones.  The later one misses the deadpan narration that makes the original so fun.  Of course, as I mentioned in a post about TV commercials on YouTube a good while back, it's surprising when ads like that do turn up on YouTube, especially the older ones.

Since it isn't available here's one of the classic National Flm Board Canadian Vignettes that appeared for years on Canadian TV.  This one is about the Republic of Manitoba.  Love that line at the end.

Gas In Saskatoon, September 17. 2011.

Prices continue to fluctuate.  Gas in Saskatoon is currently 125.9 cents a litre at most locations, down 3 cents from last week.  It's interesting to compare this with the start of 2011, when the price of gas didn't change from January 7th to February 25th.  Of course the post Christmas/New Years holiday period is probably the slowest time for driving in Saskatchewan, so you might not want to discourage gas purchases.