Vegas Blog

They say, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas..
I say, what happens in Vegas gets blogged.

vegas.sublime.ca


Updates will be blogging out in real time so check back often.
I apologize in advance. ;-)

V Day

For fourteen years I've wanted to go
Fourteen years of "maybe"
Stick around here and watch it snow?
Screw that.. I'm going to Vegas Baby!

And from Post Secret..

This is from one of my favorite blogs Post Secret. What's funny about this secret is that IF TRUE, it is only known by the writer, the celebrity, the wealthy young woman, and last but not least.. HIS / HER BOSS. All it takes is for one of them to read this secret.

A Calling

Contristo

It didn’t get light this morning,
Light never came
Dark hung around for a sinister game
At first Dark was losing, but Light took a blow
Dark can be sneaky, as we all know
He cast a shadow, a shadow of rain
And finished Light off with emotional pain
It didn’t get light this morning,
Light never came
Dark is an evil, staking its claim.

AS

A Thanksgiving Limerick

This be da day to say thanx

We gotz all the ching in da banx

Got three of da kids

tryed to sell but no bids

Me thinkin itz time to shoot blanx

Tao of the Week, Last week of Sept 2007

Crrraaazzzzy week. Good news bad news stories for you.

Good news was that I played in a poker tournament this weekend with Dan Ray and Scott E. There were 200 players and I finished in a very respectable 11th place. That bad news? Prizes didn't start till 9th place.

Good news was that I my 5 year old daughter is learning how to dial a phone. Two days ago, she punched in a number then before pressing talk she showed me the number asking "who's it was". The bad news.. the number was six six six. I said, don't dial that number, it's long distance.

Good news was that my kids are good at "pretending" play, the other day they were playing "Tim Horton's". The bad news is that my 5 year old pulled up to the imaginary Tim Hortons in her imaginary car and said not so imaginarily.. "holy crap the line up is long"



TAO OF THE WEEK:

A good game doesn't reveal it's outcome, surprises are the spice of life.

Only Five Months LEFT!!

I can't wait. Perhaps the most anticipated moment of the year.
Hint:
Living on some tiny step enlightens a soldier on nightly frights of ultimate recourse.

Yea baby.

Tao of the Week - Sept 22nd

Welcome to the Tao of the Week, this is where I put meaning to my life based on things that have happened to me during the seven day week, good and bad. This, at the very least, will give you an idea of the things that happen to me and the me happening to things.IF that doesn't make sense, read on.

Cool Things

1. Langley Starbucks.

Starbucks in Langley is so much nicer than any other starbucks location I've been to, they are always so polite and really seem to appreciate the patronage, unlike Calgary. In Calgary you basically get a coffee and bird flip.

2. Icecubes

Crazy Things

1. Cops for Cancer

If you've ever been to Langley you know how challenging it is getting through downtown on a saturday afternoon, it takes about five times longer to do anything simply based on the traffic around the area, and when one of the many daily trains comes through the heart of downtown on the CN mainline, the places segues from seizure to all out paralysis. It's crazy and frustrating, especially if you're used to the traffic situation in Calgary.

If that's not bad enough.. enter the "Tour de Valley".

Saturday morning, prior to leaving the in-laws house to run a few errands in town, I see a cop on a motor cycle fly by with lights flashing. It catches my attention. Then about 13 more cops on motor bikes come roaring by followed by ambulances and more cop cars, then about 15 cyclers, then 5 more motorbikes, support vehicles and two more cop cars. It was the Cops for Cancer "Tour de Valley". My first thought was wow, that's a lot of support for just a few guys riding bikes. 10 minutes later I take the car into Langley to pick up a few things, it should only take me 2o minutes. Two and half hours later I return, and I didn't even get everything done. What a complete joke. I met the tour de valley four times in Langley. I soon found out what all the support cops were doing. They would close up all the intersections to make way for the 15 cyclists to snake their way back and forth through Langley, an already saturated city, in order to "raise awareness". Well, raise awareness they did. Idiots.

Hey I know! Let's JAM UP A CITY FOR A FEW HOURS YEA THAT'LL WORK, MAYBE PEOPLE WILL GIVE MONEY! WE'RE COPS! WE HAVE THE POWER TO SHUT DOWN INTERSECTIONS, AND NO ONE CAN SAY ANYTHING CAUSE WE ARE THE ALL POWERFUL OMNIPOTENT GIFT TO THE NATION. HOW COME WE HAVEN'T THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE?? THIS IS BRILLIANT!!!

People were pissed. Horns were not honking in support, they were honking in rage. Somebody and perhaps a bunch of people thought this was a good idea. How does this happen?

The Tao of the Week - Sept 14th.

Tao of the Week for Sept 7th - 14th.

Welcome to the Tao of the Week, this is where I put meaning to my life based on things that have happened to me during the seven day week, good and bad. This, at the very least, will give you an idea of the things that happen to me and the me happening to things.
IF that doesn't make sense, read on.

Cool Things

1. Dinner @ Dan and Jen's. Very good italian food perfectly matched with a Chianti and good conversation. This is always a very cool thing to do for me, I enjoy this more than anyone knows.

2. Dinner @ Ray and Tan's. So, twice in one week, hey what's family for, besides they have a wicked house, warm hospitality, a kitchen that makes Hell's kitchen look cold, and a risotto that flows like.. lava. This was also where I met a new love in my life, Gorgonfreakinzola. I am pleased to learn that Tanya will be taking some cooking courses. What is already good can only become better.

3. Sunday with M&K and R&K. I love sunday guests, and I really love those that feel comfortable enough to stay the afteroon, then leave, and come back 30 minutes later with a dump truck load of Chinese food, then stay for dinner. Loved it.

Crazy Things

1. I saw this very old Asian lady in Chinatown, I mean she was older than religion. She was all hunched over and moving slower than cold risotto in a black bean sauce. She couldn't have stood taller than four and half feet. When I walked by her I had to smile. On her head was a black movie promotional baseball cap that read "The Grinch" in bright green.

2. Picture this. A homeless guy is riding a bike on the sidewalk, and perched on the handlebars is a homeless woman, but not just any woman, she looks 72 years old and is about the size of a 5 year old, and she had this cigarette jutting out of her mouth which looked huge for some reason. Like a big cigarette if there is such a thing. Anyway, she's wearing this white coat with little hairy tassels all over it, and can't help but think she looks like a parakeet, that smokes and wears glasses. If that's not bizarre enough, dudes that's riding the bike is munching on a most likely previously discarded donair from the 1970's. So, we have stale donair eating dude riding a bike with crazy small bird looking old big cigarette smoking homeless grandma on the handlebars. What happens next may need a disclaimer. Two homeless guys walking towards them kind of block them, dude on bike wiggles around them, perched grandma squawks something unintelligable, and dude steals dude's donair. Dude then takes bite of donair, makes loud noise and spits out donair bite, then throws down donair on ground. Dude is now off bike and perched grandma becomes unperched. I hope to walk through this mess without being accosted, but grandma comes over to me and asks in a squeaky voice if I have any drugs. I said what do I look like.. Dr. freakin Scholls? later I laughed cause Dr. Scholls is a shoe insert.
That... was crazy.

The Tao

Meaning is found not of oneself but by an interaction with others.
Understanding is lost not on oneself but by observing the interaction of others.

AS

Skinny on the Blog Posting

It's not that I haven't been constructing blog entries lately, It's just that my latest posts were never published, and are safely hidden in "draft" mode. I haven't really had the guts to release them to the lions.. yet. But holy crap when I do, the universe might collapse on itself in a reverse big bang effect, similar to what might happen if one meets his or herself during time travel, it's just not a good idea. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm going through some massive metamorphosis or anything, but I do feel a change happening, a whole lot of getting older mixed in a large wooden salad bowl with four packages of starting-not-to-put-as-much-care-into-what-people-think and topped off with finely shredded doubt, chopped pecans, ego and goat cheese, resulting in a gorgonzola of esculent brow raising posts.
Promise me that if I get hit by a bus, or meet some untimely end in the near future, you'll have to read some of those posts.

AS

Sierra Lima - The Hotel

Adam sits on an old bed, the rusted out frame barely holding up his weight. Tuffs of cotton stuffing jut out of the stained mattress, worn from decades of puke and other unmentionable bedtime mishaps. Shards of light shoot through the holes of an old piece of rotted plywood nailed precariously over a broken window, lighting up invisible dust particles floating through the putrid air. His boots sat flat on a dusty hardwood floor covered with empty booze bottles, used syringes, blackened spoons and other objects one would rather just imagine weren’t there. Against the cigarette smoke stained wall stood an old bedside table with the drawer hanging open, a forgotten Gideon bible it’s only contents, probably untouched since it’s placement. Does anyone ever read these? Probably could have done a few occupants of this room some good, Adam thinks as he continues to scan his new surroundings. A single hotel room with a double bed. It was probably a nice stay in its day, hundreds of dollars a night, now a condemned building used by the crap of society, but it was perfect. Adam looks at his watch, it’s 2:33pm. He has exactly one hour and seventeen minutes.
Feeling quite different than he thought he would, Adam gets to work. One hour was more than enough time to complete the tasks he practiced over and over, but it was always better to allow for more time than not enough. This was a one shot deal. Get it done, get out. One hour. He starts by opening up the face of his watch, carefully dials a series of codes. A flashing green arrow with the digits “5.2m” appear, and after holding his wrist flat and steady, the arrow points east towards a closed closet door about 5 meters away. Standing up, he feels disoriented, like he’d be drinking heavy and this was the worst hangover ever. Beaumont told him he would feel this way, and that it would quickly subside, but the walk to the closet feels undeniably strange. He is not just in a foreign place. The closet opens with a stuck crack. This closet hasn’t been open in years, he thinks, a suitable placement, and a lot closer than anticipated, more time saved, damn they’re good. On the floor the metal case stood with the handle propped up in the carry position, like someone just placed it there and walked away. He picked it up and carried it back to the bed. The thought of yesterday’s meeting came back to him, the instructions, the repercussions of failure, all carefully planned by Mr. Bhig, to whom Adam was ready to prove his worth, as well to Beaumont and to the others members of the Sierra Lima.

Weekly Joke

Every night, Joe would go down to the liquor store, get a six pack, bring it home, and drink it while he watched TV. One night, as he finished his last beer, the doorbell rank. He stumbled to the door and found a six-foot cockroach standing there. The bug grabbed him by the collar and threw him across the room, then left.The next night, after he finished his 4th beer, the doorbell rang. He walked slowly to the door and found the same six-foot cockroach standing there. The big bug punched him in the stomach, then left.The next night, after he finished his 1st beer, the doorbell rang again. The same six-foot cockroach was standing there. This time, he was kneed in the groin and hit behind the ear as he doubled over in pain. Then the big bug left.The fourth night Joe didn't drink at all. The doorbell rang. The cockroach was standing there. The bug beat the snot out of Joe, pumped his eyes shut and left him in a heap on the living room floor.The following day, Joe went to see his doctor. He explained the events of the preceding four nights. "What can I do?" he pleaded."Not much" the doctor replied. "There's just a nasty bug going around."

Cult of the Sierra Lima - Mr. Bhig and Beaumont

Adam approached the building with hesitation. These meetings always made him a little nervous, the not knowing what to expect, and the thought of being the next one chosen for a mission always a guaranteed an onslaught of anxiety producing endorphins. A quick glance at his watch revealed he was a little early, which was just the way he wanted it. Adam was hoping no one would be here yet accept for Mr. Bhig and Beaumont, getting a feel for what the meeting would entail prior to the arrivals of the others was a great benefit to him, and he used this to his advantage more than once.
Adam walked up to the doorman. "Please come in, They are expecting you," he said. Walking through a kitchen, down some stairs and through a hallway he was ushered into the meeting room, and shown the table where Mr. Bhig and Beaumont sat.
Beaumont looks up, "Adam, have a seat. First again I see." he says.
"I try! So.. what do ya have in store for us tonight?" Adam asked, trying hard to hide the look on his face that undoubtedly looked nervous.
Mr. Bhig didn't really smile. Before he began to speak Adam already knew what he was going say.

Cult of the Sierra Lima - Brett

One thing Brett couldn't stand was not knowing what was going on. Brett was an information junkie, always needed to know everything about everything and everyone to a point of almost being interventional. He had two internet feeds into his house just incase one might fail, and one did once for 22 hours and that, he thought, justified the twin feeds for years to come. Brett just happen to be sitting in front of his dual 27" LCD monitors, taking a big bite of his PizzaPop when his MSN messenger popped up a window:

You said you wanted in? Now's your chance. Don't ask questions, get your ass over to my place we'll go the meeting together, but you better hurry. If anyone asks, you're meeting some friends for a beer.

It was his good friend Dirk. Brett couldn't contain his excitement and was out door before he was done chewing. He overheard a few cryptic phone calls between Dirk and some others in the past, something about a Cult. He had to know, nothing could stop him from getting to that meeting. Nothing.

Cult of the Sierra Lima - Kevin

Kevin woke up suddenly from an early evening nap, he would have probably slept through the night had it not been for the vibration of his blackberry still holstered to his side. The TV was still tuned to CNN, talk of more imminent hurricanes was the topic of the hour, with replays of Anderson Cooper being tossed around like a rag doll during a live transmission of a category four hurricane landfall somewhere in the southern states. Pictures of leaves being violently torn from trees, trees being torn from the ground, ground being torn from the earth. His blackberry vibrates again. On the screen is a message:

Congregating under large trees or finding the home entertainment service can only reach cold headless endorphin drenched lackeys encircling a fire. Be at the meeting place in 15 minutes.

Kevin puts on his shoes and leaves without turning off the TV.

Cult of the Sierra Lima - Tony

Tony looked at this watch, it was a remarkable time piece and a constant reminder of the success in his life as an entrepreneur, and through the sapphire face of the Rolex, the gold hands told him it was time to go. Tony left his downtown suite, pulled out a cigarette and began to walk down 1st street, making his way toward the railway underpass.

Thoughts of the meeting brought on some inescapable anxiety, but he knew what had to be done, there wasn't much time left. The leaves were almost falling from the trees and days were becoming shorter..

Cult of the Sierra Lima - Adam

It was a little colder out that night than it should have been being the summer wasn't even officially over yet, it wasn't even the end of August. Adam was not the best at remembering things, but he did remember his jacket, based on the earlier recommendation of his over cautious but always caring girlfriend. He was going for a walk, "meeting an old friend for a beer" was the line he told her.

Adam noticed that a few leaves on trees had already started to turn yellow and brown, preparing for the inevitable separation from the tree which gave them life. Much to soon for the Fall, I hope we'll have enough time, he thought to himself as he began to pick up the pace walking down 17th Ave towards his destination, a small little hole in the wall where he would meet the seven others.

The Legend of Shen Nung

One day about 5000 years ago, China Emperor Shen Nung and his company were travelling to the far edges of his great empire. During his travels, Emperor Nung, being quite paranoid of becoming ill, required all water be boiled prior to drinking. While his servants boiled pots of water, some dried out leaves from nearby bushes landed in the pots causing it to be infused it into a brown liquid. Instead of throwing it away, the Emperor's curiosity got the better of him and upon tasting the brew was refreshed by it. This is the legend of how tea came to be.

One day about three weeks ago, Blog writer Alex found tea.

I was told about a place in Calgary called "Steeps" which is conveniently located on 17th Ave in downtown. Steeps is a Tea House, devoted completely to loose leaf teas from around the world. In Steeps is a stack of tea tins, with over 75 varieties of teas allowing you can open the cans and smell the aromas from each tea prior to choosing one for purchase. This is very beneficial, cause teas taste just like they smell. (One could argue that you are actually using your nose to taste being that the tongue can only detect four tastes; sweet, sour, bitter and salty) This is how my tea addiction began.

I was quite surprised to learn that all teas, yes, every single one of the teas offered around the world, all come from the same plant. The plant is the Camellia Sinensis. The location of the tea and it's fermentation processes are what give different teas unique characteristics. Black tea, the most common, is made black by fermenting the leaves to 100% oxidation. Green tea is just the same as black tea, but without fermentation oxidation, Oolong tea allows about 50% fermentation and white tea is young tea leaves picked and then processed very quickly with steam. Flavoured teas like Earl Grey (one of my favorites) is simply just black tea with Bergamot orange rind, and English Breakfast tea is just a combination of four black teas from various areas around the world. Orange Pekoe is not a tea flavour or a combination at all. Orange Pekoe is simply a grade of the leaf used in the tea, it's the largest leaf.


My first loose leaf tea purchase was a white tea called "Leopard Snow Buds". White tea is rich in antioxidants, low in caffeine and presents with a very light color. It has to be brewed at about 77 degrees C for about 2 minutes. This makes it a little finicky, dumping boiling water (95C) on a white tea leaf will result in off tasting bitter tea, but trying to infuse the tea below 77 degrees C can give watery results. I've purchased a thermometer for my teas. Green teas follow these rules as well, but black teas need boiling water to infuse.

Since the white tea purchase, I've also obtained a few green and black teas. Yamamoto Green which is Japanese green blend flavoured with orange and lemon grass, and Geisha Green which is high quality Japanese greens flavoured with strawberry and red currents. My black teas are Royal Earl Grey, flavoured with Bergamot and Jasmine and my current favorite Steinthal FTGFOP, which is from a 150 year old tea farm in the Darjeeling district of India. FTGFOP means Fine Tippy Golden Fannings Orange Pekoe, and that translates to good stuff.

I haven't been to Tim Horton's for a coffee in three weeks, not that I don't drink coffee anymore. Cathy picked me up some great coffee from the Shuswap district which I enjoy as well. I'm a little concerned that she bought me a coffee bean called "The Prince of Darkness", not because of the name but because she said it reminded her of me.. (insert evil grin here).

If you come over, ask for a cup. I'll brew you up 5000 years of history. If your planning a trip to Steeps on 17th, please take me with you, we'll call it a date, unless you're a guy then it'll just be a get together. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Cheers
Alex.

Wine

Over the last couple of days I've had the privilege to experience wine in a whole new way by visiting the wineries and vineyards of the Okanagan Valley. This is an amazing experience. I speak in the tense of the present, being as it is still ongoing in the form of the excessive consumption. Chris, Missy, Leona and myself have visited five wineries in the last two days, sampling from each of them. We started by visiting Arrowleaf and Gray Monk yesterday, then Mt Boucherie, Quail's Gate and ended with the best, Mission Hill. Mission Hill is amazing. The owner has created something most spectacular here, creating the illusion of stepping into a Tuscan painting. We opted for the tour and were taken into the belly of the winery, a cathedral of the grape preaching the religion of wine. 800 barrels of wine are stacked two high in a cellar framed by 30 foot archways, which could only have been inspired from old European churches. At the front of cellar stood a large stone table they called "the alter" where wines are tasted, celebrated and sacrificed to the lucky few who are invited for ceremony. Exposed stone walls are wet with running water, keeping the humidity at 80% and the temperature at a constant 13 degrees. On the side of the cellar is a large metal gate, protecting the "vault", a large room with a priceless wine vessel collection on the wall, one dating back to the bronze age. Some of the most valuable wines from around the world are kept in this room, decorated by aging cobwebs and dust. Remarkable.
As I draw a sip of wine, and as it brushes the palette of my mouth I can't help but think of wine as art, art for the soul and mind. I think of the passion, the dream, the history and the inspiration which led to it's existence, and I am grateful.