Author: Joey deVilla

However, when you think about the way they acted, especially in the prequels, “aim like a Jedi” could be interpreted as “pee in the sink, and on any toothbrushes you find.”

First, the upcoming birthday party: Lowry Parcade and Tavern, Tampa — Saturday, November 18th, 2017!

I’ve had a couple of 50th birthday parties already (see below), but I haven’t yet celebrated this big birthday with friends in Tampa. That’s all changes on Saturday, November 18th, when I celebrate at Lowry Parcade and Tavern, a place with a lot of classic arcade and pinball games and a great selection of craft beers and ciders. If you’re in Tampa in a couple of Saturdays, you’re invited to join me from 7:00 p.m. on!

Interested in attending? RSVP on the Facebook page for the party!

Birthday party 1: The Carbon Bar, Toronto — Saturday, October 14th, 2017

My first 50th birthday party took place during Anitra’s and my recent visit to Toronto for Canadian Thanksgiving, which takes place on the second Monday in October. My mom, sister, and brother-in-law arranged for a birthday party at The Carbon Bar in downtown Toronto, where they had a private room overlooking the rest of the establishment. We invited a small number of friends for a fully-catered, open-bar, let’s-all-hang-out-and-marvel-at-how-time-flies gathering.

Here’s the requisite photo with Anitra:

I had to take a shot from the balcony overlooking the rest of Carbon Bar. If I’m not mistaken, that’s Eldon looking up at me as he makes his way to the stairs:

Here’s a photo of the partygoers with whom I’m the most newly acquainted: Robin and Anitra, both of whom I met in 2011:

I’ve known these people longer: June (since about 2003), Maria (also about 2003), Natalie (2001), and James (2007)…

And here are some of the old guard: Kevin (whom I’ve known since 1982), Eldon (1989), and my sister Eileen (1969)…

This photo features Anne, whom I met in 1992:

And way in the back is Patrick (whom I’ve also known since 1982), chatting with my Mom (known since 1967):

…and in the foreground, looking right at the camera, is Marichka, whom I met in 1988 when she and her friend Ellen invited me to what may have been the most booze-tastic Toni home perm experiment ever:

After cocktails, first conversations, and a lot of catching up came a wonderful dinner and yet even more booze, which is exactly the way it should be. There were enough of us that we had to be split into two tables, but I made sure to work the room and eat at both.

It may be a cliche to describe an event as something that made your heart swell with joy, but honestly, that phrase applies. The people in this room have been with me through the years, through good times and bad, who’ve seen me at my best and worst, and most of them were able to make it to our wedding. I’m grateful that I was able to have all of them gathered together to break bread and clink glasses, and even moreso to Mom, Eileen, and Richard for making it possible.

Birthday party 2: Restaurant BT, Tampa — Saturday, November 4th, 2017

Yesterday, the Saturday closest to my actual birthday — November 5 — Anitra took me out to dinner at Restaurant BT, which specializes in French/Vietnamese cuisine. We like trying out new places, and since neither of us had been there before, it seemed like an obvious choice.

I felt more like cocktails than wine that evening, so we started with saketinis. I had the lychee-and-mint one…

…while Anitra opted for the blood orange:

Appetizer time! We shared two appetizers:

• Bo tai chanh: grass-fed beef tartare, ginger, garlic, chili, shallots, opal basil, cilantro, peanuts, hearts of palm, microgreens, and passion fruit jus
• Vegetarian pumpkin soup: made with chunks of pumpkin, coconut milk, galangal, scallions, roasted peanuts, and vegetable broth

The mains called for another round of cocktails. This time, I went with a sake-based bloody mary that came with its own bouquet of herbs…

…and I couldn’t resist getting all Salvador Dali with the onion blossom:

Anitra opted for a passion fruit saketini, which would stand up to her entrée.

My entrée was “Duck Duck Goose”, which was a collection made up of:

• Pan-seared goose foie gras,
• placed atop a duck confit,
• which in turn was on top of applewood-smoked duck risotto,
• and served with roasted parsnips and squash.

Here’s a closer look:

Anitra’s entrée was chiperones relleno: baby squid stuffed with shrimp, crab, pork, and tree ear mushrooms, served on a bed of glass noodles and a tomato-ginger relish, with eggplant and coconut black rice on the side:

The restaurant knew it was my birthday (I told them, of course), and they threw in this birthday greeting spelled out in lime sauce with a very nice chocolate mousse:

I like a good surprise:

This became my new social media profile photo:

We also opted to try out a couple of desserts: a trio of creme brulees (one of which was peppery — quite nice!) and a tropical panna cotta:

If you’re looking for a new place in Tampa to try some really good food, I recommend checking out Restaurant BT. I’m definitely coming back.

When I stepped into the office this morning, this was the first sight to greet my eyes:

Happy Hallowe’en, everybody!

Click the picture to see the FOX News denial at full size.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the news — and judging from the state of the people I keep running into, a lot of you don’t — today’s a day of high tensions in Washington.

That’s because the guy below, Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s campaign manager during the summer of 2016…

…and this guy, Rick Gates, a political consultant also on the Trump campaign…

…have been indicted by a federal grand jury for “conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA [Foreign Agents Registration Act] statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.”

This indictment is part of the U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and alleged collusion by Trump’s associates.

The better news organizations have been covering this story, but FOX News, the Republican Party’s Pravda, is running stories like this…

…and this…

…and more tellingly, this:

Click the picture to see the FOX News subterfuge at full size.

I’m expecting more red herrings from FOX as the day goes on. Happy “Trying to distract you from the President’s skeezy friends’ shady activities” day, everybody!

Found via You Had One Job.

In case you’ve forgotten, the President has declared this week, the week of October 15 through 21, 2017, National Character Counts Week.

In the declaration, it says:

“Character can be hard to define, but we see it in every day acts — raising and providing for a family with loving devotion…

…working hard to make the most of an education…

…and giving back to devastated communities.

Character is forged around kitchen tables…

…built in civic organizations…

…and developed in houses of worship.”

Happy National Character Counts Week, everybody!

Recommended reading

• The wrong president to honor ‘National Character Counts Week’
• Trump’s Character Counts Week can take a running jump

I believe that the intended message of the poster below was something along the lines of “students are the most important part of education, and both teachers and parents need to work together with them”:

Click the photo to see the terrible engineering at full size.

However, if you know how gears work, you’ve already seen the problem with this diagram:

Simply put, the “Teachers” and “Parents” gears are trying to turn the “Students” gear in opposite directions simultaneously, and the entire system is stuck, useless and motionless. Come to think of it, this may have been the message the artist was trying to convey.