This picture of four sleeping husky puppies stacked like Lego is doing the internet rounds right now and it’s just too cute not to post.
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Between work, travel and living in Ottawa for the summer, I’ve been missing the Bordeaux After-Work Party events that have been taking place in Accordion City all year. I’ wish I could’ve made this one at Marben:
Or this one at Eight Wine Bar:
However, on Monday, October 24th, the date of the final one of the year, my schedule was wide open and there was no way I was going to miss it.
I like Crush Wine Bar, where this event took place. I’ve been going there for years, both to simply have some wine and cheese at the bar in the front as well as to have a full meal in the larger room in the back, and for reasons ranging from business to dates. They’ve been preparing continental bistro food in the same consistently good way over the years, and I’ve come to think of them as an ever-reliable spot for an evening out. For a party like this one, it’s a natural fit.
For the Bordeaux After-Work Party, they cleared the large tables out of the dining room, replacing them with smaller stand-up cocktail tables and win serving stations. Even with the extra room gained by this arrangement, the place was packed pretty solidly – easily 200 people – not bad for a Monday night.
For this event, they served six wines: three reds, three whites. I’d give you more details, but alas, the brochures are at home in Toronto, and I’m in Chicago as I write this. I stuck with the reds and one in particular caught my fancy. I’m going to have to check my hand-written notes when I get back at the end of this week.
Crush complemented the Bordeaux with great appetizers. I was pretty fond of the sliders and selections from their charcuterie plates. These guys do food wonderfully, and I was only too glad to return a couple of weeks later when an old pal from high school took me there for a birthday dinner.
The crowd were a lively bunch. They guys appeared to have come straight from work, which a number of the women looked as through they’d managed to change into something more suitable for a cocktail party, and both were a chatty bunch. I struck up a number of conversations and even played a couple of requests (of course I brought the accordion!) and exchanged some business cards, email addresses and digits. If you’re looking to make friends, acquaintances, business contacts and accordion fans, the Bordeaux After-Work Party’s a pretty decent place to do so.
I’m looking forward to the next one!
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50 Cent is Now on Shopify!
Curtis Jackson, the rapper better known to the world as “Fitty Cent”, has a company called SMS Audio and they launched their Shopify-based shop today. The shop is called SMS By 50 and it’s the go-to place for premium headphones.
The headphones come in three flavours: wired, wireless and earbuds. They’re currently available for pre-sale and range in price from $129.95 to $399.95, which is “right in line with current market trends” according to this TechCrunch article. SMS Audio recently bought KonoAudio, who’ve been making funky high-end headphones for ages, presumably for their headphone manufacturing expertise, which will be backed by Fitty’s street cred.
In addition to headphones, SMS By 50 also carries shirts and caps, suitable for just plain old hangin’ or hittin’ da club.
If you’re working on your own Shopify shop or designing Shopify themes, give SMS By 50 a look. It’s got a great design whose look and feel works for its audience; it also shows you how flexible Shopify’s templating system is.
Oh, and by the way, if you think you’re not “street” enough to sport “Fitty” gear, here’s something just for you:
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“I Go to Queen’s!”
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that my alma mater is Crazy Go Nuts University, a “Canadian Ivy” that often goes by another name, Queen’s University. I spent a lovely seven years there getting my undergraduate degree and became its second most notorious perma-student. I started off as an electrical engineering student, graduated with a B.Sc. in computer science, played in a half-dozen bands, wrote for every student newspaper, DJ’d at several venues (including the legendary Clark Hall Pub), made leagues of friends, kissed a few girls and maybe even got a little studying done.
My friend Marichka Melnyk, whom I’ve known since meeting her during Reading Week 1989, pointed me to a video by the Queen’s Players, Crazy Go Nuts University’s singing/sketch comedy troupe. This video is titled I Go to Queen’s, and it sings the praises of The Best Damned School on Earth – or at least The School That Put Up With Me and Let Me Get Away With a Degree.
Bonus Fun Fact
If you Google for “Crazy Go Nuts University” (or Bing it, even) you’ll find some reference to Queen’s University on the first page of results. That’s pretty much my fault.
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Chicago Travel Diary, Part 1
I flew out of the Island Airport shortly after nine on Saturday morning…
…and landed at Midway just after ten, local time.
I met up with my friend at baggage claim and we made our way to the first and most fancypants of three hotels for this visit: the Palomar.
The Palomar’s part of the Kimpton chain, which means funky décor and free wine in the lounge every evening. You also get a pretty nice room, especially if you spring a little extra for the “City View” room, which comes with two matching animal-print bathrobes. Rrrrrrrowr!
We stopped by the nearby Weber Grill for a late lunch…
…where we had the soup of the day and the sampler platter, which includes their legendary beer can chicken on skewers. Not shown in the photo were our Bloody Marys, which they garnish with a big slice of sausage, a hunk of cheese and a pickle.
Sunday was unusually warm – practically room temperature! It was a perfect day for a walk about town…
…but first, we had to have some brunch. A good family friend who’s also a local recommended Sunda, and their brunch looked perfect.
We started with a pot of strong ginger tea and some siu mai, followed by what could best be described as “Asian Eggs Benedict”: a sticky, crispy rice cake topped with braised pork belly and on top of that, a perfectly-cooked poached egg. To go along with it, their interpretation of a classic Filipino noodle dish, Pancit Canton:
If you get the chance, go to Sunda. The food is wonderful.
Fully recharged, it was time to make our way to Millennium Park to see the Cloud Gate…
…a.k.a. “The Bean”:
Art shot!
Here’s the Bean, as seen through the passageway:
We hung out at Millennium Park for a while and then walked up to Navy Pier:
Normally at this time of year, this would be an unpleasantly chilly walk by the lake, but it felt like a spring day.
At Navy Pier, we walked towards the lake along the outside and took the indoor route going back. Along the way, we checked out the stained glass museum as well as some of the tourist trap shops. We got a bag of Garrett’s Chicago Mix popcorn and a book for my sister; I also tried to explain the “I put on my robe and wizard hat” IRC meme to my friend (warning: text is not safe for work!), who hadn’t heard of it before:
Our original plan was to go to Topolobampo for dinner, but both it and its big sister, Frontera, were closed for a private function. Luckily, “Plan B” was pretty tasty: Cantina Laredo.
The guacamole at Cantina Laredo is really fresh because they make it right in front of you, and pronto! In the time it would take me just to peel the avocado, we had delicious guacamole that we scooped up with chips. We both had our “litmus test dishes” for Mexican: I went with carnitas, she had tamales. For dessert, we split a decadent mango tres leches cake.
My friend is in town for a conference near O’Hare. I’m here because I can be here and still get work done. Here’s what I’m calling “the office” this week:
Last night, we made a run to Giordano’s for what Sesame Street would call a “sometimes food”: deep dish pizza. We went with a small pepperoni-and-mushroom and threw in a caprese salad just to make an attempt to be “healthy”.
We’re here until Sunday. So far, it’s been a fun trip!
I’ve got an explanation for the headline; see the update below.
In the Philippines, MILF is the acronym for the terrorist group known as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front; I have no idea what FAP is short for in this context (I’m sure it’s not Film Academy of the Philippines, and a cursory Googling hasn’t helped).
In North American internet culture, MILF and FAP (warning: the text on these pages is NOT SAFE FOR WORK) have their own meanings and hence this headline made me LOL.
Update
John Bowman pointed me to the original article in the Philippine Star, whose title is MILF Braces for AFP Offensive. That makes more sense. I’d recognize the AFP acronym immediately – it’s Armed Forces of the Philippines, and I have one prominent family member in that organization: General Renato deVilla, former Phillippine Secretary of National Defence.
So it could be a typo or some lewd Photoshoppery. Either way, it’s funny.
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Homer Simpson on Hipsters
I missed last night’s Simpsons episode featuring guest star Anthony Bourdain but saw some screen captures; this one made me chuckle.
Here’s a clip: