ABC may have cut The One and left egg all over the face of the CBC executive who greenlit the reality show about singers (not to be confused with Canadian Idol or Rock Star: Supernova), but this doesn't spell the end of reality tv. I watched an episode of The One and was shocked that some of the contestants could not sing. In fact, this could be said of Canadian Idol and Rock Star: Supernova. I started to wonder if these shows were really talent competitions or something else. If they were just talent shows, I'd say we'd be done with them faster than you can say "America's Got Talent." But reality tv has tapped into our primal instincts to seek stories. The video packages of contestants always give you their backstory. Remember American Idol's Kelly Pickford, the southern girl who couldn't pronounce calamari. Her mom was dead and her dad was in prison. What a story she had... and what a long run she had in the competition, despite the fact that she couldn't sing at all. This just confirms my new theory that you don't have to have talent to have a story. That's why I think that as long as reality tv producers create stories for their contestants, there will always be room for reality shows (plus the fact that reality shows are way cheaper to produce than scripted dramas and comedies).
July 2006 Archives
I tried the new dishes last night and was a bit disappointed. My wife, my brother and his fiance joined me in my quest for good food, but apparently half of Edmonton had the same idea. Long lines and light rain contributed to an overall frustrating experience, especially when the food wasn't really worth the wait. Here are the reviews.
Lamb Chop (Outback): It was okay, but overcooked and tough.
Chicken Bul-go-gi (Korean Village): Pretty bland chicken with kim chee on the side. I had a couple of bites and the rest went into the garbage.
Green Onion Cake (Hong Kong Bakery): The cake was too doughy. I don't think these were the same people who served the out-of-this-world green onion cakes that I first had at the Edmonton Fringe. Sigh! Imitators.
Seafood Chowder (Fairmont?... I think): This was the best of a bad lot. My bowl was light on the seafood, but had a lot of taste. I'd pick that up again.
Even the seafood paella disappointed me last night because it was dried out. The only thing that satisfied me were the patatas and the lemongrass beef skewers. At first, I thought the best strategy was to avoid the booths that didn't have long lines because that might mean the food wasn't good. But it turned out that the patatas line was non-existent, and this dish was my favourite. In contrast, there were long lines for the lamb chop and green onion cake. But the longest line of all was for the Beaver Tails. Fried dough trumps anything at an outdoor festival.
Notice that I don't talk much about my writing projects any more? That's because I've been in a tail spin for a few weeks. The book promotion took a lot of my time and energy. Then when I got my time back, I had to deal with my wife's surgery and my overwhelming desire to procrastinate. I tried to work on the picture book about my cats, but I've stalled out. I have to do more research before I can tackle the book properly. As for the third book in my mystery series, I have to sort out the outline. The projects are way too big and intimidating right now. I have to go back to basics and write short pieces to regain my momentum and discipline. To that end, I finished a humour article for the Edmonton Journal. The piece is about barbecue obsession and my failure to cook the perfect ribs. I think the Features Editor will run the article on August 4.
The hard thing about writing the article was trying to find a focus. Early drafts went every where and no where. Finally, I had to boil everything down into a simple thruline. I revised the article about 5 times before I finally sent it off. All told, the article took two full days to write. 1,000 words in 16 hours? Not a good start. I have to pick up the pace. I have to finish a book manuscript by the end of summer.
It's too hot to work. I'm sitting in my shorts in my basement and I'm still sweating. Ugh! Yesterday, my wife tried to find an oscillating fan in the city. Guess what? Everyone is sold out of fans and air conditioners. The city power system is overtaxed from the fans and air conditioners running nearly 24 / 7. Please, please, please rain. Snow! Anything to cut down the heat!
On Sunday, my wife and I spotted a homeless fellow passed out on a bus bench. He might have been sleeping or he might have been suffering heat stroke. We decided to assume the worst and stopped to check on him. My wife shook him and tried to wake him up. We even put a cold bottle of water on his hand. Nothing worked. We called 911 and within 10 minutes, a fire truck and ambulance pulled up to the stop. The guy eventually woke up, and seemed okay.
What amazed me about the situation is how many people went past this guy without stopping. The street was busy with car traffic, so many cars drove past without even stopping. I can sort of understand drivers not having enough time to notice the guy. However, the bus stop was located right across the street from a golf course. In fact, golfers had to walk past the guy from the golf course to the parking lot. No one stopped. Maybe they assumed that because the guy was on a bus bench, the next bus driver would probably deal with the guy. Well, as we drove up to check on the guy, a bus did stop, but the driver didn't check on the guy. The people inside the bus looked concern, but the bus driver stayed in his seat while a passenger loaded up his bike on the rack and got in. Does the City of Edmonton have a policy for bus drivers to check on the people on their benches during a heat wave? I don't know how long the guy was on the bench and how many people went past him, but I'm disappointed that my wife and I were the only ones who thought enough to check on the guy. I hope that our city doesn't turn into an anonymous metropolis where people would rather turn a blind eye than take a few minutes to help their fellow citizen.
Forget the diet! I hit Churchill Square yesterday with my wife and my brother to sample what some of Edmonton's restaurants had to offer. Every summer, the Taste of Edmonton descends on the downtown area for 10 days, giving restaurants a chance to offer samplers of their fare at a ridiculously cheap price. Years ago, I discovered seafood paella at the festival, and I've been going back ever since to find a new "hot" dish to eat.
Last year's hit, the bacon wrapped scallops (Characters restaurant), did not return this year. Argh! I was disappointed, but I set off in search of something that would cheer me up. Here are my highlights.
Butternut Squash & Maple Cream Soup (Mayfield Inn). Oh man, this soup tasted better than any soup I've ever had. Even though I was sweltering under the hot afternoon sun, I went back to the booth for seconds.
Garlic Chicken Satay (That's Aroma). By far, the best chicken satay I've ever had. Warning, stay away if you have nut allergies or if you are a vampire. The nut and garlic content is off the scale. Don't kiss anyone after.
Seafood Paella (Nisku Inn). Always a crowd favourite. I could live on the stuff.
Lemongrass Beef Skewers (Hoang Long Restaurant). These are a bit spicy, but you get a lot of beef on a stick. The taste is out of the world.
Patatas Alioli (La Tapa). Potatoes in a garlic mayonaisse. They look weird, but if you love garlic, you'll love these potatoes. These are my favourite of the festival.
Grasshopper Pie (Nisku Inn). On a hot day, nothing beats the chocolate and mint pie with a cookie crust.
Cabbage Roll and Perogies (Polka Cafe). I hadn't eaten perogies in years, and boy did I miss them. Nothing beats a good perogy.
The so-so dishes:
Buffaloaf (Botanica): It's meatloaf with buffalo meat. Nothing special. Maybe if the weather was cooler I would have liked it more, but I can have meatloaf at home.
Butter Chicken (Firestone). I was expecting a little more spice. This dish was a bit bland.
Tandoori Chicken (Khazana). Maybe my tastebuds were burned out by the garlic chicken satay and the patatas, but I expected more kick to the lone drumstick on the bed of rice.
Chili Garlic Shrimp (Milan's). I think I was hoping this would be a replacement for the bacon wrapped scallops, but I found that the shrimp just didn't have much of a bite. The taste was okay, but not spectacular.
Pad Thai (Krua Wilai). Maybe I was in a meat mood, but the veggie version of this dish left me wanting more. However, their green tea ice cream rocked!
On my list for later in the week (the stuff I still want to try):em>
Seafood Chowder (Fairmont Hotel). How can you go wrong with seafood?
Lobster Penne (Brewsters). Again, how can you go wrong with seafood?
Green Onion Cakes (Hong Kong Bakery). Always a crowd favourite. I haven't had one in years because the line up for the cakes were always too long. Special mention goes to the Chocolate Raspberry Mouse at the same booth. I have to try it.
Chicken Bul Go Ki (Korean Village). Barbecue chicken. Need I say more?
Lamb Chop (Outback). I know this is a chain restaurant, but I'm a sucker for lamb.
You'll notice that I don't have a lot of desserts on my list, but that's only because I tend to go for meat and garlic at the Taste of Edmonton. The Festival has a lot of dessert offerings. In fact, almost half of the offerings are desserts, so if you have a sweet tooth, check out the dishes and feel free to give your own review in my comments section.
Small insider's tip. If you're looking for big value and don't mind eating late, go to the festival about an hour before the vendors shut down. I think everything shuts down around 11:00 pm. Bring a Tupperware dish (have several with you) and hit the vendors. They have to get rid of their food or else they'll have to clean it up, so they're more willing to stuff your Tupperware to the top. My wife and I hit the festival again at the end of the night and score a huge container of paella, a large batch of patatas and extra garlic chicken satays.
My afternoon session in Crescent Park was awesome. The Festival paired me up with Pamela Porter, a Governor General award winner. She kicked off the session and told everyone that she had been writing for 29 years before she got published. Now that's what I call commitment!
There was enough room on the ampitheatre so that the audience could sit in the shade. Whew! Moose Jaw is very hot. I think it was plus 35, and I nearly wilted by the end of the session, but there were kids at the presentation and I was thrilled to talk to them about The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul.
In the evening, I caught the Arrogant Worms show, and they were hilarious as usual. My favourite of their new songs is the Security Guard. Very funkadelic.
My festival experience ended with a morning session on Saturday. No kids. But a lot of keen readers. The book seller ran out of my books, which I take as a good sign. I'm impressed with the loyalty that the Festival of Words generates. People come from all over the prairies year after year to check out the authors. I met a few people from Edmonton who made the annual journey to Moose Jaw to hear writers. I met a woman who came all the way from Seattle to check out the festival. It's a small festival with a big following!
The great thing about being so intimate and small is that you can see authors everywhere. The one memory that I'll take away with me for all time is seeing Margaret Atwood in the hotel swimming pool, paddling around on a flutter board like a kid. I was too starstruck to go up and talk to her. Anyway, the Festival of Words is a must see. If you ever get a chance to head to Moose Jaw in the summer, make sure you time your visit to coincide with the festival.
One of the treats of working at a writers' festival is the chance to hear other authors talk about and read from their works. Last night, I heard a chilling prologue about the Pickton murders from Stevie Cameron, and a hilarious story about a pet telepathist by Patricia Pearson. Wow, I was amazed at how quickly they grabbed my attention with their presentations.
This morning, I had the pleasure of reading with Dave Glaze, a y/a author with Coteau Books. He had a wonderful way of describing his research and writing process, and I thought this reading was pretty fun too. I picked up a copy of his book, The Light-Fingered Gang, and I hope to read it in the next couple of weeks.
After my session, a volunteer pointed me in the direction of the Moose Jaw art gallery, which had a display of the Chinese in Moose Jaw. I rushed down and checked out the exhibit. There were some very cool displays about the community involvement of the Chinese in this city. This festival has already been well worth the 7 hour drive just for the tunnels and the art gallery alone. Both visits are feeding into my thoughts about the revisions to the Forbidden Phoenix.
This afternoon, I have to do a presentation in Crescent Park (my first ever outdoor presentation). I saw technicians setting up sound equipment and I breathed a sigh of relief. I tried to do my morning session without a microphone and the folks in the small room still couldn't hear me. I think I'm going to have to take voice lessons so I can project better.
Tonight, I get to see the Arrogant Worms perform. It's so cool to see their incredible success. The festival director said that even Margaret Atwood was trying to score tix to their show. I suspect she'll get in no problem. Okay, I'm off to lunch and to prep my afternoon session.
I'm in lovely downtown Moose Jaw. I taught a writing workshop in the morning, which went very well. I was surprised by the liveliness of the group. Normally, when I teach adults, they are quiet and I have to draw them out, but this group was spirited, animated and opinionated. I hope they learned something from the session and that they turn their creative energies toward a new manuscript.
Following the workshop, I visited the Tunnels of Moose Jaw (Passage to Fortune), which gave a glimpse into the conditions for the early Chinese immigrants. There were some very interesting bits of history and personal drama that are helping me think about the impact of my play The Forbidden Phoenix. I was even thinking about doing a rewrite based on some of the events I had learned about. I'll have to mull over the visit.
All in all, this was a good start to the Festival. I hope that people come out to my sessions tomorrow and Saturday. Okay, I'm off to explore more of the city.
Eoin Colfer's latest offering is a slick kids' book that references film noir movies like Chinatown, The Big Sleep and Double Indemnity. There's plenty of twists and turns in this funny mystery, but no supernatural elements. Be warned, lovers of Artemis Fowl, this book is all crime, no leprechauns. Still, I liked the new character of Fletcher Moon. He's smart like Artemis, but he's more vulnerable too. I'm curious about Eoin Colfer's switch to a "non-supernatural" arena. Is the tide starting to turn? Is the fantasy genre starting to fade out? Or is Mr. Colfer expanding his body of work? As long as he writes great characters, I don't care what genre he writes. I'll keep reading. By the way, the next Artemis book is supposed to come out this fall. I saw the announcement on Mr. Colfer's website.
The Edmonton Journal article came out today. Yay! There's a huge picture of Buddy in a less than dignified pose. Some people sent me a link to a video featuring real talking cats. If anyone's interested in hearing kitty talk, check it out. The video's pretty funny.
On another joyful note, fellow Thistledown author Allison Maher (I, The Spy) has just announced that her book is going to be reprinted. Go Allison! This is her first book, and the interesting tidbit is that the story is inspired by her real life former job working with an inventor of spy gear. Check out the book!
Okay, it's official. I'm becoming one of those crazy cat people who take 2,000 photos of their kitties and talk about their furry felines as if they're kids. Tomorrow's Edmonton Journal features a Life article about my cat Buddy. There was a photo of Buddy in the paper this morning and I almost ran out to get multiple copies, but then I realized that Buddy would rather eat the paper than look at it. Sometimes, drawing from my own life experiences for stories is humiliating.
No, not cigarettes. Yesterday, I became the proud owner of smoker so that I can make fall off the bone ribs. I'd been flirting with smoke pouches, trying to give my ribs and chicken a hickory of mesquite flavour. However, more smoke poured out the back of my propane barbecue than got into the meat. I kept reading about these mythical smokers in all my barbecue recipe books, and I knew that if I ever had the chance to get my hands on a cheap smoker, I'd graduate from backyard barbecue cook to budding pit master. Last night, my wife and I assembled the smoker. This weekend, I have to "season" the metal (which I think is a romantic term for burn off the chemicals inside the smoker). I can't wait to try my first recipe. Hmm, should I invite people over to experiment or try it out on myself first. Decisions, decisions.
I'm about halfway through the first draft of my picture book. The challenge for me is keeping the story brief and active. It's very much like writing a short play. I have no real time to linger. I have to cut to the chase. I'm told that I really should stick to around 1,000 words for a picture book, and that means I can't spend too much time describing any one section. Okay, back to it.
I had a wonderful time doing the video presentation for Alberta Education and the Smithsonian in Washington. The kids in Barrhead were wonderfully attentive, and the audience in Washington were great and LOUD. I felt a bit weird doing the presentation because of the video delay. Sometimes I would hear reactions from Washington about 2 seconds late, so I had to compensate with a lot of pausing. Overall, I had a blast and I hope that the audiences in Washington enjoyed the session.
I missed the results show last night, but I saw on the CTV Idol site that Sheldon Elter is safe for another week. Yay! Sheldon. I don't know him personally, but he's been active in the Edmonton theatre community for a few years, and I think it's cool to have someone from the theatre community compete in Canadian Idol. Go Sheldon!
I spent all day rehearsing for the Smithsonian presentation yesterday, but I could barely focus because of the heat and humidity. I know I shouldn't complain about hot weather because Alberta gets so few days of it, but I'm complaining. My shirt sticks to my back and I feel sticky all the time. At night, I toss and turn, hoping to find that one place on the bed that is actually cool. If I had the money I'd buy one of those portable air conditioners, lock myself in a room and sit in front of the thing all day long. Okay, back to the furnace.
Apologies for the lack of new entries, but my wife is recoverying from surgery. She's fine now, but I was cabana boy for the last week. She can move around and fend for herself today, so I was able to get back to my routine. I haven't touched any writing projects, but I'm going to devote next week to a picture book and maybe the revision of my third book outline or the plotting of a brand new book idea. It's going to be interesting to see how long it takes for me to get my discipline back after being away from writing for nearly 3 months (the book launch took a lot out of my schedule).
