Poutine ! Poutine!
Resurrecting the reverie of Paul Revere this foodie’ call to arms is reverberating throughout Quebec this week as we celebrate Annual Poutine Week. This star of Quebecois cuisine, originated in the late 1950’s and was delegated to the ignominious confines of country food shacks, diners and many greasy spoons….No more! Since its birth it has […]
It’s The Wine, Stupid!
A Food Lover’s Guide to Wine Tasting Having spent over 40 years in the restaurant and catering business I have a strong aversion to ‘pretense’ in any form and have always thought of wine tastings a bit through this filter. I am a self confessed neophyte when it comes to wines and have never […]
Centaur Theatre’s Wildside Festival
Centaur Theatre’s Wildside Festival Warms Hearts on the Coldest of Days I think we can all agree that making your way outside on a frigidly cold night is a feat in itself. Motivation is required, especially when temperatures reach an arctic low. If it weren’t for Centaur Theatres’s 21ST Wildside Festival I, and many […]
Film and TV Locations: A Spotter’s Guide by Laurence Phelan (Lonely Planet, $16.99)
Growing up the movies were my refuge; a place where I could escape for a few precious hours from the melancholy of my daily life (so much so that as a child I often daydreamed that my family had moved into an apartment adjacent to a multi-cinema plex where I’d discover a secret passage in […]
Must-See Montreal Events in January 2018
Here are my choice Montreal arts and culture highlights for January 2018: MUSIC The live music scene kicks off the year a little quietly as Montrealers avoid the deep freeze and try to save a few bucks after the holiday season. Some of the bigger names headed to town are The Killers (Place Bell on January […]
Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks (Alfred A. Knopf, $26.95 US)
“’Normal is a setting on a washing machine.’” -Tom Hanks (from Uncommon Type) To a writer a typewriter is more than just a tool; it is a partner, a collaborator, a companion, and an extension of the person using it, not unlike a guitar is to a musician or a bat is to a baseball […]
Curtains Up on Star Wars: The Last Jedi
This is one of the best instalments of the franchise.
Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home by Tom Wilson (Doubleday Canada, $32.95)
“I entered adulthood unsure of who I was, where I belonged or where I came from, so I made up my story as I went along, and in that, music was my answer to everything. Rather than having the world tell me who I was, on stage, through my songs, I could tell the world. […]
Newcomers for Christmas at Centaur Theatre’s Urban Tales: Immigrant Songs: First Xmas in Montreal
Have you ever celebrated Christmas in a new land with new customs? What do you bring to the festivity- your culture or your baggage? Urban Tales: Immigrant Songs: First Xmas in Montreal brings six unique stories about yuletide in this exciting city from the point of view of new immigrants and arrivals. The stories are […]