TV habit

So I finally jumped on the streaming TV thing and have been watching Nip/Tuck season 5 (or I was, until I ran out of sites streaming to Canada) and The Middleman.
The best moment of Nip/Tuck was in Dawn Budge II. I love Dawn Budge (played by Rosie O'Donnell) but the sight of her hang gliding to the soundtrack of Peter Bjorn & John's Young Folks was too much. I plotzed.
On the other hand, I don't like that it looks like Sean is going to get sucked in by his ex-wife's lesbian lover's teenaged sociopath. Predictable, much, Nip/Tuck?

As for The Middleman, it is awesome, way too awesome for ABC Family. I can understand how they didn't know what to do with this. In one episode, they use the expression drama vampire (for a friend who wants to wallow in your personal drama) and then one of the characters says Lord Love a Duck while another says, "Yippee kay yay BLEEEEEP."
It is madness. Where is season two? For that matter, why aren't they just making this continuously so I can watch it every week?

Review: American Widow

American Widow by Alissa Torres

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This opened my eyes a little about the American Red Cross's role in providing relief to the families of those killed by 9/11. I thought Katrina's rigamorole was bad enough, but I heard little about this.

I often wonder, as a Canadian Red Cross volunteer, how effective we can be. The little bit we get from Alissa Torres's story doesn't lend me much hope.


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Review: Pierre Jean Jase, Sherbrooke, QC

On our trip to our former city of residence, and Bill's hometown, we headed out for burgers at Pierre Jean Jase (rue Montreal, Sherbrooke, QC). The restaurant was a semi-regular haunt while we lived in Sherbrooke. The menu is simple in the evening, with pizzas and some homey dishes regularly on the menu, and Tuesday to Friday nights, burgers and European hotdogs (sausages, really). We always get burgers. I always get the Montreal (the burgers and hotdogs are named for the streets surrounding the restaurant): veal burger with goat cheese and tomato. The Moore (beef with onions and mushrooms) is also popular among our friends. They also have a tofu option and a lamb option, with variations of toppings from brie to sundried tomatoes. All the burgers are served, en assiette with either salad, fries or a bit of both. The handcut shoestring fries come with mayonnaise. There are four options, but get the tarragon (estragon) for it is garlicky and delicious.
The reason I keep coming back to the Montreal is the way the creamy goat cheese, which has that almost musty flavour, blends with fresh tomatoes and the homemade mayo, which features lemon (or some other citrus - I never stop eating long enough to thoroughly investigate) peel.
Bill had the special on this visit - beef burger with apple and brie. Yummy. The special often comes with a draft beer (they have Boreale Rousse on tap) for a set price. This time, the tap was down so we had bottles of Boreale. Bill picked for the Blanche (peppery and refreshing) and I had the Cuivree. The Cuivree is a strong malt-based beer and, what I didn't down before my burger arrived was perfect with the citrus flavours of the mayo on my burger.
Pierre Jean Jase is a perfect cozy neighbourhood resto, great for a quiet dinner out or a weekend brunch. The brunch menu includes frittata, omelettes and French toast.


A review (in French) of Pierre Jean Jase.

Review: Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I avoided this series, despite enjoying Bryan Lee O'Malley's first book Lost at Sea. Scott Pilgrim is a weird romp through the relationships of early adulthood, with some hardcore geekery in the form of video game and manga references. The first time Scott Pilgrim fought and got a powerup, ala Mario, it took me a second, but the engaging characters and the almost too-familiar relationship action had me back before I could really put it down.


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Review: Bones to Ashes

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'm leaning more towards a 3.5 stars. At any rate, I liked this one more than some of the other Kathy Reichs books I've read. To be honest, I think I like Bones better than I like the Temperance Brennan books.

This book hit closer to home than some of the others, and, as usual, Reichs makes some annoying geography booboos. It takes until much later to acknowledge that Miramichi, NB used to be two separate, smaller cities, Newcastle and Chatham. The only reference to Chatham is a one-off, without really explaining where it is.

The story was interesting, and, as usual, the plot, not the writing, carries the story. I'm getting quite sick of Brennan and Ryan having a non-romance. I am glad, however, that Reichs refers to it as Lafleur's in this book, instead of Lafleur as she did in the other books. She does throw off the Schwartz's full name, but whatever - it's nice to have a bit of the Montreal language dichotomy in there for colour.


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Review: Valentine's Day Dinner at Opera Bistro

My husband and I went to dinner at Opera Bistro. I'll admit, it's a favourite anyway, but the five course fixed menu for February 14 was excellent.
We started with Goat Cheese Brioche, which were subtlely cheesy and had Bill swooning right away. This arrived with our drinks - Banrock Station Sparkling Shiraz. I am now in love with sparkling red wine. It was a little sweet, pleasingly bubbly and light enough not to be a problem with the romantic salad: mixed greens with avocado and bamboo shoots with a lobster rice vinaigrette.
Next was the Cognac Carrot Cream Soup, which was velvety and light. It tasted mostly of cream and cognac, with a nice bit of sweetness from the carrot.
Then the salmon pate arrived - salmon layered with rice, vegetables and herbs (what anything was, I could not say), baked in puff pastry and served with a saffron cream. Delicious. I could have just eaten that for dinner. But then I would have missed the main course.
Bill had the filet mignon, which came in a shitake mushroom sauce on sour cream whipped potatoes. Bill had his medium, and it was tender and smoky. As usual, I won the draw on picking the better dinner. I had the sausage stuffed chicken roulade, which was presented in a pomegranate balsamic sauce with a polenta heart. The sausage, likely one of their homemade lamb ones (they were so busy that I couldn't ask), was spicy, and nicely balanced by the chicken and the sauce, which was sweet-tart. The polenta heart was a nice touch - I love polenta anyway, and this was crisp outside and creamy inside, the perfect textural compliment to the chicken and sausage. The chicken came with just one bone still attached. I'm not sure what bone, though, since my chicken was definitely a breast and the bone was a good sized one. I almost thought she'd brought me a lamb chop by accident (and there was lamb on the menu, a rack with black cherry and black pepper - I saw one on the next table and it looked delicious). I was expecting a roulade - you know, the typical rolled chicken. This was better.
Desert was a white chocolate mousse heart on a lake of dark chocolate sauce. Opera is my favourite place to eat desert anyway (a raspberry tart I had three years ago still makes me drool), and this didn't disappoint - the presentation alone was fabulous. The airy mousse was topped with a thin layer of red strawberry gelatin. Hidden in the desert were a few fresh berries - raspberries and blueberries.
Surprisingly, after all of this, I didn't feel like exploding. It was perfect!

Review: Gods Behaving Badly

Gods Behaving Badly: A Novel by Marie Phillips

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I kept hearing about this book on CBC and everyone loved it. That is because it is awesome. The Olympians are all perfectly developed and the mortal characters are sweet and you just want to kiss poor Neil by the end of it. It's David Sedaris meets Queen Camilla. Awesome.


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Review: Superior Saturday

Superior Saturday by Garth Nix

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I cannot wait for Lord Sunday. I like how far along this book carries the story, but it really felt like nothing actually happened - no conclusion. A true build up for the coming ending. Maybe. Maybe there's a book 8 in the works. I wouldn't complain - it feels like Garth Nix has a lot to say about the Architect, more than might be reasonable to handle in the seventh book of The Keys to the Kingdom.


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Review: Things the Grandchildren Should Know

Things the Grandchildren Should Know by Mark Oliver Everett

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved Eels the first time I heard Novocaine for the Soul on MuchMusic. I was 16, and the lyrics spoke to me. I needed something for my soul so very much - I was an angsty teen after all. The album Beautiful Freak went on to become a soundtrack to my high school days and the subsequent albums all have ties to moments in my life, from my first dorm room to car trips with my husband and daughter.

This book is what was going on with the man behind the music and it is a beautiful tale of a weird and wonderful like where the downs (and there are many) are only surpassed by the ups. Mark Oliver Everett tells it like it is (and was).

My favourite passage in the book? "It lasted five or six years. In the end, it didn't work out. But, after all, this is Chapter 13. What did you expect?"

A necessity for reading is a complete soundtrack of E and Eels albums, as well as some other tracks, including Happy Trails (so you can hear it as he leaves his mother's funeral, even if he didn't get to), an Elliott Smith track of your choice (something from his dark period, preferably), some Tom Waits and some Neil Young. Maybe John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band album, if you can handle it.


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Review: The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I thought I'd have a hard time getting around the dog as narrator, but I really enjoyed the outside perspective on the lives of his master and family. I didn't need the final chapter, which I won't reveal since it's a total spoiler, but it didn't ruin the book as epilogues by a certain New Hampshire based novelist do for me.


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