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June 20, 2005
Crazy cat
Every evening at precisely 11pm my cat Minou goes nuts. She tears around the apartment uttering strange grunts and partial guttural meows. She'll sit in one place long enough to swish her tail around and feverishly lick one paw then tear off again like a rabid squirrel. After 10 minutes she's she's done and goes back to being the merely annoying, high strung, demanding mass of fur that she is for most of the day. By the way, she's smart enough to know when the time changes because she'll change her routine accordingly. And, of course, she's annoying, high strung, demanding in the most lovable of ways.
Posted by John at 11:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 19, 2005
Brewing beer
Lemme see if I have this straight. The deciding factor between Ales and Lagers is that Ales are top fermented and the Lagers are bottom fermented. Top fermenting is quicker and creates a robust, more full bodied brew whilst bottom fermenting takes longer but creates a lighter, more refreshing beer. Most American beers are Lagers (apparently this is because American breweries for the most part were started by transplanted Germans). I've always gotten this confused because to my ear 'Ale' is a light sounding word whereas 'Lager' is heavier sounding so naturally I've assumed that the beers would match.
A Stout, apparently, is a variation of the Ale family in that it's top fermented and also contains roasted unmalted barley, and often caramel malt. Sounds like something copied directly from the Guinness website. It's not; it was actually copied from this website, which very well may have pilfered it from Guinness.
To sum up: Guinness is goooood.
Posted by John at 09:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 14, 2005
Watchin' real pool players play pool
I had intended to play some pool at The Charlotte Room tonight but Monday's and Tuesdays are league nights so there were no tables available. It turns out that just standing and watching people who actually know how to play the game is just as entertaining. I was standing next to a table where a guy named Darrin was showin' people how it's done. It was refreshing to see that even he could miss a shot now and then. Interestingly, he had more trouble with the straight shots than the ones where he could bank or cut. I was intrigued with how he could hit the cue ball at a different point (upper right, lower left, etc) to achieve different angles on the object ball. For instance, I often have trouble hitting a shot where the ball is along the side so I can't hit quite at the correct spot to have it roll parallel to the cushion and into a corner pocket. I could see that for those shots he would hit the cue ball on the lower side closest to the cushion. This would smack the object ball just right to have it roll parallel rather than having it bounce off the cushion and off in to the wilderness.
The waiter was saying that their tables were some of the last Dufferin Challenger's ever made and that they're the truest in the city. Something about them having three piece slate tops which make them easier to level or something. I'll have to ask about that again when I've had fewer Corona's.
Posted by John at 11:32 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
June 10, 2005
Noise
I've turned as many of the machines in my apartment as I can and it is still amazingly noisy. The fridge is throbbing; the freezer is emitting some sort of wavering buzz; this computer is whooshing; the PVR is whining. I've turned off my air conditioner too but I can feel the drone of my neighbor's. One nice thing about winter: it's a lot quieter. No A/C, of course, but also not as many people out on the streets; nobody on patio's whooping it up. At the moment I'm even bothered by the cats chewing their food. Obviously, I'm going to have to get softer food; or pre-chew it for them. A nice quiet blender would help with that.
I'm always preoccupied with noise; most often the noise that other people make that infiltrates my home. I don't mind people being out there but I don't like to hear them. Especially when they're having sex. Especially when they're having sex and I'm not. One of my previous neighbors had a loose headboard that used to hit the wall when she and her boyfriend were getting randy. I was always impressed with the nice rythmn they would get going. Fortunately, they took no longer to finish up than the average and I was back to my blissful silence after a very few minutes. There was an intention to mention that loose headboard to her but somehow I could never broach the subject when I met her waiting for the elevator. "Nice day." "Yes." "That elevator sure is noisy, isn't it?" "Yes, sure is." Following that up with "I noticed you had sex last night." just didn't seem to work.
This apartment is actually quite a bit noisier than I expected it to be. I thought the higher you were up, the quieter it would be. The opposite seems to be true. My theory is that on the lower floors the sound bounces off the other buildings and cancels itself out whereas up here where there are no buildings for the sound to reflect from we get the full dose. I'm not sure about the validity of that but it sounds impressive when I suggest it to people. It seems to suggest a grasp of physics and sound waves which never fails to impress. I don't let people dwell on it too long before mentioning that it's pretty common to see naked people in the buildings across the street. Nakedness wins out over physics every time.
Posted by John at 07:11 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
June 06, 2005
Ride For Heart
I participated in the Heart And Stroke Association's Ride for Heart yesterday. I've been hearing about this event for many years and have always wanted to bike along the DVP. Now, I had my chance! The route was 50km and took us from the CNE, along the Gardiner past downtown then onto the DVP. At York Mills we biked down the off ramp and backup the on ramp on the other side of the overpass. Then, back down the DVP to the CNE. It was a glorious morning to be on the road and there were lots of people out (leading to the inevitable accident here and there but I didn't see any serious injuries). It's amazing to me that they would close a major artery for an event like this but I'm glad they do. :)
Posted by John at 11:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack