Happy Halloween 2023

 Shook hands with our decorator and got comfy with the cat on the sofa. Literally no one wants a little feline running around near wet paint so I kept her in the cat creche of our living room while I pottered around. I returned my attention to a YouTube video script I finished writing last year that I wanted to sharpen ever so slightly, to do that I had to do some reading into the director John Ford. I found a book about him that I wanted to start reading, even after I found the quote I wanted I continued reading, always the sign of a good book. 

The code around my parts on Halloween is Tricky or Treaters will only knock on your door if you put a pumpkin out. I lit up a candle and filled up my tub with Haribo ready to hand it all out. Rebecca thought I wouldn't get any takers but the kids rinsed me out in 20 minutes! I had to hurriedly bring my pumpkin back inside and turn off all the houselights in shame. I wish I was a kid again. Free chocolate in this economy is a sweet deal.

Poorly Kitty

While Rebecca was a busy bee working form home I filled my day with a few eBay and Facebook marketplace listings to weed through some of our floating bits and bobs. Also, I was a nurse for our cat who decided to be a little bit sick in the house. I'm going to be in cat duty a fair amount this week as we have a decorator coming in to to our hallways and landing. Just me and Edi doing personal projects and making brews for a man in overalls.

To Peel a Pumpkin

We successfully smuggled some bonafide maple syrup out of Canada so it felt right to rustle up some pancakes this morning. The syrup was damn good, but I won't be making the trip out there again just for a small bottle - I bet this is what the Irish say about Guinness not tasting the same outside of Dublin but we all know the truth.

Pumpkins dictated the rest of the day. Rebecca wanted to make her October cupcakes - the key ingredient being everyone's favourite orange gourd. Mum transferred the design I wanted into my pumpkin yesterday so I got to work on carving, plus peeling. That's right, for the first time I attempted a hybrid technique to create my look this year. Instead of sawing all the way through the flesh, you just take a knife and peel off the thick skin. It sounds like a faff, and with a 12 year old pairing knife it admittedly could have been easier, but the process was fun and the results were much better than I had expected.

My design this year was based on a character in a board game who aptly is carving a pumpkin. I think it looks mighty fine in the dark. The extra lines in the face really sell the look.

 

Family Out West

Spruced up the homestead for a visit from my Mum and Dad. They hadn't made the trip out west for a little while and it was great to see them and offer some of our hospitality. We exchanged a few gifts from our travels, I got some very fancy Turkish coffee while we passed on a small Christmas decoration from Canada. Louis joined in for a pub lunch on North Street from a place that actually gets better every time I go back. I think it was a hit anyway! 

Once my folks hit the road I was on nursing duty. Rebecca caught my cold by the sounds of things and needs some love and attention. You always feel guilty giving someone a cold, just glad it wasn't covid!

Buddy Horror

Mark get Fridays off so it felt right to invite him over for some spooky games. I put him through a deeply unsettling part of a horror game I recently enjoyed, although terrifying I think it's a horror moment that we could both appreciate in its construction. I always forget how much I love just hanging out on a sofa playing games with people while shooting the breeze, reminded me of our uni days hanging out in Frederica. Rebecca joined us later for some card and dice games, we got deep into a cooperative one call the Crew which had us all holding our breath right until the winning moments - there were a lot of imaginary high fives going around tonight which is what Friday evenings are all about.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Signed myself up for an grand cinema excursion with some old coworkers to go see Killers of the Flower Moon. Another Scorsese epic about the true crime that Americans inflicted upon their own people. It delved into a chapter of history I had totally no knowledge of which I found fascinating and the slow burn of watching people systematically murder another race is exponentially horrifying the more you think about it. Performances were excellent too, Leo spends most of the time pretending to listen and understand what everyone else is saying. It's quite an emasculating role and he always has a face of vacant determination - I frequently asked myself 'what must he be thinking now' and the answer is always 'nothing'.

But all told, the film is still far too long. Scenes come and go and we only glean scraps about characters and motivation - sure but all builds a grand mosaic once we get to the finish line but it certainly likes to relish in the pace of the old life. Right at the three hour mark the lady two seats over from me started to breathe heavily, then snore quietly, then snore loudly. The runtime is justified by the scale of the source material, which is legitimately important and respectfully told. If you got a good few hours to kill, this is a good one to try out.

The Innocents

I promise this blog won't become a beat by beat recalling of how I overcome jetlag and a cold, but by golly those two things have almost dictates my life for the past few days. I just want to do more Halloween stuff mostly, get into the cosy Autumn mindset and scare myself a little. That's at least what Rebecca and I did this evening by watching The Innocents. There was a perfect era of horror in the early 60's, plenty of quality ghost stories and haunted houses with oodles of nuance in the way they built fear. This film is yet another stone cold chiller of it's time where a woman walks through a literally pitch black corridor clutching a candelabra and things go bump in the night. You also personally discover that the hairs in the back of your neck also have their own hairs that stand on end when spooked. Just hope the ghosts don't keep me up tonight now...

Sleep = Reset

I relinquished myself to the sleep my body was so desperately crying out for last night and woke up at a rather embarrassingly late time. Still, I tried to have an easy but productive day so I finished the new Mario game, went on a run and watched a film (Mind Game, a bizarre Japanese animation film which mostly successfully did the crude, but life affirming trick the Swiss Army Man pulls off.) We settled into our Bake Off evening again with Louis and Rachel, and all was right in the world once again.

Cinnamon Conundrum

 Though my suspected cold didn't develop into anything worse, it did keep me up for a large chuck of last night. When you have a touch of jet lag that's double trouble. 

Somewhat inspired by the autumnal flavours of Canadian sweet treats, I made a batch of cinnamon buns. I did these last year as well and I remember them not coming out quite as well as I had dreamed. I couldn't recall why exactly, but I remember having a vague feeling of unease whenever I thought about them. You always hope that the next time you bake something you'll learn from your mistakes, well this time around I think I made all the same pitfalls again. Bad yeast, odd dough rolling and forgetting to use greaseproof paper were all silly things that I'll try and internalize for next year. Dispute it all, they still taste chuffing good so it's a net positive.

Catch a Flight, Catch a Cold

I don't want to jynx it, but I think the jet lag may have gone...

But in a twist of fate I now think someone, somewhere on the plane had a cold because I have some symptoms brewing right now. Not enough to be in discomfort, nor is it bad enough to blame on why I lost at board games against Rebecca, but knowing there might be something on the way certainly puts a dampener on the rest day.  Speaking of, Rebecca slept in til 10am today, that'll be a shock to her system tomorrow when she's up for work tomorrow. All I'll be doing is kneading out cinnamon buns in my pyjamas.

How to Beat Jet Lag

 My technique to getting past jet lag is to just white knuckle it until the sun goes down. I caught a few winks on the plane but not enough to get me through the day - I'm honestly surprised I'm still functioning at the moment. The moment my head touches that pillow I'll be out cold for hours... And I cannot wait.

Dreaming of Canada

Sat in the departures lounge now contemplating our last day in Canada. We headed up Mount Royal in the heart of Montreal to be amidst the trees for the last time. Within the last two weeks you can really tell how much the leaves have changed colour, everyday the wind shakes more of them down to earth, but exactly now, in the middle of October, is the perfect time to see them all. 

 

We've done it all this holiday. Witnessed unofficial wonders of the natural world and eaten unnatural amounts of pastries/bagels. We drank at bars we'll soon forget the names of and hiked trails a thousand others have trod before us. We've seen men brawling on the ice and we've shared cosy dinners amongst family. It's been the most remarkable trip, one I won't soon forget. Best of all I got to share it all with Rebecca who made my first trip across the Atlantic all the more special.

City of Bagels

Like a starting pistol, the moment we got up we hit the streets to explore Montreal. A city that's famous for it's bagels, it'd be rude not to have some for breakfast - somehow just one sustained me for 10 hours (not even joking, I ate nothing else til dinner!). We did a TON of walking today as it turns out the city is pretty damn big. We saw the old town, the underground shopping malls and even the Barbie Expo which was better than it had any right to be. 

 

We were recommended a thrift store last week so we walked for almost an hour to see if we could do some bargain hunting. I struck gold with a lovely thick shirt, looking the make up once we got back we discovered I made a 92% saving on it. Much later we went out to a very new and trendy burger place. After wiping away a blob of mayonnaise off her cheek Rebecca whispered 'I think that might be the best burger I've ever had', I'd be inclined to agree.

Since we got an evening flight out tomorrow we have one more day in Canada. So much to do, so many more Tim Horton's pastries to sample and so many maple flavored biscuits to hopefully squeeze into our luggage.

Let's Go Rockets

It was time to say Au Revoir to Quebec City and Bonjoir to Montreal. It also marked the final long-haul train journey of the trip which are low-key some of my favourite parts. We checked into our last Air BnB too, we got the heads up yesterday that the room was on the 21st floor... And it was indeed on the 21st floor! Our balcony overlooked the city and all the promise it holds.

But before we could explore, we had an appointment to keep with an ice hockey game. Riding the metro to the stadium it dawned on Rebecca and me that nether of us had been to a proper sports game before. It was a hell of a thing climbing the steps and finding our seats amidst a huge arena to see a huge ice rink and a couple thousand fans all ready to watch their home team defend their turf. Rebecca and I watched a YouTube video only last night to learn an abridged version of the rules, but 20 minutes in as I ate poutine and Timbits™ while washing it down with a light beer, ice hockey became second nature. We had an absolutely tremendous time cheering on the Rockets. There was impromptu Mexican waves while fisticuffs occured out on the ice, then whenever the home team scored the cheers could have woken the dead. Our game went into overtime after a tense back and forth but we conceeded the last goal and all the hype burst in an instant. Pity we didn't win, but it was riotous fun.

 

487 Steps

The #2 top rated thing to do in Quebec City isn't really in the concrete jungle, it's just on the outskirts after a bus takes you to the end of the line. Mortmorency Falls sounds like a poor man's Niagara on paper, but in reality it's almost just as impressive. A very agreeable entrance fee grants access to a spectacular patch of woodland and half a dozen viewing platforms for a mesmerizing waterfall. There was even a dedicated 'get wet here zone' where the mist from the falls would drench you in seconds... So if course we did that! It was a long climb back up to the top though, 487 steps to be exact, but totally worth it for one of the most memorable parts of our holiday.

 Just opposite this site of outstanding natural beauty was a McDonald's. My first North American taste of the golden arches was only a coffee and a muffin, had to be done at some point though during our visit.

Halloween Country

Recharging our batteries was the goal of today. We had a very lazy get up time and visited Quebec's old town once again, but most of all we kept it easy breezy. I always forget how seriously North Americans take Halloween, most commercial areas are brimming with pumpkins and life-size dioramas of spooky scenes. Makes me excited to carve my own pumpkin when I get back.

 

We were a but more active this evening, taking a jaunt to a ramen place, a bar and a board game pub. It still not in my nature to give tips but hey-ho, I'm in holiday.

Poutine

Full day in Quebec City! Since we're here for a longer spell we went grocery shopping to get breakfast lunches and dinners (again, a great excuse to see North American supermarkets). A breakfast bagel set us up for a day of leisurely sightseeing around the old town, we went up a boardwalk with 310 steps to admire the views from on high.

The city is awash with microbreweries we discovered... Which is great news for me, especially when there's stouts on tap. We took this opportunity to try a national delicacy: Poutine. I actually couldn't fathom why this hasn't trickled into British pubs. It's chips, gravy and cheese curds and it's jolly good too. It's already better than the best cheesey chips out there, so why hasn't it taken off much outside of Canada? Perhaps this'll be my new business venture.

Eastward Ho!

No photos today because we mostly caught a 6 hour train to our next city destination: Quebec City. Before hopping onto the train we found ourselves with a bit of free time, enough to check out a big North American staple: WallMart. I love foreign supermarkets and this place is the definition of excess - good place to get train snacks though! Once in Quebec we unloaded our bags at our Air B&B and set off to a microbrewery down the road that also happened to be cat themed... The dream spot for me and Rebecca basically. We'll explore the city fully tomorrow, but it turns out that riding a train for half a day really knocks it out of you.

24 Hours in Ottawa

We returned to last night's jazz bar as it's trendy oatmeal spot by day. A banana and date porridge set me up for doing oodles of sightseeing around Ottawa's parliament hill and other government buildings - all of which were stunning, especially since they're all situated atop lakeside hills. Our guidebook also informed us that the local delicacy was a treat called Beavertails, basically and open turnover pastry dusted with cinnamon sugar and then topped with whatever your heart desires. We found out later that Ex president Obama visited the same kiosk as us which made me feel a lot better after eating 500+ calories of deep fried sugar. A customary trip to a used bookstore plus a coffee house was our little pitstop before checking out the city's cathedral and signiture outdoor art exhibit... Of a giant spider... I wasn't a fan.

 

Since our Air B&B was right next to Little Italy it would have been a sin not to get some pizza there for dinner. Back in bed I'm already looking back on our 24 hours in Ottawa with a smile. Before our trip I was anecdotally informed the capital was a woefully boring city. My eyes have drank up most of what the city can offer for sure, but it's a darnsight nicer than I was lead to believe.

Arrival in Ottawa

 It was mostly a travel day for us. We took the cross country equivalent from Toronto out East to the capital, Ottawa. The train was just shy of 5 hours so we were pooped once we got into town. We checked into our Air B&B and then headed out for food and fun. The breakfast place we were looking at tomorrow also apparently turns into a whiskey and jazz lounge in the evenings, so we had cocktails (an old fashioned to be exact) and listened to some really cool live music. Cheers to you Ottawa.

Niagara Falls

We embarked our pre-booked (as of yesterday) tour bus out to the region of Niagara at the ripe old time of 8:15am. Our guide was keen to inject a bit of energy into our group right from the get-go but sensed that most of us were still waking up. Our first stop was the colonial town of Niagara-On-The-Lake, where every Canadian wishes they could go retire to. It was a really cute town, worthy of a one hour whistle stop tour as we headed out to the main attraction: the falls.

So often people say this is an easy 10/10 experience and I can only parrot that sentiment because it was breathtaking. Seeing and hearing that force of nature was simply remarkable, made all the more awe-inspiring when we got on the boat tour. We slapped on our complimentary poncho and braced ourselves for a soaking. We left the falls still a little soggy, but full of warm memories. It probably hasn't registered just yet, but Niagara was a once in a lifetime experience.

Touring Toronto

Rebecca and I did a full city break day, including a BIG brunch start followed by a lot of walking up and around downtown. Primarily Rebecca was keen visit all the best bookshops in the city (and we did hilariously well in that front). We also popped into a board game place and grabbed some coffee and doughnuts. We've now rode on streetcars and subways and I'm starting to refer to roads by their street names confidently. Any longer here and people will think I'm a local!

Autumn in Algonquin

Our host very generously elected to drive me and Rebecca out to Algonquin to see the wilderness and the leaves changing colour. We drove out of the city and took a lengthy hike around a gorgeous lake, all while admiring the autumnal colours of the leaves, all Halloween orange and chimney red. We were out of town for literally the entire day, nice to breathe the super fresh air and get a sense of Canada's country.

First Thanksgiving

Our first true day in Canada started with a bowl of very English porridge - just enough to set us up for a long old day of walking across town. We caught the streetcar to a nearby park then hiked to the downtown area. In Toronto it's remarkable how quickly the landscape goes from suburbia into fringe shopping districts into mega city - our walk took us across all three and eventually to the base of the CN Tower. 

Rebecca especially was still fending off the remainder of jet lag today so it was nice to do a cursory sweep of the city without building our day around any major activity. There was one thing we simply had to do while in Canada... visit a Tim Hortons. As the tiredness hit a coffee and a doughnut really picked us back up again.

We did need to return to our host's home though because this weekend marked the beginning of Canadian Thanksgiving. Although the day itself is technically tomorrow, the big meal was planned for today. We met up with my extended family plus a few other satellite friends, all local Torinotonians who were great company. We exchanged differences in ways of life, politics and food while scoffing turkey meat and red wine. My favorite thing was helping prepare a small side for the Thanksgiving meal while hanging around others all chipping in to help make the meal something special. Though I was 1,000 miles away from home, I was still amongst family and reconnecting with them on a foreign national holiday is an incredibly rare treat.

Never this far away from Home

 Boarded my first ever long-haul flight and was left agog at the amenities. Tiny pillow. Tiny blanket. Tiny multimedia screen with a BIG selection of films. We had the time to kill so we got around to the new Indiana Jones and the Mario Bros movie - both very serviceable plane films made all the more fun when Rebecca and I had to synchronize our pressing of the play button so we could watch the films together.

We disembarked in Toronto and met up with my relatives, we hit up a brunch place where I got my first taste of Canadian maple syrup on French toast. We had hopes of stumbling into the city proper but our jet lag hit us hard so we had a power nap instead - ready to hit the day properly tomorrow after a good night's sleep.

7-Shirt Roll

Did the old 7-shirt roll to squeeze in as much as I could into my trusty Cabin Maxx bag. It might actually be the nicest I've ever packed a bag like this, it was almost a shame to disrupt it all when I went rummaging around for my toothbrush tonight. 

The house is spic and span, the cat is fully fed and everything has been put into a state of stasis. It'll all be there when we're back but it always is a little bittersweet saying goodbye to a home, even if it's before going on a major holiday. Our flight to Canada leaves early so our alarms are set to 'even earlier'.

Show me the CAD!

My beloved caddy van got collected by a stranger from the hire company. My car keys feel smaller once again, but our parking space has never looked so spacious. Hope they don't mind the pint of vegan curry I spilt in the back, I honestly scrubbed and scrubbed but the smell continues to linger. I used Rebecca's car for most of our runs today, mostly to go out and get Canadian dollars. I wish their cash was a little more fun, it's just more plastic bank notes nowadays, still featuring our noble Queen in some cases. All that's left to do tomorrow is to leave the house in a good state. 

Oh yes, and to pack my bag. Can't forget that.

Project A

Holed up indoors to enjoy a fully fledged day off. I completed my new game, finished reading my book and squeezed in a Jackie Chan movie. Project A is pretty goofy in all the right ways and it constantly wears it's silent films influences on its sleeve. The plot is disjointed as anything, but I'm grateful for anything that facilities context for an immaculately choreographed fight scene. No one but Jackie can round up an insane number of humans and ask them if they want to get hurt on camera. The speed of the fights and the spectical of it all is occasionally dizzying, but the films feathers are somewhat clipped by its overly wacky comedy.

Tiny Plastic

Now that I"m once again a man of leisure, I have the freedom to do whatever I want during the day... Including going over to a friend's house to do imaginary sci Fi war with tiny bits of plastic. I played my first ever game of Warhammer today, I shan't be making a habit of it but it was a lot more beginner friendly than I was anticipating. I got more pleasure out of admiring our friendships deftness with a paintbrush, his miniatures were so nice I was a little afraid to touch them at times, especially when factoring in their costs.

Got a few more chores to do before Canada later on this week. In my mind it feels like preparing for Christmas and trying to buy all the presents before the big day. Rain or shine, my bag will be packed on Friday and we'll be shipping out on holiday.

Fly Tipper

So, today was my real final day on Rivals. For such a star studded show you'd like to think my last day went out with a bang. Instead I was peeling tape of loading bay floors, and loading up my van with detritus to take to the dump. I said my goodbyes to the lovely folks who help run our studio and bless them, they looked so sad that we were leaving. I sent a few emails once I got home, then shut down my laptop and opened a beer to celebrate the end of an era... 

Well I still need to round off a few more tiny jobs, that's the nature of the beast though. I'll smash through it all in a morning and be done with it.

Califlower Cheese

For the first time in ages we went out for a pub roast this Sunday. We agreed to .eet up with some friends at a place quite deep into town, it was actually quite nice to go in the big walk before eating far too much califlower cheese and gravy. Rebecca and I are slowly doing the rounds of seeing a bunch of friends before our big trip to Canada, though we'll only be gone for two weeks I reckon we'll miss the entire Autumn transition back in the UK. We'll return to barren trees and chilly air before we know it. I'm already so ready to wear jumpers and jackets again.