I'm getting the house on Halloween .....

 

Interesting weekend ... checked out Jacuzzi's at the Jacuzzi store... Jacuzzi is one of those brands that people call the product by the brand itself rather than the name : Band-Aid instead of bandages, Kleenex instead of tissues and Jacuzzi instead of hot tubs.

 

Did you know Jacuzzi's are made by the "Jacuzzi" family?

 

Did you know Kid Rock has a Stanley Cup ring?

 

Did you know last week, I passed by Jeanie Becker from Fashion Tv at Toronto's Fashion week and heard her "remember that time on Fashion tv" .. I thought I was going to hear the cool Fashion tv music theme in the background but didn't ...

 

I was watching this Wedding reality show about crazy brides, grooms and mother in laws and one of Eva's coworkers was on it. Awesome ... she was the like the bridezillas of mother in laws .... 

 

Driving back from the Jacuzzi store and I was stuck in traffic on the QEW and was wondering what super special event was going on in the Skydome.... and I googled it when i got home after a couple of hours and it was a CFL football game. What the uck, CFL football is causing traffic now too. The world is ucked up.

 

Then in a weird moment of irony, I went to this bar to meet up with some of E's coworkers and it was a CFL Argos after party ... that of course was less busy than the QEW but it was quite interesting to see CFL groupies in action ...

 

I got some "parting" gifts for the doorguys and found some nice chocolates at Costco .. "Truffettes" are amazing and a definite panty remover if there ever was one. They are soo good, its like a different type of chocolate... try them. They are that dam good even if you don't like chocolate.

 

So I write about Facebook prom queen on my blog a week ago and then my friend sits beside her on a plane the next week to/from Seattle!

 

and Daylight Savings time has been changed this YEAR to next week. Yes, its the first Sunday of November now instead of last Sunday of October because of global warming. Under this approach, are they going to change Christmas to New Years now?

 

 

 

So I walked into the the Fallsview casino with Eva and the security let me in but then asked her how old she was ... what the uck !

 

Did they presume, I was dating an underage minor? .... a thirty something year old man bringing his 17 year old girlfriend to the local casino . Yea, thats it. Brilliant security guards.. I understand making sure children don't go into the casinos but the age is 18 I believe..

 

The Fallsview casino is steps to the main Canadian Falls and creates a new hub for activity in the area.. its very Vegas style themed with its Italian style marble and decor. As with vegas, the washrooms were very nice. Why are all casino washrooms so beautiful ?

 

I am just watching ABC Carpoolers comedy tv show ... perhaps the lamest suburban comedy ever created.. its not lame in a good way like Full House, this show is just plain retarded ...

 

The show is about "suburban" families .. tries to be hip and funny but is exactly the opposite. I have never ever seen anything worse on tv ... ever. 

 

 

Toronto city council annouced its new land transfer tax . Excellente .. Brilliant ... we are in a real estate boom and if you have seen Toronto lately, you have seen about a billion new condos go up in the city ... and with all these billions of new condos comes property taxes ... so shouldn't the freakin city be sitting on boatloads and boatloads of cash ....

 

but no, they are in huge debt !

 

Yes, its pretty insane ... there are tons more sources of city revenue through property taxes but yet somehow they lose all this money and then ask for freakin more.

 

On some houses purchases under this new plan, you could almost pay 10% of your freakin house on taxes and commissions. This is literally insance ... this doesn't even account for property taxes !

 

2% the "new" Toronto tax

 

2% Ontario tax

 

5% Ontario real estate standard commission rate to sell your house

 

add GST for sales service

 

= what the uck !

 

This money is going to go to "someone" and if you don't know where ...... have you seen every road in Toronto "construction'd" 3-5 times over ? Every road has been torn up and repaved with 24 carat gold in the last year or two. Then it gets done over again. Its awesome. I think they have repaved the city every month. 

 

I like my idea to "tax" people who come in from the suburbs a fee ... or more logically, a Toronto income tax ... New York has a local income tax and Toronto should of looked into this ...... taxes should uniformally tax masses of people not a very small percentage of the population ...  it only affects people who buy houses within a certain price range. 

 

Its ridiculous .... so if I hypothetically buy a house and could theoretically pay $50,000 cash in this "new Toronto tax" . The new tax is suppose to generate $150 million for Toronto ..

 

$150 million (about 80,000 houses are sold each year in Toronto so 80,000 pay for 100% of this $150 million)

 

If we had a local tax, let's say 2 million people work in Toronto, it would amount to $6.25/month in local income tax per person vs $50,000 per year for a new house purchaser. I think each Toronto worker can pay one freakin Starbucks frapacino a month in tax even if it goes to repaving nice roads over and over again.

 

Toronto is retarded.

 

 

 

Just a long Sunday ... went to Niagara Falls. It turned out to be test of batteries... when we get there, I realize my digital camera can't turn on b/c it has run out of batteries. Wonderful. I only brought it b/c Eva's dig camera was out of batteries too. Luckily it was still able to take a few pics. We took the steamboat around the Falls which was pretty nice. I wonder why the eck I hadn't done this before. Lots of watershowers but it was pretty cool. The Falls has changed alot Vegasized recently with new casinos, hotels and attractions.

 

We hit the new Fallsview Casino which makes the Niagara Casino look like Imperial Palace to the Belagio.. We check out the buffett with any casino and there was a freakin line-up at 5:30 ! Over one hundred people and we weren't hungry so we walked around.. after an hour walkin around we realize why the buffet was so popular .. its because even TGI Fridays food is like $25 !

 

After walking for what seemed to be a marathon we get back to parking lot at 8pm and realize I freakin left the car running the entire time !

 

Yes, I left the car running in the parking lot for the entire day! and yes, the car didn't turn back on. Dam hybrid cars and their quiet motors.. i always forget to turn it off !!! (it doesn't help at all b/c the car doesnt have a key switch but an "on/off" keyless entry. That's what u get for paying for luxury ... waiting for the tow truck in a Niagara Falls parking lot..

 

 

Wedding blog - its not as s*xy as my blog but worth a read ..

 

 

The website was a hit ... although we're still deliberating whether to use it .. it costs $79 for a year .. about the the cost of 1/2 a wedding guest.

 

I wrote "address" as the subject of the wedding website email as in "website address" not fwd me ur postal address .... anyways ...

 

Things I've been thinking about

 

- I just realize what I don't get about MTV's Real World - why the eck or they fighting all the time - they must be lunatics b/c if you gave normal, super hot single people and put them in a mansion and didn't have to work - you think u would have alot of fun ! but its the opposite .. I've never really watched Real World ever since RW Las Vegas which was like Filet Mignon of RWs..

 

- Lenny Kravitz is playing the Grey Cup, first it was the Black Eyed Peas, isn't this the CFL? Should Rita MacIntyre or Jane Arden be performing.

 

- Top Chef is awesome .. I just like cooking competitions and the drama .

 

 

I am putting some new furniture in the living room ... but everything else is staying the same. (to cut down on costs)

 

Originally I was going to get this wool rug from Pottery barn ... it was expensive but rugs are .... but then last nite, I saw the exact same rug at Hudson Bay's discount outlet store for only $99 bucks.. about 10 % of the Pottery Barn cost ! .... only one problem, I was looking at 8 feet by 10 feet rug and the largest one they had was a 5 by 8.

 

Damit ...

 

Orginially, I was going to get a 5*8 feet rug anyways b/c it was way cheaper but then I decided a 8 feet by 10 was needed...

 

Rugs generally come in three sizes,  3 by 5, 5 by 8, 8 by 10... small, medium and large. Basically no one buys the small one and the medium size is always the size you see at the stores hanging up on the walls..

 

Anyways, so I figure out I could buy two medium rugs to make a large. Yes, at first I thought two 5x8 rug creates a 10 by 16 foot rug. No no, it only makes a 10 x 8 rug !

 

Yes, anyways, I go home and lay out my new rugs and they look sharp.. next day, I'm measuring each one and they are different freakin sizes ! what the uck ! No wonder they were 99 bucks compared to what other stores were charging. So I got irregular rugs !

 

Irregular makes me think of shopping at outlet stores where you get irregular Polo, Lacoste or Calvin Klein clothes that they happen to occasionaly make in the wrong sizes.

 

oh and they didn't have the two same colours so I had to mix and match and get two different coloured rugs .. but at least i saved about a thousand bucks.

 

 

This is a Costco rug that was the same Pottery Barn with same pricepoints.

 

 

soooooo... its was another all you can eat rib feast - this time at Shoeless Joe's sportsbar... Would it be as good as Montana's?

 

The problem about Montanas is you can only choose one rib and can't mix and match ... remember when I order all the ribs and got charged for 4 individual all you can eat orders for only two people  !

 

anyways at Shoeless Joes, its not a problem as they only have one rib ... the king of ribs - the baby back ribs ... standard price of a full uncooked rack at Loblaws is about $12.50.

 

Price at Shoeless Joes $22..

 

Eva was hungry so she ordered the ribs first as we actually went to watch the Flames game since it was only on satellite feeds. I was hungry but I couldn't let my girlfriend show me up on all you can eat rib nite.. even though that was not the purpose of our visit..

 

We ended up finished up 4.5 racks of ribs ! I suspect each rack weighs about 2-2.5 pounds so we ate over 10 pounds of ribs. There was just a carnage of bones left at the table..

 

The first order is a full order of ribs but then each order after that is a half rack of ribs... we ate there for 3 hours - the entire duration of the hockey game..

 

The ribs were amazing for a sportspub and a worthy competitor to Montanas ..... when you go for all you can eat ribs, never order the side ribs (aka the St Louis ribs these are just too meaty and chewy for ribsaholics) Althought I love sideribs, its more of a one plate is good... as they are so big you dont need all you can eat)

 

Shoeless Joes ribs were very similar to the fall off the bone Baton Rouge.

 

At first the waitress was implied that I could just eat off my girlfriend's order but thats not fair to all you can eat rib etiquette.

 

 

Thanksgiving - I had another nice thanksgiving dinner at Troy's place ... Troy puts the family in family man and its like going over to a 1980s sitcom thanksgiving. 

 

Troy and his wife are so organized its like they have formed a super efficient business .. they serve food like a factory - pumping out appetizers, turkey, mashed potatoes and desserts... its like everything is planned ... I think I should of dropped my plate but then it would of been picked up and cleaned in about 30 seconds.

 

There were sooo many people there .. Eva and I along with Troys brother and brother in law were put at the "kid's table" and the adults and parents sat at the main dining room table. Quite amusing ...

 

There needs to be new holidays with new meals ... ex. Turkey is usually a celebration meal...

 

but why the heck don't we celebrate eating some ribs, steak or lobster ... those need celebration too..

 

Roast Pig day

4 pound steak day

Wing day

Prime Rib day

Crab day

 

All these foods definitely need their own holiday ... 

 

I went to Mandarin and they freakin cancelled all you can eat snow crab weekends... what the uck ! That's like going to your high school reunion and having your new facebook friend ignore you. Shameful.

 

Revelations ...

 

So I went on facebook and saw a couple of my high school classmates both added the same friend whom I didn't recognize. I clicked and then saw it was former prom queen of Strathcona Tweedsmuir. Interesting  .... I had no idea these guys were "friends" with her but in facebook, you can announce to the world you are in fact are. Does this validate their prep school career which was almost 15 years ago ? Should they be doing this since they are married with children? 

 

You learn about a real man's soul when you see who they add to facebook ... (evil laughter in background) but in someways, you really learn about someone ... 

 

I compare this act to asking a girl whom never talked to you in high school to be friends on facebook to

 

a) "asking her if she after 15 years to think it over, would of talked to you or acknowledged your existence"

 

b) "asking her to go out with you 15 years ago?"

 

c) "does she remember who the uck you are"

 

d) "I'm successful now and hey baby, you missed your shot at this sexy mother ucker"

 

e) "Remember the time when Mr. Nielson oggled at you"

 

f) "will you go to facebook prom with me?"

 

g) "my life is complete now that Nicole freakin Johnson is my friend"

 

h) "show my wife that this girl was ALL over me in highschool"

 

I really love seeing facebook revelations ... its like choose your own adventure books but set in high school time.

 

the new BBQs have it all ..

 

1) Rotesserie back burners - yes they have flames in the back of the BBQ now. Perfect for roasts - pig roasts, chicken roast, any roasts

 

2) Wood chip smokers - they have this device where you place wood chips in a cylinder and you can smoke your meat

 

New trend is ceramic covers vs stainless steel ones.

 

These two advances change the face of the BBQ to a much more advanced machine - it can now fire roast, smoke and BBQ ... the triple threat.

 

Basically BBQ is usually for steak but with the roast and smoker features, pork and chicken become much more viable options.

 

With thanksgiving season this weekend, people can actually roast a full turkey on these BBQs.... also roast a whole suckling pig (that's baby pig for those non-swine eaters)

 

Remember BBQ is all about dry rub for pork and chicken and just salt and pepper for steak. BBQ sauces is basically the equivalent of putting ketchup on your steak. (but to each their own)

 

Postscript - Party in New York City November 16th weekend boys. Book it.

 

 

 

Blog readers are often offended if I forget to mention stuff ... so here are some blog reminders

 

Yes, there was one wedding I went to once upon a time of a high flying jetset banker and it was downtown Toronto. I guess only bankers can have convenient weddings .

 

Kudos.

 

On an ironic note, my wedding will be quite inconvenient but I promise it will be worth it*. The videographer already cancelled as it was a "long weekend" ... its already inconvenient for the staff ! Funny but true...

 

*maybe I'm talking about my stag which is also going to be quite inconvenient on your health among other things

 

I just started researching chinese weddings and got a good laugh from this website www.chinesebridal.com, the premier wedding resource.. its HILARIOUS ...

 

Money-saving Tips on Your Wedding

1.  Arrange seating according to the number of guests who have confirmed attendance.  Usually, in Chinese style wedding banquet, the guests of one table share 10 course of dishes together.  It saves money to fill each table fully so that the food is not wasted, and no unnecessary table is booked.

2.  Talk with the restaurant, and provide your own wine and beverages.

3.  Choose a restaurant in relatively remote area where the price will be more reasonable while the quality of the food is the same. 

4.  Before sending out invitations, carefully word it, and invite more single people than couples because the couples will give one set of wedding gift money but take two seats at the banquet. 

5.  Choose to have your wedding banquet on the busiest holiday or popular days for wedding.  Many of your invited guests will most likely give you the wedding gift money without attending the banquet. 

 

This wedding website is funnier than my blog !!!

 

 

Prison Break had the season premiere... they are back in a Panama Prison ... I missed the first part of the show but at least they are back in prison where the show belongs.. last season when they were on the run was not as entertaining.

 

I've been deciding on so many things lately its been pretty overwhelming : houses, renovations, furniture shopping, weddings, etc etc...

 

The wedding locale has been finalized and booked.

 

Fairmont Palliser Hotel in Calgary - August 2nd ...

 

Hope to see you all there ...

 

A Stampede wedding makes hotels ridiculously expensive as the Fairmont charges roughly $475/night plus applicable taxes and it simply isn't worth it... A normal summer weekend is much much more reasonable.

 

Question to my guests:

 

Do you eat rack of lamb? 

 

What is one thing you want to see in the wedding?

 

Name a dish that you really enjoy eating?

 

 

So I went to Ben's wedding ... I forgot my camera so I just included pics of me at other weddings this summer.

 

This was my first chinese wedding in awhile... the food was not chinese which was unfortunate since I am a big fan of chinese food. There will not be chinese food at my wedding either. The Fairmont hotel doesn't offer chinese catering those racist bastards .

 

The wedding was up in Richmond Hill golf course ... we were running late so I had to take a $20 detour on the 407 to arrive on time.

 

Question of the day, does anyone marry in a convenient location ! Can someone marry downtown Toronto one of these days ! (okay I take that one back since I'm moving way up to Northern Toronto by the 401 in the good old suburbs) So I should start campaigning for suburban weddings nowadays.

 

The food was quite good ... a pretty unique menu with salmon skewers as an appetizer and beef and chicken as the entree. 

 

The main event was a hula hoop which everyone tried on the dancefloor. Towards the end, my friend Jason and I spinned the hula hoop on the side and tried to jump through it.. surprisely I dived straight through it on the 2nd attempt to a rounding ovation and surprise... either everyone was really upset the two fattiest guys at the wedding were trying to dive through a rolling hola hoop or they were impressed with my super athletic ability.

 

I then went to a wedding show at the convection centre ... all I don't even know what to say... I think I need a full week blog to try to fullly capture the essence of a wedding show.