Congratulations Rob & Larissa!

I was just informed that my long-time friend Rob Galea and his girlfriend Larissa Hogan have become engaged!

I know Rob from the Western days, when we both ended up living on 5-West at the then-brand new Elgin Hall. Four years of the Rideout, Sammy's Souvlaki, backyard BBQs, and New Years Parties at the Galea residence ensued. Of course, let's not forget the (in)famous annual camping trip. Rob is a staple member, having missed absolutely 0 trips since the tradition was founded in 2001. I would say Rob deserves an award for this, but Larissa probably equally deserves one for putting up with the trip and the controversy that often surrounds it.

These days Larissa teaches and Rob works at a law firm in downtown Toronto. Also, it should be noted that Rob has excellent butcher credentials. If you're in the market for a steak or some quality bacon speak to this man, but beware, he bills by the 1/6 of an hour for this precious advice.

Once again, congratulations Rob & Larissa!

I Just Choked On My Tea

I cannot believe what I just read in this article. (Headline: Goodale throws support behind Rae)

In announcing his support for Bob Rae's bid for the Liberal leadership, former Finance Minister Ralph Goodale had this to say of his new friend:

"Mr. Goodale said Mr. Rae has the skills and experience needed to stop the damage the Conservatives are doing to Canada, and says the former Ontario premier has the fiscal responsibility required for the top job."

Is this some kind of Liberal party inside joke? Associating Bob Rae with fiscal responsibility is like associating Margaret Thatcher with welfare state expansion. Or the Whopper with McDonalds. Or Santa Claus with the apocalypse. Or Optimus Prime with the Decepticons.

Bob Rae has one of the worst records of any living Canadian politician when it comes to managing government finances. The guy almost bankrupted Ontario.

Mr. Rae may have more political leadership experience than any of the Liberal leadership candidates, but a track record of fiscal responsibility he does not.

Very Happy-Grams

A funny thing happened in my Competition Law lecture this week.

Everyone was sitting there, as we do, listening to Prof. Stevens discuss the difference between UK and EU competition law provisions. Suddenly, there came a knock on the door.

With no explanation, in walked two unidentified "people" dressed as a squirell and some sort of feline-looking thing (think the kind of full-body Mickey Mouse costume you see at Disney World). They walked up to some girl in about the 7th row down, and proceeded to make her do several tequila shots. Then they promptly walked out. Laughter and confusion ensued.

Hmm. That doesn't happen everyday. Perhaps this is an aspect of British legal study that Osgoode should consider importing.

Double Standards Are Fun

Checking today's Globe & Mail headlines I see yet another story highlighting Canadian Environment Minister Rona Ambrose's recent receipt of the prestigious "fossil of the day" award.

I find this instructive on the matter.

Weekend in London: Brick Lane & Home Karaoke

Just got back from a weekend in London with some of my old crew from LSE (John, Camilla & Gareth) as well as a few of Nils' friends from Canada (Ryan, Mike and Mike) who came over to enjoy the warm, flat ale and famous England weather.

As per usual we headed to Brick Lane for dinner. A quintessential London experience, eating at Brick Lane involves bartering a price for copious quantities of Indian food. Thing is, there are dozens of restaurants all trying to lure you into their particular establishment. Sometimes you get a good one, and sometimes you end up in the hospital. Ok, it's not that bad, but you know when you've chosen poorly. In any event, no such trouble this time as we ended up at an excellent place. One of the best we've eaten at no less. It was called Dawat (East side of Brick Lane close to the Whitechapel end). I'd recommend the Lamb Pasanda and Peshwari Naan.

Afterwards we headed to a local pub for some brews and good company. The fun didn't end there though, as after returning home we discovered home karaoke on John and Camilla's PS2. Embarrassing - maybe. Good 4am fun - definitely.

Throughout the night I snapped a few pictures to try out my new camera (Canon IXUS 800 IS). See below.




Cheers,
Brad

Brad & Nils The Brave

Well, it's official. I've eaten Haggis.

I write from an internet cafe in Glasgow, as Nils and I wait for the final leg of our adventure: a 7 hour train home. On the voyage I intend to read this week's Economist, eat Pringles and plot my revenge on Warwick's accommodation office for managing to ensure that my apartment has remained internet-free for 7 weeks running.

On a brighter note, Scotland has been an absolute blast. After picking up a rental car from Prestwick airport we drove 5 hours across the Scottish Highlands to arrive in Speyside - Scotland's largest Malt Whiskey distillation region. The first night we spent at a cozy family-run B&B in Dufftown (which, according to the town sign is "The Malt Whiskey Capital"). Victoria and Mark, the proprietors, were extremely friendly, and welcomed us into their home with a cold beer and all the info we needed about the area.

After the old alarm clock went off at 7:15am the next day we made our first stop the Speyside Cooperage - where a team of 10 local coopers use their medieval craft to keep the whiskey cask population afloat. Bless their wee hearts. After ensuring that we didn't get into the whisky at an unreasonably early hour we headed to the Glenfiddich distillery at around 10:30am. The tour was short, but interesting. It provided a sample of the standard Glenfiddich 12 yr old, as well as a new Glenfiddich and Honey liquer. Both good, but nothing astounding. We saved that for the Aberlour distillery, where we headed next. There they spent a solid 2 and a half hours running through the history of Scottish Whiskey, Aberlour's distillation techniques, and finally, our favourite - a sampling of 5 of their products, including two single cask whiskeys, their 18 yr single malt and their expensive "original" blend. Full of aqua vita we headed to the local pub, where most of the town's tiny population appeared to be celebrating someone's birthday. After several drams of whiskey and sucking at billiards for a solid hour we called it a night.

The next day was somewhat less busy. Most of the distilleries were closed because it was Saturday (though we did manage to do the self-guided tour and whisky tasting at Dallas Dhu Distillery near Forres), so we made the ad hoc decision to use our hot pair of wheels (a Vauxhall) to head towards Loch Ness. Aye, a beautiful lake it was and certainly a great place for a cottage, though if I were them I'd make an effort to wrestle the steroids away from the "Nessie-crazed" tourist industry. That night we stayed at The Croft - a beautiful B&B in Elgin - and joined the locals for a few pints in the pubs, followed by a sketchy encounter with a "club" featuring Lionel Ritchie music. Knowing they could sense our fear, we backed out slowly to avoid attracting attention and then ran for the hills (or Highlands as the case may have been).

Though this is surely my longest post on here, it is by far not the most complete. Some of the best parts of Scotland were the small towns we visited, the beautiful mountain scapes, the abandoned castles and the friendly people. But we'll talk about those stories over a dram of whisky back in Canada. Cheers.

A Good Irish Vibe

Arrived in Dublin, dropped our bags and went for a walk. Almost by pure chance came across the Temple Bar district and found ourselves in the Oliver St. John Gogerty Pub.

Just as the bartender put two fresh pints of Guiness in front of me U2's acoustic cover of "Everlasting Love" came on, and most of the bar started to sing along.

I like this place already.

Barcelona: The Good, the Bad and the Tasty

Today is our last day in Barcelona. The luck 'o the Irish awaits us in Dublin this evening.

Reflecting on the past four days I make the following observations:

THE GOOD. For the past two days it's been between 25 and 30 degrees C and sunny. We took full advantage by renting bikes and cruising the beaches of the Mediterranean. Back home in England it's 5 and raining. Moreover I hear back in Canada it's 0 and snowing. Also, we had a great apartment. Would gladly recommend the Apartments in Barcelona Corders.

THE TASTY. Last night we found one of the most unique restaurants I have visited in Europe. It's called Origins 99.9. That figure represents the fact that they boast 99.9% of their ingredients and dishes originate in Catalonia. The idea is you order 2 or 3 small portions of various catalan dishes to sample. I had a onion stuffed with beef, pine nuts and mushrooms that was perhaps one of the tastiest things I have eaten in a while. Nils and I also agreed that the Pork with Chestnuts was superb. An excellent local wine rounded out the meal.

THE BAD. Hard to get past this one when reviewing the city. We got robbed. I'll get you Spain.

Cheers,
Brad