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I went to the University of Guelph in the early 90’s which meant a yearly tradition became a trip to Kitchener for some kind of Octoberfest celebration. I remember stumbling through Lulu’s begging for constant refills of watery draft using my commemorative plastic mug somehow thinking I was honouring the longstanding German tradition. Years later I rarely attend the festivities but a buddy of…

It comes as no surprise that my first attempt at a post-covid concert was cancelled. After playing the night before in Toronto, ticket holders were sent an email explaining that Charlie Starr, the band’s lead singer and guitarist of Blackberry Smoke (a band I stumbled upon on Spotify six months earlier), contracted covid and couldn’t perform. The concert was pushed back a couple of months and…

This was the first concert I attended since covid ended live music for everybody. Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, is a medium sized venue that has the advantage of being an attractive venue for good Canadian artists who draw a decent crowd and is a large enough pit stop for those playing Toronto and/or Detroit.  Over the years, I have seen the likes of Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan…

Let's try this blogging thing again...

It’s been a while since I’ve authored anything. Like most, the covid pandemic threw a wrench in my creative process and like most, stifled road trips worth writing about. Even when some normalcy of travel returned, a combination of writer’s block, stubbornness and laziness became my mantra. I figured it’s time to shake off the cobwebs and document a few experiences. I’ve become a bit concert…

2022 Salsa and Such

Thanks for visiting. With Ontario produce hitting peak season, it’s salsa time. I will use this site for updates on any other products so please follow so you can get email updates and if your bored, check out some of my stories, rants, travel stories and other nonsense. Salsas All of my salsas are homemade and whenever possible, use local ingredients. I purchase many ingredients from local…

Pizza Libretto- Beckham vs Pirlo and why Ray Hudson may be the Guy Fawkes of Soccer http://wp.me/p2wwXO-Xl @RayHudson @PizzaLibretto @zomato

I was born a mongrel of the United Kingdom.  I have a bit of English and a bit of Irish in me.  With that, I can have some pride in my heritage.   I mean, England is the home of delicious things like treacle, Cadbury chocolate (in which the North American version doesn’t hold a candle) and hearty dishes like beef Wellington.  I also enjoying waking on Saturday to a good football match.  Being…

My Hip Cocktails: Silver Jet

Some cocktails are classics and have stood the test of time. The negroni, for example, was first mixed in 1919 and is the number 2 cocktail in global popularity. The whisky sour (# 4 on the list) supposedly goes back to the 1870s. Others have gained popularity over the last few decades but show no sign of fizzing out like many fads have. Take the paper plane for example. This official IBA…

My Hip Cocktails: At the Hundredth Meridian

With about a 140 Hip songs to choose from, some are easier to assign to cocktail names than others. Some are certainly a stretch. When thinking of At the Hundredth Meridian, I was hoping that Crown Royal would fit. Gimli, Manitoba was put on the map in 2016 as the producer of Crown Royal’s Northern Harvest which was named the whisky of the year in Jim Murray’s 2016 Whisky Bible. Using my “Who’s…

My Hip Cocktails: The Last Recluse

The whole covid-19 nonsense has certainly brought out the good and the bad in many. It has also led to an exaggeration of a lot of the behaviors people already displayed before the world changed. The extroverts have taken to social media reminding us of the dangers of not staying home or the perils of experimental vaccines while the introverts have used the time to hide behind their walls and use…

My Hip Cocktails: The Completists

Earlier in the year I wanted to do something with a bottle of Mezcal Agua Santa which was recommended to me by a friend of mine over the often more expensive and celebrity endorsed options in the LCBO . What made the story even better is that the founder of this Mezcal, Carmen Marron, lives in Toronto and tells a great story of moving to Canada from Mexico and the perseverance needed to get such…

My Hip Cocktails: Long Time Running

I’m a firm believer that one of the easiest way to jazz up a cocktail is to use fresh herbs. The taste of even classic drinks like an old fashioned or a whiskey sour can be significantly modified with sprig of thyme or some rosemary simple syrup. When I was thinking about this, my mind wandered to the Hip song “Long Time Running” and the obvious play on words involving one of my favorite herbs.…

My Hip Cocktails: Presidential Election Edition

One of the many debaucheries of 2020 included the presidential election. The first debate could be equated to a playground spat. I haven’t seen two seniors engage in such nonsense since the infamous spat between CFL legends Joe Kapp and Angelo Mosca in 2011. If you recall, that epic fight featured flowers and cane swinging and a sombre reminder us that Canadians are in fact not as polite and we’d…

My Hip Cocktails: Hallowe’en and Handwashing Edition

When thinking about Hallowe’een cocktails, a couple the songs from the Tragically Hip’s EP make for great names. Who doesn’t want to prowl the streets at night howling at the moon with I’m a Werewolf, Baby blasting through the headphones. Cemetery sideroad also provides an ideal inspiration for diabolical use of evil spirits. Both concepts are also congruent with the Mexican celebration of the…

My Hip Cocktails: In Sarnia

When the summer was coming to a close, I decided to mettle with cocktails which used beer as mix. With the re-emergence of countless numbers of craft beer, the possibilities are endless. One of my favorite Ontario microbreweries is Refined Fool in Sarnia, so it was a no-brainer to try and construct a beer based refreshment using their Canatara!, a Berliner Weisse named after one of Lambton…