Tonight, we checked out one of the new kids on the block - Gastropod, located on West 4th right beside fellow newcomer Fuel. Still on east coast time (and liking it), we made a reservation for 5:30 p.m. Due to the treacherous driving conditions (I mean, seriously, this is Vancouver not Montreal!), we arrived a…

My traveling is done and I can finally sit back and relax, just as soon as I - finish my script, give Rob notes on his movie outline and his Atlantis script, call the electrician to come in and check out the disconcerting PING! emanating from my sump pump ever forty seconds or so, find…

Well, we're back in Vancouver and, evidently, I'm not the only one who's overfed. According to our dog sitter, our pugs have been enjoying the good life for far too long and she has put them on a strict regimen of daily walkies, scaled down breakfast and dinner portions and - horrors of horrors -…

Back at the turn of the 20th century, when my grandmother was growing up in the Italian countryside, her town bore witness to a remarkable phenomenon: a solar eclipse. My grandmother, then a young girl, did what any levelheaded would have done at the time: she and her sister dressed up in their Sunday best,…

With only a couple of days to go before I head back to Vancouver, I thought I'd take a tour of some of my old childhood stomping grounds. It was a little surreal, like those dreams in which you find yourself in familiar yet slightly incongruous surroundings. The neighborhoods don't look quite like how you…

The dawn of each season brings ideas galoreSome which survive, others shown the door,Like that time travel story, or the love romp not done, Or the Dark Daniel arc trimmed from six tales to one. We begin each new year with the best of intentions,Seeking to craft our inspired inventions.But conditions are altered, storylines change,From…

I hear Disney is taking some of their titles off store shelves and putting them "in the vault". In a matter of weeks, titles such as The Chronicles of Narnia, Bambi: Special Edition, and Lady and the Tramp: 50th Anniversary Edition will become unavailable (until a time of Disney's choosing when they will naturally be…

My wife loves boardgames. I think it must be a genetic predisposition because, every holiday, whenever she and her sisters get together, they end up playing into the wee hours of the night, loosening such shouts, shrieks, and maniacal laughter that you'd think they were playing Scattegories: The Bloodsport Edition. I prefer to steer clear…

Every time I come into town, my mother has yet another friend of a friend or cousin's neighbor's son to recommend, some neophyte writer-director-editor looking to get into show business who just needs that one break to get his foot in the door. And the way my mother sees it, I hold the keys to…

Sorry. No photos today as I'm on a Mac. Instead, here are a few more scifi book I really enjoyed and would highly recommend:The Forever War - HaldemanA Canticle for Leibowtiz - MillerParable of the Sowers - ButlerOld Man's War - Scalzi

In the Summer it’s the mosquitoes, in the Spring it’s the house flies, and in the Fall it’s those big-ass spiders that emerge from the darkest recesses of your basement to traipse across the carpeted floor whenever you happen to be entertaining. You’d think that Winter would be clear of such nuisances but, in fact,…

Good haul this year. I suppose it's no coincidence that most of the gifts I received were edible. And those that weren't certainly smelled like they could be. Tonight was Christmas Dinner 2: Revenge of the In-Laws. On the menu this night: lasagna, chickpea salad, cabbage rolls, our second roast leg of lamb of the…

Remember those ten pounds I lost over the course of the past month? Well, I think I've gained them all back over the course of tonight's meal. For dinner: Fondy's super-garlicky garden salad, oven-roasted asparagus, sis's super-garlicky mashed potatoes, mom's canelloni stuffed with sweet ricotta cheese, mom's lasagna, mom's eggplant parmesean (my favorite), oven-baked mussels…

I have never enjoyed traveling. Specifically, the “traveling” part of “traveling”. The board a plane and fly for five hours/get into a car and drive for half a day/catch a bus before transferring onto the subway and then catching a train only to miss your connection and have to spend three hours cooling your heels…

Last day of shopping and running errands as I prepare to board a flight for Montreal tomorrow. Unfortunately, web access won’t be quite so readily available at my mother’s place, so I may miss a day here and there. On the bright side, I’m bringing along my camera and will be snapping photos of the…