The Warehouse District

Watch out for Hurricane Sean!

2011-11-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

Tropical storm Sean strengthens, nears Bermuda.

Runner's (b)log: October roundup

2011-11-05T13:36:00.002-06:00

Sean, are you still running? We haven't seen a Runner's (b)log since Oct. 20. What gives?

-Imaginary reader

Good morning! Thanks for the question.

Yes, I'm definitely still running. I've just been negligent in updating my progress—part of that is because I've been too busy, well, running.

As we're now well into November, it's probably a good time to look at October's results. (September results in parenthesis.)

Total distance: 95.81 km (65.25 km)
Longest distance: 16.7 km (10.03 km)
Quickest pace: 5:47 min/km, for 7.35 km (5:32 min/km, for 7.75 km)

I'm very pleased with these results. My original goal for October was 75 km—a total I surpassed by more than 20 km. The highlight of October was my 17.6 km run on Oct. 15, for the obvious reason that I added a good 5 km to my previous distance record.

In terms of overall fitness it seems I've made some improvements. In September a 5 km run would have left me breathless and sore; today that's just a warm up. As well, on Thursday I did ten sets of the dreaded "Stairs of Death" that lead from Ezio Farone Park down to the Royal Glenora Club. According to this random PDF I found on the Internet those stairs have 186 steps, meaning I ascended 1860 steps in total. My previous high was six sets, or 1116 steps.

What about cross training?

Right. To ensure I don't get bored of my fitness routine I've added resistance training on non-running days.

Here's my current schedule:

Monday: Yoga (for the babes), resistance training
Tuesday: Running / Stairs
Wednesday: Resistance training
Thursday: Running
Friday: Off
Saturday: Resistance training
Sunday: Running

Is this a good balance? I think so. The resistance training portion focuses on fat loss, which I'll talk more about later this week.

Movember reign

2011-11-02T18:29:00.001-06:00

Changing the face of men's health.

That's the slogan for Movember (<--click here to donate!), an event that aims to raise funds and awareness for men's health, specifically prostate cancer.

This year I'm taking part and will likely look like a sleazeball by the time this month is through. The kind of guy you don't want your kids talking to.

I've already made the ultimate sacrifice and shaved my beard—much to the dismay of ladies everywhere. But don't fret, it will return in December.

I received tremendous support for my last fundraising effort, the Ride to Conquer Cancer (which I will blog about someday soon), and I'm hoping for more of the same this time around. Even small amounts like five dollars can help, or if you can't afford that, at least visit my Movember page and comment on how terrible my moustache looks.

And who knows? With your help, maybe I can turn this:


Hmmm, not much to see here.

...to THIS:


Ladies, get in line.

Oh, and we'll raise money for a good cause, too.

The Trouble with Tribbles is...

2011-10-28T16:24:00.002-06:00

...that sometimes they get sat on. I have no idea how that tribble found its way onto this girl's chair, by the way.

Oh, and it should be noted the tribble squealed when it was sat on. It was glorious.

Runner's (b)log: Sean gets some miCoaching

2011-10-20T19:48:00.000-06:00

I occupied this bench for a few minutes.

Very unoriginal route today. How unoriginal? It's exactly the same one I did on Tuesday, but this time I went for speed and recorded my efforts with the (spoiler alert) fantastic Adidas miCoach application.

Statistics:
Distance: 7.69 km
Time: 0:43:49
Average speed: 10.49 km/hr
Calories burned: 832

Difficulty: Easy

Not much to say here, other than I knocked about seven minutes off my previous time—though that last session was a recovery run, so it isn't really fair to compare. However, running partner/coach Heather says it's good to mix fast and slow runs. Apparently it confuses the body and forces it to work harder. Or something. It's motherfucking SCIENCE!

Adidas miCoach

There is so much to like about this application that I don't even know where to begin. The interface is simple and elegant, displaying several key measures at a glance: distance, calories burned, current pace, and total time. It tracks your changes in elevation and, yes, your split times. As well, it allows you to select any music playlist that is saved on your phone. And if you have a heart rate monitor, I'm pretty sure it tracks that, too. Note to self: buy heart rate monitor.

The application also offers a variety of training programs and an audio coach that provides instructions along the way. Unfortunately I can't review the coach's instructions as I did a simple "free run." Once you finish your run the data can be uploaded to your online miCoach account—assuming you signed up for one. I browsed my online account for a few minutes and there seems to be approximately one billion things you can do. There's blogs, personal training calendars, discussion forums, training plans for a variety of sports...and on and on and on.

I'll definitely use this application again. Go check it out at http://www.adidas.com/ca/micoach/

Look! Splits are marked on the map! *fist pump*

Runner's (b)log: Making tracks with My Tracks

2011-10-18T19:22:00.001-06:00

No running picture today, so enjoy this instead.

Given I hurt my knee on Saturday's run and Heather ran TWENTY NINE KILOMETRES on the weekend, we decided on a short route today.

This time I used My Tracks to record our statistics.

Statistics:
Distance: 7.53 km
Time: 0:50:26
Average speed: 9.16 km/hr
Calories burned: N/A

Difficulty: Easy

I'm not going to get into a lot of detail on this one as I've run a similar route before. We simply ran 3.75 km west along River Valley Road and then back east another 3.75 km to our starting location. Very easy route with only slight changes in elevation. Perfect for a recovery day.

The blue stuff is water.

Speaking of recovery, I mentioned earlier I hurt my knee on my last run. I believe it happened when I charged down a hill far too quickly, putting unnecessary pressure on my joints. Thankfully everything seems to be OK today; just a bit of stiffness.

My Tracks

This fitness application comes from our friends at Google. Simple interface (perhaps too simple) and the ability to track various statistics, including total distance, average speed, average moving speed, total time, moving time, elevation gain and a few others. One thing it does not track is average lap time and your splits. As I've stated before, I like being able to tell how fast I was for kilometre one, kilometre two, etc.

My Tracks also has an option that allows you to upload your results to Google Documents, where they are recorded in a simple spreadsheet. This makes it very easy to track your progress over time. As well, you can upload your route to Google Maps and share it with your friends, like this. Overall it's a good application, but I still prefer Endomondo.

Wok with Woods: Stuffed acorn squash

2011-10-16T09:49:00.021-06:00

A short while ago I was at Save-On Foods trying to decide what to buy for dinner. Thankfully my friend Heather sent me a text on an unrelated matter, so I seized that opportunity and asked her for a suggestion. Her one word response was "squash."

I pressed her for more details.

Sean: "Squash? What do I do with squash?"

Heather: "Stuff it."

And with those two words the cooking world was changed forever.

Ingredients

1 acorn squash
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 stalk celery, chopped
5 ounces ground sweet Italian sausage
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans

I couldn't find any sweet Italian sausage so I used five finely-chopped maple turkey sausage links instead. For you vegetarian folks, you can probably substitute cooked lentils with a touch of brown sugar for the sausage. Or just remove the sausage altogether.

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Slice squash in half and scoop out the seeds.
Place the squash halves in a baking pan, rind facing up. Fill the pan with 1/2 inch of water.
Bake squash 40 minutes.
While the squash is cooking heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
Add your onions and celery to the skillet and cook until tender.
Stir in the sausage and thyme, cook until sausage is, well, cooked.
By this time your squash should be cooked. Remove that bad boy from the oven and scrape the delicious pulp from the rinds—but leave a bit on the sides. You don't want to accidentally perforate your rind while trying to get every last bit of pulp.
Place the pulp in a bowl and mash the hell out of it. Mix in the cooked sausage mixture, egg, bread crumbs, raisins, and pecans. Scoop this delicious mess back into the squash rinds.
Set stuffed squash in the baking dishes, rind facing down this time.
Bake your stuffed squash for 25 minutes at 350 degrees, or until heated through.
Serve and eat.

Results/Observations

This was my first attempt at cooking squash and I am very pleased with the results. The natural sweetness of the acorn squash is augmented by the raisins and maple sausage, and has a wonderful texture. Serve this at your next dinner party and your guests will be talking about it for weeks.

I give this recipe a 9/10. It's that good.

Don't believe me? Look at the picture again.

Delicious.

Runner's (b)log: Malfunction at application junction

2011-10-15T15:57:00.005-06:00

Give me your wallet and no one gets hurt

I've decided to change up the titles of the "Runner's (b)log" series, as I usually post them the day of my run anyway.

Today I tried the Softrace fitness application, which ended up causing a bit of confusion when it came to tracking my route. More on this after the jump.

Supposed statistics:
Distance: 16.10 km
Time: 2:00:00
Average speed: 8.05 km/h

Difficulty: Moderate

As you can tell by my picture I was up bright and early to get today's run in the books—though I had to dress like a mugger in order to stay warm.

Nice and toasty, I headed east along River Valley Road and down into the trail system. Normally when I get to the Cloverdale Footbridge (this is the pedestrian bridge I've mentioned in previous entries) I cross the river and head back west. This time I continued going east until I came to the Capilano Bridge, which is about five kilometres past the footbridge, 10 kilometres from my starting point. The sun was just coming out, making for a nice photo opportunity.

My apartment is so far away...

I was feeling great at this point and decided to attempt the equivalent of a half-marathon—21 kilometres. My phone provided voice updates every time I completed another kilometre:

Eleven kilometres. Average lap time six minutes thirty-eight minutes.
Twelve kilometres. Average lap time six minutes thirty-seven minutes.
Thirteen kilometres. Average lap time six minutes thirty-seven minutes.

(Author's note: lap time = time it takes to run a kilometre.)

And then I stopped getting updates. The Softrace application kept recording time, but the total distance was frozen at 13.8 km. I was a bit upset to lose this data but continued east toward the High Level Bridge. At that point the voice update feature kicked back in and told me I had run 16 km, with an average lap time of seven minutes, thirty-one seconds. I knew I slowed down a bit, given the hillier (?) terrain on the north side of the river, but not by a full minute. I didn't think I had enough energy to run the final five kilometres to complete the half-marathon, so I ran, somewhat discouraged, to my original starting point.

When I got home, I checked out my route map:

Jesus powers ACTIVATE!

If you click on the map to MAKE BIG you'll notice Softrace has me walking on water at several locations, as well as cutting through the heart of downtown in order to reach my final destination. What I'm guessing happened is when Softrace re-acquired my GPS signal, it filled in the missing data by linking my last recorded point to my then-current location. That is, it drew a straight line between point A and point B. This explains my slower average pace, as the application didn't record a significant chunk of distance during my run.

I've marked the missing distance on the map below in red; just ignore the yellow line that goes through the downtown core.

That's better.

I used Google Earth to figure out the proper distance and came up with a figure of ~ 17.6 kilometres, a new personal best. Though I wish I had known my actual distance when I reached the High Level Bridge - I would have tried for that half-marathon distance. Still, great run! Good job Sean.

Revised statistics:
Distance: 17.6 km
Time: 2:00:00
Average speed: 8.8 km/h

Softrace thoughts

Well, I won't be using this again. While it does have some cool features, including the ability to upload your route to challenge other Softrace users to beat your time, it lacks in other areas. The interface isn't great, and it doesn't keep track of individual times for each kilometre, nor does it mark those kilometres on the map. By comparison, the Endomondo application does record these things (though in miles), so I can look at the map and tell where I ran the fastest/slowest.

Blog bonus: Door of mystery

What the fuck is this?

I came across this about seven kilometres into my run, built into the side of a hill in the Dawson Park area.

Is it a sewer access tunnel? A bunker? Entrance to hell?

I got on the Googles to find out, and it seems a mine—the Dawson mine—was closed in 1944. Perhaps this is an entrance into the old mine? Hmm.

Runner's (b)log: Oct. 13, 2011

2011-10-13T19:30:00.003-06:00

Best picture EVER

Illness prevented me from running on Tuesday, which is disappointing. On a positive note, this was the first time I missed a run in six weeks. Not bad

As for today's run, I tried a different Android fitness application—CardioTrainer—as I attempted to keep up with my running partner.

Statistics:
Distance: 9.00 km
Time: 0:58:11
Average speed: 9.3 km/h
Calories burned: 739 kcal

Difficulty: Easy

I have no map to share with you today as CardioTrainer doesn't seem upload my route details to the Internet (more on that later). Heather—my incredibly fit running partner—and I ran a very flat route today, east along River Valley Road, down into the river valley trail system for about 4.5km and then back west along that same path.

This dame is FIT.

At that 4.5km mark we came to a pedestrian bridge that spans the North Saskatchewan River. My feet were getting a bit sore so I told Heather I'd like to run across the bridge and then walk back as a bit of a break. Unfortunately for me, Heather's definition of "run" differs from mine and she immediately broke into a half-sprint.

My poor feet.

I really enjoyed the half-sprint, however. It elevated my heart rate significantly as my pride forced me to keep pace. Interestingly enough, we had talked about working interval training into our runs a few minutes prior. I assume this was her way of setting that idea in motion...I think she enjoys springing these things on me. (And I admit, I do like surprises/challenges.)

Overall this run was very, very good. We ran nine km but it only felt like six. That's a great sign.

CardioTrainer thoughts

I really like how this application looks on my phone. Clean and crisp, all the need-to-know stats—distance, time, calories, steps, etc.— right on the home screen. It has a widget, too. What I don't like is that it doesn't seem to upload my running history to a website. That's what I like about Endomondo; it's easy for me to share my results with my friends.

That said, I haven't had a lot of time to explore CardioTrainer. Perhaps there is an option to upload to a central website. Also, I noticed the paid version ($9.99, a lot for an Anrdoid application) has interval training built right in. That might make it worth purchasing.

Wok with Woods: Slow cooker scalloped potatoes

2011-10-11T17:58:00.010-06:00

NOMNOMNOM

A few friends and I got together to celebrate "Orphan's Thanksgiving," a meal for those who are without family for the holiday. The host provided the main course, while the guests brought side dishes.

It was a feast to behold: a 15-pound turkey that I heroically carved; a delicious green beans dish I don't know the name of; stuffing with cranberries; a salad; and a selection of desserts that included apple pie, pumpkin pie, piece of velvet-something cake and a slice of pumpkin cheesecake.

As for me, I decided to bring slow cooker scalloped potatoes to the party.

Ingredients

1/3 cup (50 mL) butter
1 cup (250 mL) finely chopped onion
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup (50 mL) flour
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) dry mustard
1/4 tsp (0.5 mL) cayenne pepper
2 cups (500 mL) light cream
8 cups (2 L) thinly sliced potatoes (I used a variety for colour)
1/2 cup (125 mL) shredded cheddar cheese
Dash of paprika

Directions - sauce

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add the onion and garlic and saute for four or five minutes.
Stir in next four ingredients (that is, flour to cayenne pepper) and cook for one minute, stirring that son of a bitch constantly.
Gradually add the light cream and stir until thickened.
Remove from heat, set aside. Declare victory over sauce ingredients.

Directions - the rest

Use oil of your choice to grease the sides of the slow cooker.
Dump all those potatoes in. Go for a variety of colour if possible.
Pour the sauce you just made over the potatoes. Give everything a good, but gentle, stir to ensure every last potato is coated. Leave no potato behind.
Cover and cook on high for two and a half to three hours.
Sprinkle cheese and paprika on top. Cover and cook for another five minutes.
Serve.

Result/observations

Needs more cheese

This isn't the traditional scalloped potatoes I'm used to. Instead of the traditional layering method you have, well, a big hunk of potatoes and cheese. Don't get me wrong, it's tasty...but the presentation definitely isn't the best. I probably should have taken a picture of the potatoes on the plate; they looked much prettier that way.

While I definitely prefer the layered version of scalloped potatoes, I still give this recipe a 6.9/10.

I do have some ideas that could push this recipe to a seven or eight, however:

Add bacon. Bacon makes everything better. In this case, I'd say put say include the bacon in bits form.
Use homo milk, not cream. The sauce was a bit thick. I think homo milk would perform much better. If you want to get adventurous, maybe add a bit of sour cream in there.
Use chunks of onion. Instead of including finely-chopped onion in the sauce, mix in larger hunks of onion with the potatoes. That would add a nice texture.
Mix in cottage cheese with the potatoes. Yum.
Once cooking is complete, put slow cooker under the broiler for 10 minutes. This would add a nice crispness to the top of the potatoes.

Your 2011-2012 Edmonton Oilers

2011-10-09T11:01:00.014-06:00

The Edmonton Oilers were a terrible team last year.

How terrible? 25 wins, 45 losses, 12 overtime losses. They were 35 points out of a playoff spot. They scored 193 goals (third-worst in the league) and allowed 269 (second-worst), resulting in the worst goals differential in the league at -76. In comparison, the Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks had a league-best goal differential of +77.

Power play had a 14.5 per cent success rate (fourth-worst), penalty killing was 77 per cent (second-worst). Oh, and they had the second-fewest shots per game (26.7) and were 21st in the league in shots allowed (31.7—I expected that number to be worse.)

So things can't be worse this year. Right?

Believe it or not, Oilers GM Steve Tambellini addressed two weaknesses in the offseason: penalty killing and face-offs.

First, Ryan Smyth (then of the LA Kings) basically fell into Edmonton's lap after he requested a trade to the Oilers. To his credit, Tambellini realized he had the King's GM between a rock and a hard place and got Smyth for nothing more than a song (a song called Colin Fraser). Smyth should provide some leadership for the Oilers, improve the PK and help out on the PP.

Tambellini also signed centre Eric Belanger to a three-year contract worth $5.35 million, which I consider good value for this type of player. Edmonton has needed a player like this for years. Excellent on faceoffs (won 55 per cent of his draws last year) and is known as an excellent penalty killer. He should also chip in 25 or 35 points and, more importantly, take some pressure of Shawn Horcoff (who has taken every important faceoff for Edmonton since, oh, forever.)

Another newly-acquired forward who might help the PK is Lennart Petrell, who hails from the mighty country of Finland. I admit I don't know a lot about Petrell, but he comes with a reputation as a solid penalty killer. Also brings some size (6'3", 200 pounds), and as everyone knows, Finns = wins. This looks like a minor move, but it could pay big dividends for Edmonton. Or he could play 10 games and be sent to the farm team, we'll see.

Tambellini also signed former third-overall pick Cam Barker to, presumably, help the powerplay. While I don't expect Barker to set the world on fire, I think this is a good low-risk, high reward move. At best, Barker rediscovers the form that saw him score 40 points with Chicago in 2009 (though it should be noted he played on the PP with players like Martin Havlat, Patrick Kane, Johnathan Toews and others who are better than most Oilers). At worst, he stinks up the joint and we let him go after this year.

Also signed were Ben Eager, who should provide a few goals, some grit and "truckulance," and Darcy Hordichuk, who I think is borderline useless. Can't win 'em all.

As for the rest of the team, I expect the majority of the players (except Ryan Jones) to improve, if only b/c they can't possibly be as bad, and as injury-prone, as last year. I also expect Ryan-Nugent Hopkins to stick with the team and provide a bit of offence.

Point predictions

(Note: * = players i expect to play less than 40 games)

Forwards

Ales Hemsky 16-50-67 (Though I think he'll be gone at the deadline)
Taylor Hall 30-28-58 (I know this is a big jump, but I believe he's capable)
Jordan Eberle 23-25-50
Sam Gagner 14-34-48
Linus Omark 10-30-40
Magnus Paajarvi 17-22-39
Ryan Smyth 20-19-39
Shawn Horcoff 12-27-39 (I think he'll play better than the past couple of years, but other players will take his PP minutes...I hope)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 12-20-32
Eric Belanger: 12-19-31
Ryan Jones: 9-10-19
Ben Eager 7-7-14
*Anton "Moon" Lander: 4-10-14
*Teemmu Hartikainen: 6-5-11
*Lennart Petrell: 3-7-10
Darcy Hordichuk: 1-2-3
*Chris VandeVelde: 1-3-4
*Ryan O'Marra: 0-2-2

Defence

Tom Gilbert: 7-27-34 (Bounce back year)
Ryan Whitney 5-25-30 (No way he can be as good as last year)
Cam Barker: 8-14-22
Jeff Petry: 5-14-19
Theo Peckham: 2-7-9
*Taylor Chorney: 2-5-7
*Corey Potter: 0-4-4
Andy Sutton: 0-3-3
*Colten Teubert 0-2-0
*Alex Plante: 0-2-0

So that gives us 227 goals, a 34 goal improvement. Wow, that sounds a bit generous.

Now for the goaltenders.

Goaltender predictions (for simplicity, I've combined losses and overtime losses)

Devan Dubnyk 49 games, 23 wins, 26 losses, 2.85 goals against average, .916 save percentage
Nikolai Khabibulin 29 games, 11 wins, 18 losses, 3.42 goals against average, .891 save percentage
Yan Danis: 4 games, 1 wins, 3 losses, 3.00 goals against average, .900 save percentage

Sadly, this team is still going to give up a lot of goals.

So where do they stand in the conference?

Listen, this is still a bad team. The defence is full of holes and the forwards are young. I'll put them 13th in the West, ahead of only Phoenix and Colorado.

Runner's (b)log: Oct. 8, 2011

2011-10-09T08:38:00.010-06:00

Over the past few weeks my running schedule has evolved to include a specific training focus for each session: group runs on Tuesday, "speed" runs (I'm not that fast yet) on Thursday and distance runs on Saturday. I'm going to chat with my running partner/coach to see if we can modify Tuesday session a bit, but more on that after the jump.

So as per the schedule above, yesterday's run focused on distance.

Statistics:
Distance: 12.73 km (personal best)
Time: 1:21:29
Average speed: 9.37 km/h
Calories burned: 1298 kcal

Difficulty: Moderate

This route begins with a relatively flat straightaway from 104 street to Groat Road, running west along the north side of the river. Once you cross the Groat Road bridge you head east up Emily Murphy Park Road, a moderate hill that eventually turns into Saskatchewan Drive. From there it's down Walterdale Road into the river valley, heading east on the south side of the river into a slightly hilly area. Eventually you cross the river again via a wooden foot bridge, then head back west along the trails to 104 street and River Valley Road.

If you want a nice variety of hills, flats and scenery I suggest you give this route a try. Click on the map to MAKE BIG; the red area marks a major incline. Interactive version of the map—which includes distance for each leg of the run—can be found here.

Changing the Tuesday routine

As it stands now, a group of us (sometimes two, sometimes three) run at a fairly easy pace for a distance of five or six kilometres every Tuesday. It's good to have a mellow run once and a while, but I think there's an opportunity to increase the difficulty/benefits of the Tuesday run by mixing things up a bit. I envision Tuesday becoming a cross-training day of sorts, with a new activity each week.

Here are a few ideas I came up with:

Interval training: Jog for five minutes, sprint for 30 seconds (or a minute if I can take it), repeat ad nauseam.
Hill repeats: Exactly how it sounds. Jog to a hill and then run up and down it repeatedly.
Strength training: Jog for five minutes, do a set of push-ups. Jog for another five minutes, do a set of lunges, Jog five minutes, do a set of body weight squats...and so on.
Stairs: Instead of doing a traditional run, do a few sets of stairs. There are several sets of stairs in Edmonton's river valley, providing a variety of challenge and scenery.
Run: This would mark the end of the training cycle, and we'd start again with interval training the next week.

Thoughts or suggestions? I think this schedule would make my body work a little harder and provide some much-needed variety to my training.

Achievement unlocked: Dumpster diving

2011-10-06T19:53:00.004-06:00

Jesus Christ.

Given I have to return my dad's truck next week I thought it would be a good idea to take all of the garbage out of the cab. Newspaper, empty water bottles, receipts, you all know what I'm talking about.

As I threw some of the garbage into the dumpster, my keyring caught on the lip of a bottle and plummeted into the pit of trash.

Great.

(Don't ask me why I had my keys in the same hand as the trash. For some reason I thought they were in my other hand. Braincramp.)

I *really* didn't want to call my landlord to bring a replacement set of keys, so I chose what I felt was the best option—venture into the dumpster.

Fortunately for me garbage pickup was this morning, so there was only a slight bit of filth. Even so, it was quite disgusting—I found my keys sitting under some rotting fruit in a pile of coffee. It only took a few minutes, so there was little suffering. But still...urgh.

Today's lesson? Keep your keys in your pocket when throwing out garbage.

Has anyone seen my keys?

Runner's (b)log: Oct. 6, 2011

2011-10-06T19:27:00.006-06:00

Powered by work rage, I set a new personal best of 10.84 km/hr today. I ran east from the Royal Glenora Club along the north side of the North Saskatchewan River for about four kilometres, and then back again.

Statistics:
Distance: 7.75 km
Time: 0:42:56
Average speed: 10.84 km/h
Calories burned: 791 kcal

Difficulty: Easy

Map and analysis after the jump.

My pace was much improved from my last run; it only took me two extra minutes to run two more kilometres. I'd say the changes in elevation were quite similar. Mostly flat with few hills, hence the easy difficulty rating. I'm going to try to push myself harder next time. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the results, but I think I could have gone farther while still maintaining that speed.

At any rate, you can see the route below. If you want to see an interactive map, head on over to my Endomondo profile.

Runner's (b)log: Oct. 4, 2011

2011-10-04T20:51:00.004-06:00

Two work colleagues joined me for today's run, which started a bit south of the Edmonton General Hospital and culminated with a trip up Victoria Park Road (see left).

Statistics:
Distance: 5.79 km
Time: 0:37:27
Average speed: 9.27 km/h
Calories burned: 590 kcal

Difficulty: Easy

I say "easy" because the only time I felt remotely challenged was near the top of the Victoria Park hill. This is a good sign, however. I tried a very similar route a few weeks ago and found myself to be constantly out of breath, having to take one or two walking breaks to recover. So in that respect, I'm happy with today's run. Obvious progress is a great motivator.

If you're interested in the route, click the image below to MAKE BIG. Or you can check out an interactive map at my Endomondo profile.

How not to check your fire alarm

2011-10-04T20:08:00.006-06:00

It started out innocently enough.

I just got home for a run and wanted to get dinner started before it got too late. Thankfully there was a lemon-herbed salmon thawed and ready to bake. Boil some potatoes while the salmon is cooking and I'd be eating with in 30 minutes.

I turned on the stovetop burner for the potatoes, preheated the oven for the salmon and chopped tomatoes for the spinach salad. With my dinner prep work done, I decided to see what was on television.

I sat on the couch to watch TSN's Top 50 NHL players (not a single Oiler to be found, which comes as no surprise—they're terrible) while I waited for the oven to ding and tell me it was preheated. A few minutes later I smelled something burning—had something fallen under the stovetop burner? Surely my fire alarm would go off if there was a fire...

More annoyed than concerned, I got up to investigate. What I found was a kitchen full of smoke. And I mean full of smoke. I could barely see the God damn stove.

The culprit? A frying pan full of grease from yesterday's dinner. It seems I turned on the front right burner, not the back right one that sat under my pot of cold water and potatoes. Being my father's son, I unleashed a devastating sequence of vulgarity that I shan't repeat here (hint: Rhymes with docksucker, bunt, mother trucker, etc.) and pulled the smouldering frying pan from the burner.

My next course of action was to open all the windows in my apartment and shove my cats into the bathroom, the one room where the smoke hadn't penetrated. And then my oven dinged to announce it was preheated, resulting in another volley of rage and vulgarity. If only my fucking fire alarm was so vocal.

As for the rest of the apartment? I'd say there was at least three feet of smoke at the top of the ceiling—enough to make my eyes water and send me into a coughing fit. My only option to get rid of smoke was through the powers of SCIENCE. I placed box fans in my kitchen and bedroom window, pointing outward so they would suck out the smoke. At least, that's how I think it works. Eventually I had to go outside for 10 or 15 minutes to get some precious oxygen.

It has been about 80 minutes since I tried to burn my apartment down and most of the smoke seems to be gone.

Takeways from this event:

1. Always check if you turned on the right burner or not.
2. Test your fire alarm on a regular basis.
3. Don't be an idiot.

By the way, I still ended up making that salmon. I'll be damned if a minor emergency keeps me from my fucking dinner.

Fun with blasphemy

2011-10-02T15:54:00.001-06:00

Thou shalt enjoy nachos and crown floats.

Getting fit, one kilometre at a time

2011-10-02T14:05:00.007-06:00

I always hated running.

Unless I was chasing a puck, ball, Frisbee or skirt, I thought it was an incredibly boring way to stay in shape. Where's the fun in running unless you're doing it in the context of a team sport?

I'm ashamed to admit I made the above assumption without even trying running. Not once.
For reasons I can't recall, I decided to challenge this assumption early in September by doing a short run in Edmonton's river valley.

The first run was only ~ five kilometres. "OK," I thought, "this isn't so bad." I took a couple of days off and then ran a similar, but longer, route—six kilometres. Soon I was running seven, eight and 10 kilometres at a time. Now I understood why people enjoyed this so much. The endorphin rush is intense—which is great for my mental health—and it's a thrill to best previous times.

It's funny that my last post—way back on Aug. 9, 2010—was about my "new" phone, my beloved Nexus One. I've purchased a new phone since then and downloaded several fitness applications, including one called "Endomondo." It tracks my distance, location, lap times and various other statistics.

I mention this because keeping track of my statistics is a great source of motivation for me. I have some belly fat (or as my co-worker calls it, "a food baby") to eradicate, which will take time—I'm not going to see visible results in the near future. This has led me to abandon a variety of fitness routines in the past (depression probably doesn't help, either).With the Endomondo application it is easy for me to see marked improvement in my running over a relatively short period of time.

You can see all my Endomondo-tracked workouts here. If you know of any other quality Android fitness applications, please let me know.

My current running schedule is Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with a total of 63.25 kilometres run in September. My goal for October is 75.

This is the Droid you're looking for

2010-08-09T16:57:00.002-06:00

My phone, Google's Nexus One, has a plethora of useful applications. Newspaper readers, workout trackers, calorie counters, local restaurant reviews, and GPS, to name a few.

I just learned there is a blogger application, which is how I'm making to this entry. Time to press "publish" and see what happens.

Oh, and I used voice recognition to input the text. It works pretty well.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.1

Raging in the future

2010-08-07T16:02:00.002-06:00

As you probably guessed by reading the title of this entry, I have a bit of rage today. Rage I need to direct toward Future Shop.

Mere minutes ago, I went to Future Shop's downtown Edmonton to purchase a new joystick (for the recently re-installed X-Wing) and a set of speakers for my Nexus One docking station. As I approached the till, a salesmen came out of nowhere to "see if I needed help."

"Hey, can I ring those in for you?"

No, I'm okay.

"Yeah, but we work on commission...so...is it okay if I ring you in."

-pause-

Fine.

Bear in mind this person in no way whatsoever helped me with these items. The salesmen didn't even ask if I had been helped—for all he knew, he was swiping someone else's sale. I find this kind of stuff really frustrating, I get these fellows are paid, in part, on a commission basis, but at least show the customer some respect. This is how stores get on my "never shop at again" list.

Looking back, I wish I had put the items away and purchased then somewhere else.

Spin me right round

2010-03-23T19:41:00.005-06:00

I (finally) went to my first spin class tonight. While this 60 minute class was challenging, I don't think I got as much out of it as I had expected. Perhaps I need to turn up the tension next time.

Or maybe I'm in better shape than I thought? No, I probably didn't have the tension high enough...

Speaking of tension, one thing I don't like is the analog tension control. With a digital display you can exactly measure your current tension level—this is usually on a scale of 1-20.

On the analog bike, there's no such indicator, leaving me guessing as to where I'm at on the tension scale. I presume this is something I'll eventually be able to tell my feel. That is, how tired my legs feel.

Minor complaints aside, the spin class was fun and I definitely think it will help me prepare for the BIG RIDE. The high female-to-male ratio is also a plus.

On a closing note, this was the first time I put my $170 bike shorts (see picture) in action. Both my ass and business are free of soreness.

A few smashing photos

2010-03-21T13:17:00.001-06:00

I came across some of my favourite photos while looking for art that would fit my recent training post

A bit of background on photos you are about to see—mum and dad are a bit cautious when it comes to their personal data, so they asked Earl and me to dispose of their hard drive. We disposed of it in our own special way, along with a few other items.

"Are you going to smash things? (Sigh) Just make sure you clean everything up."

Obliterating mum and dad's hard drive—Sean style

Earl took care of the VCR.

And finished it off with the sledge.

Dad made sure the VCR was smashed to his satisfaction.

The official training schedule

2010-03-21T12:51:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I finally took the time to develop a training plan for the Ride to Conquer Cancer. I based the plan on the following three principles:

1. Building muscular endurance.
2. Building cardio endurance.
3. Having fun.

Number three is essential in the plan's success, so I've added floor hockey as a cardio-building activity.

Now, before I outline my plan I should mention it might be a bit too ambitious. I'm going from two- to- three weightlifting sessions per week to eight total activities. While I have the drive, I need to be careful and not try too much too soon—lest I risk injury or giving up because it's too hard. For the first little while I'll probably just attend one hockey game and cardio class per week.

Once I'm comfortable with that—I'm hoping it will only take a couple of weeks—I'll jump into my full training routine.

Speaking of routine, here's what I have planned out:

Monday:

0600-0745: YMCA floor hockey
1640-1730: Weightlifting

Tuesday:

1800-1900: YMCA Cyclefit (a fancy name for spinclass)

Wednesday:

0600-0745: YMCA floor hockey
1640-1730: Weightlifting (circuit training)

Thursday:

1800-1900: YMCA Cyclefit

Friday:

1640-1730: Weightlifting

Saturday:

1115-1215: YMCA Cardiocore (combination of cardio and core-muscle training)

And there you have it. Any feedback would be appreciated. I think I've got a good mix of cardio and endurance building activities.

In a future post I'll outline what's involved in each weightlifting session.

What the fuck is spin class?

2010-03-05T13:09:00.005-07:00

Last time on the Warehouse District, my brother left the comment "what is spin class?" I didn't bother explaining what spin class is because I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that everyone would know what I meant. Since that doesn't seem to be the case I will offer a brief explanation now.

Spin class, or "spinning," is generally an hour-long session of indoor cycling. The classes are led by an instructor who guides you through a series of simulated hill climbs, sprints, plateaus, etc. In most classes participants can follow along at their own pace.

Goals for each session vary depending on the individual. In my case, I'm looking to boost my cardiovascular and muscular endurance.

For more information, check out the indoor cycling entry in the always-correct Wikipedia.

And before anyone (Earl) asks, the attached picture is not from a spin class. It just happens to be the only bike picture I have handy.

Setting goals

2010-03-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

Boring title, I know, but I couldn't come up with anything better.

I while ago I had a conversation with a friend about setting goals. She wants to become a better swimmer, but is somewhat of an introvert—and overly critical of herself when she doesn't do something right the very first time—so she's a bit hesitant to take private lessons. In response I suggested if she went ahead and took the swimming lessons, I would try something out of my comfort range. It seemed like a good idea for motivating both of us to achieve our goals.

The BIG goal is to complete the Ride to Conquer Cancer without dying, of course, but here's a few more goals I'd like to accomplish.

Start spin class. With the aforementioned Ride to Conquer Cancer coming up, this one is an absolute necessity. I plan to attend my first class next week.
Play hockey at least once every other week. I bought a YMCA gym membership over a year ago for the specific purpose of playing floor hockey three times per week. So far, I've gone five times. That's terrible. Not only do I love playing hockey, but it also provides a great cardio workout that I need.
Go one month without buying a book. Basically I'm only doing this b/c my friend suggested I couldn't. Only three more weeks until I can buy another book...
Quit buying Booster Juice for breakfast. While Booster Juice isn't necessarily a bad choice for breakfast, I can make a similar (and more nutritious) breakfast shake at home. Plus, Booster Juice isn't cheap. For the past few months, I've probably been spending, on average, $15 per week on their delicious smoothies.
Contribute more to RRSPs. In an effort to save for a condo downpayment, I've been putting $600 per month into RRSPs. I'd like to up that to at least $1000 per month, which will take some careful budgeting on my part. I've got a serious case of the "I need to own a condo."

That's all I have for now. I'll try to provide updates on these exciting goals in the future.

Fundraising update

2010-02-24T17:51:00.002-07:00

I'm happy to announce that co-workers, friends and family have donated almost $600 toward my Ride to Conquer Cancer thus far.

This early response was totally unexpected, and I'd like to thank everyone for your generosity and/or words of encouragement. The response from my coworkers was the biggest surprise; I sent an e-mail to "my" floor today and had over $200 in donations within a few hours.

Amazing.

In related news, I'd love to hear everyone's fundraising ideas. So far the only thing I have planned is a bake sale.

Update on the update: now at $695.

Getting strong now

2010-02-22T18:39:00.016-07:00

Note: this blog entry should be read while listening to this song.

For the past few months, I've been strength-training using the New Rules of Lifting system.This system focuses on six basic movements your body uses on a daily basis: squat, bend, lunge, push, pull, and twist. There aren't any isolation exercises in this workout, and wow, is it ever effective.

For example, I haven't done a regular set of barbell curls in months, and yet the amount I can curl has increased by over 50 per cent.

I've also gained an inch or two on each of my arms, chest, thighs and calves, and lost a precious inch on my waist. More importantly, I've made serious strength gains and have a great deal more energy.

My proudest accomplishment so far is using every plate available to squat 300 pounds 25 times. I don't know if that's a lot, but it was a big deal to me.

With the Ride to Conquer Cancer only a few months away, however, I'll have to bring my training to another level. Specifically, I need to work on my cardio and muscular endurance.

The first step beings this week at the YMCA cyclefit class. This class runs three times per week, and I hope to attend each of those classes. I also plan to go on one long ride per week, adding a bit more distance each time (once the snow melts, that is).

I`m also hoping cardio training will help accelerate weight loss. As you can see in the picture, I still have a way to go in that regard—but I`m confident I`ll reach my goals in due time.

On a closing note, since I started strength-training at the gym, another four of five of my colleagues have followed suite. I'd like to think I had something to do with that.

PS: Thanks to my workout partner, Sean T, for taking the photo.

Initial donations, initial thoughts

2010-02-17T18:38:00.002-07:00

I've already received two donations so far; $100 from anonymous and $200 from my brother, Earl. Thanks to you both.

Yesterday I was thinking about the enormous commitment I made by joining the Ride to Conquer Cancer.

200 km isn't a walk (or in this case, a bike) in the park, and it has been some time since I cycled on a regular basis. Intimidating, perhaps? No, not yet - I'm more excited by the process than intimidated. It's an opportunity for me to give back, and on a selfish note, it will help me get back in better shape.

Someone from the Ride to Conquer Cancer already called me to ask if he could provide any training and fund-raising advice, or the phone numbers of other riders in my area who I could train with. I'll definitely make use of that information in the days, weeks and months to come.

What DOES intimidate me, however, is figuring out if I need to outfit my sweet wheels (devinci cameleon). Do I need new handlebars? What about tires? Do I need to buy a pair of road slicks, or are my hybrid tires good enough?

And bike shorts. I NEED to buy good bike shots.

The Ride to Conquer Cancer

2010-02-16T19:10:00.006-07:00

To get right to the point, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.

Thankfully staff from the Leduc and University of Alberta hospitals were able to get her into surgery within 10 days of diagnosis.

After a series of ultrasound and blood and bone tests, the physicians are confident the cancer-which had spread to the lymph nodes-has been eradicated. There is still some chemo to come, but I'm confident mum will continue to show cancer who's boss.

My mum has shown tremendous amounts of courage during this time, so I feel the least I can do to honour and support her is participate in the Ride to Conquer Cancer.

I'd appreciate any donations you are willing to give, even if all you can afford is five dollars. You can make a donation by clicking on the Ride to Conquer Cancer graphic on the sidebar (or by clicking here). If you don't feel comfortable donating online, you can download a donation form here.

If you want to help spread the word, you can include the Ride Conquer Cancer graphic, with an embedded link to my donation page, on your blogs.

I'll try to contribute to the blog through training updates, random thoughts, and likely a post or two titled "What have I gotten myself in to?"

For more information on the Ride to Conquer Cancer, click here.

Photo Friday

2009-11-20T09:18:00.001-07:00

Speedboating along the North Saskatchewan River, summer of 2009.

Click picture to MAKE BIG

Photo Friday

2009-11-13T07:42:00.002-07:00

Fort Edmonton park a few years back.

Click picture to MAKE BIG

Photo Friday

2009-11-06T07:09:00.001-07:00

Split tree at Elk Island National Park.

Click picture to MAKE BIG

Enough is enough!

2009-10-31T08:27:00.013-06:00

(I mean really, aren't women complicated enough already?)

Thank you to HBD (creator of this brilliant comic) for being such a willing and active participant in my silly endeavours.

Wok with Woods double feature: breakfast smoothie and post-workout protein shake

2009-10-31T05:47:00.003-06:00

*Updated 2009 Oct 31 w/new ingredients*

No time for a complete breakfast? Looking for a way to augment your post-workout nutrition?

Thank God you found this blog, because I have an answer to both these quandaries; homemade breakfast smoothies and protein shakes. These quick and healthy* meal replacements are great for those who simply don't have the time (or are just too lazy) to have a proper meal.

*I am not a nutritionist.

Breakfast smoothie ingredients:

1 cup milk (I like vanilla soy milk, but any milk will do)
2/3 cup yogurt (vanilla or some sort of mixed berry make fine choices)
1 banana
1 cup (or handful) mixed berries
1 scoop protein powder
1/2 teaspoon matcha green tea powder (you can find this at your local health food store)

Protein shake ingredients:

1 1/4 cups milk (again, I like vanilla soy milk)*
1 banana
1 cup (or handful) mixed berries
1 scoop protein powder
1/2 teaspoon matcha green tea powder

If you like your drinks to have milkshake-like consistency, add a few ice cubes and use frozen fruit instead (tip: to store bananas in your freezer, peel them when ripe and wrap in tinfoil).

*2009 Oct 31 update: today I learned milk actually slows the body's absorption of protein, so you should instead use water or juice for your post-workout shakes.

Directions:

Pour milk in blender (for breakfast smoothies, also add the yogurt).
Add protein and matcha green tea powders, and then stir (this is so the powder doesn't get smeared against the blender walls when you press the obliterate button).
Add fruit.
Cover blender.
Press obliterate button.

Your drink should be completely blended within 30 seconds. These are best consumed immediately after blending, but will keep their consistency for several hours if stored in an insulated container, inside a fridge.

Now for those of you who are thinking "there is no way that will keep me full," a post-workout protein shake and a piece of fruit (I eat both at 1300 hours) keep me full until dinner (1800 hours), and I'm 100 kilograms of bald humanity.

On a closing note, the great thing about smoothies and shakes is how easily you can make them your own. By adding different fruits (I've been dying to try something with lime), juices, extracts and what not, your choices are only limited by your imagination.

If anyone has other variations, please post them in the comments. I'd love to read your ideas!

Photo Friday

2009-10-30T07:10:00.001-06:00

An ancient picture of me picking up my brother. So much beautiful hair.

Click picture to MAKE BIG

Pause in posting

2009-10-29T21:09:00.000-06:00

As you might have noticed, I haven't posted any new content in over a week (and Photo Friday does not count). I apologize for that, but I have been quite busy lately. Work, reading and hockey have taken up a lot of my time.

Rest assured, I have four or five different posts nearing completion, so there should be new content up soon. If I weren't such a perfectionist (at least, when it comes to serious topics) they would be up already.

Until next time,
Sean

Photo Friday

2009-10-23T08:37:00.007-06:00

Snapshot of the 2006 April Classic hockey game in Leduc, Alberta. Photo credit goes to Earl Woods.

Click picture to MAKE BIG

You can find more photos of the April Classic on my Facebook page.

Capital Dining: Upper Crust Cafe and Caterers

2009-10-17T20:59:00.019-06:00

Old Strathcona is home to several independent restaurants and bistros, including Upper Crust Cafe and Caterers (henceforth referred to as "the Upper Crust"), located at10909 86 avenue.

The first thing those with a sweet tooth will notice is the pastry display at the front counter. They have scones, cheesecakes, carrot cakes, muffins, strawberry-rhubarb pies and other insulin-spiking goodies. Given it was 10:00 in the morning, I felt it was a bit early for sweets and decided instead to check out the brunch menu. (The sweets are supposed to be quite good, however.)

The Upper Crust offers the usual hot and cold items, including various granolas, breakfast meats, omelets and other eggcentric (did I just make up a word?) dishes. I settled on the Tex-mex, which consists of two poached eggs on an English muffin, topped with salsa and guacamole. Potatoes and fresh fruit, including a generous slice of pineapple, were served on the side.

Everything was delicious and tasted quite fresh, especially the potatoes. Actually, the potatoes were so good I had to ask the waitress (who was excellent) if they were grown locally. They were, and it turns out the Upper Crust is another member of Original Fare. It seems I'm drawn to places like this.

Decor-wise, the Upper Crust utilizes an open-space concept, featuring high ceilings and large windows that let a great deal of light in. Very nice.

This is definitely a good place to catch a weekend breakfast and has ample parking for all you car-folk. Brunch for two will cost you around $30, including juice and coffee.

As for its rating, the Upper Crust gets 8 Legislature domes out of 10.

Capital Dining: The Dish & The Runaway Spoon

2009-10-17T15:46:00.040-06:00

Located slightly northwest of the downtown core at 12417 Stony Plain Road, The Dish & The Runaway Spoon is effectively two different operations combined into one. The Dish is a dine-in bistro, while the Runaway Spoon handles the catering side of things. Since I didn't sample the catered offerings, this review focuses solely on The Dish.

The restaurant's interior is very eye-catching, featuring a few antique pieces and attractive dining tables. With a maximum seating capacity of around forty, the Dish offers a very intimate dining experience. This intimacy is enhanced by an effective use of lighting that creates quite the romantic effect.

Let's take a look at the food, shall we?

On the left you have my meal; a lamb flatbread with butternut squash soup on the side. In addition to the lamb, the flatbread featured roasted tomatoes, tsatsiki sauce and a hint of Asiago cheese. While quite good, the flatbread didn't compare to the butternut squash soup.The beautifully-presented soup had perfect consistency and a delicious sweetness, making it a truly outstanding dish. On the right you have my friend's choice; a selection of mixed greens that was, by her account, quite good. She also had the soup, which she seemed to enjoy just as much as I did.

In addition to its regular menu (which has a wide variety of choices), they also offer a gluten-free menu, so those of you who suffer from Celiac disease should have no reservations about giving The Dish a try (although you might want to make reservations if you plan to go on a Friday night). Please understand, this is not your usual "salad wrap without the wrap" Celiac-friendly menu. They offer a variety of gluten-free sandwiches, salads, quiches, and more - something my camera-shy dinner companion appreciated:

My experience was excellent. The pricing makes it a special-occasion restaurant (author's note: the bill came to $60, including tip and half a litre of red wine), but it had the best gluten-free, vegetarian-friendly options I've seen anywhere, and I didn't feel like a total freak about my diet restrictions. I'm definitely going back.

My only suggestion: They might want to consider a splatter-resistant soup.

I agree with her suggestion. About halfway through the meal, I bit into a piece of flatbread and a small chunk of lamb dislodged itself and fell in my soup, resulting in an impressive splatter that covered my shirt in butternut squash goodness. As you might guess by this incident, I am very good at impressing women.

Anyway, back to the review. The reason I chose the Dish was its membership in a network called Original Fare, a loose affiliation of independent restaurants that use local farmers, producers and processors whenever possible. This sometimes results in higher prices, but I'm willing to pay a little extra to support local businesses. My positive experience last night will have me coming back for more.

Based on its good food, service, and ambiance, I give The Dish & The Runaway Spoon 8.5 Legislature domes out of 10. Being only a few blocks south of the Roxy Theatre, it makes an excellent dinner choice if you plan on catching a play later in the evening.

Photo Friday

2009-10-16T01:00:00.004-06:00

Since I'm too cheap to purchase an online photo album with generous storage capacity, I have decided to post one of my favourite photos each Friday. Today I present a photo of Pisew Falls, taken during my trip to Manitoba in the summer of 2009.

Click picture to MAKE BIG

North of the 56th parallel

2009-10-15T20:05:00.011-06:00

In 1976 I was born in the small town of Leaf Rapids, Manitoba. My family moved to the Edmonton area three years later, so I have little recollection of my birthplace.

In the summer of 2009 my brother and I made the long (l-o-n-g) drive to Leaf Rapids, marking my first return to the town in thirty years. Instead of chronicling the journey here, I'm going to direct you to a photo essay I created earlier this summer. I think that format does a far better job conveying the emotion I felt during the trip.

The photo essay is divided into three parts, beginning with the community of Oak Lake.

Part 1: Oak Lake to Saint Martin

Part 2: Saint Martin to Suwannee River

Part 3: Leaf Rapids to Flin Flon

Trip details:

4000 KM in length
40 hours of driving
13,000 insects killed

For those wondering where the heck Leaf Rapids is, I suggest you visit the town's official website (which is surprisingly good) and its Wikipedia entry. It's really a facinating place.

Things you shouldn't say at work

2009-10-14T22:45:00.004-06:00

I was waiting for a printout at work the other day, and a colleague walked by and said "Sean, a watched pot never boils."

"Yeah, but what if I shake it?" I replied.

So I shook the printer, and lo and behold my printout came forth. For some reason I decided to say "Hey, that worked! Just like shaking a baby."

Surprisingly no one offered a response.

Capital Dining: Khazana

2009-10-14T22:00:00.013-06:00

Living and working downtown, I'm lucky enough to be within walking distance of several ethnic restaurants. Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Korean and Vietnamese food are only a few of the options available to me. Today I was craving Indian, so I took my friend Kenna to Khazana for lunch.

The first thing you notice upon entering Khazana is the decor. The restaurant is filled with beautiful wooden columns and features a central fireplace. You can even see the chef prepare your meal, as only a glass partition separates the customer with the kitchen facade. If my ratings were based solely on decor, Khazana would easily rate ten domes out of ten. Plus, they have super-cool water glasses.

The buffet was in full effect when we arrived, so this afforded us the opportunity to try a wider variety of food than usual. Unfortunately I lack the Indian vocabulary to attach a name to every dish pictured, but rest assured, everything was quite good.

The butter chicken had a delicious hint of char and their vegetable pakora was possibly the best I have ever tasted. The chick pea salad was also excellent.

Of course, everyone knows an Indian restaurant can only be as good as its naan. I'm happy to say the naan served at Khazana is absolutely top-drawer. In fact, this was the finest naan I have tried in Edmonton thus far. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and full of nann-goodness. Honestly, I couldn't ask for better.

The bill came out to a shade less than $30 (we only had water to drink), which I thought was quite reasonable given the quality of food. To encourage further patronage the waiter gave each of us a buffet stamp card; buy nine buffets and get your tenth free. It will probably take me a few years to get that free buffet, but I'm looking forward to it.

My one complaint was the temperature of the food. Both the vegetable pakora and butter chicken were lukewarm at best. This is the first time I've encountered this phenomenon at Khazana, so I'm going to assume this is the exception, not the norm.

As this review draws to a close, it would be remiss of me not to share Kenna's thoughts about her dining experience.

"It was good, but I wasn't blown away. I'd give it a solid 8/10. If you got us a seat next to the fireplace, I would have given it a nine."

So noted, Kenna. At any rate, I give Khazana 8.5 Legislature domes out of 10 (if not for the lukewarm food, it would have received nine domes). If you're looking for a good Indian restaurant to take a date to, this is the place.

Note to all my fellow males: always make sure you get the table next to the fireplace!

Capital Dining: Hap's Hungry House

2009-10-03T13:36:00.096-06:00

Located at 16060 Stony Plain Road, Hap's Hungry House, or Hap's, has a reputation for being one of the better places in Edmonton for breakfast. Seeing as breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, I decided to put that reputation to the test.

Apparently I'm not the only one who had that thought today, as Hap's was packed. Even so, my friend and I were seated and served within a few minutes of our arrival. The server also left a carafe of coffee on the table, which I thought was a nice touch.

Hap's menu has the usual fare, ranging from omelets and eggs benedict to your traditional big breakfast items like pancakes, bacon and ham. After some humming and hawing I decided to order a Reuben omelet ($9.75) with a side of potatoes. The omelet was nice and fluffy, but the swiss cheese definitely had a processed cheese slice taste to it. The potatoes, however, were incredible, Lightly salted, crisp on the outside with green onions thrown in for good measure.

Overall, I'm happy with my Hap's experience. The servers were friendly and efficient, the food good (but not outstanding), and the washrooms were impeccable. Seriously, this was the kind of washroom you would find in a high-end restaurant like the Sawmill.

If you tend to favour greasy spoon breakfast joints, I suggest you make the trip to Hap's. A breakfast for two will run you about $25, including tip.

I give Hap's 6.5 Legislature domes out of 10.

Wok with Woods: Raging Risotto

2009-10-03T13:19:00.003-06:00

From the Wok with Woods archives, I present...RAGING RISOTTO!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup light olive oil
1 cup chopped white onion
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 cups chopped mighty asparagus (if for some stupid reason you don't like mighty asparagus, feel free to use broccoli instead)
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups vegetable stock (I modified this b/c I have many vegetarian friends; the original recipe called for 2 1/2 cups chicken stock and 1/2 cup white wine - I didn't have the white wine on hand)
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup old cheddar cheese (note: this was actually supposed to be mozzarella, but I fucked up and bought cheddar)

Directions:

Add the vegetable stock to a sauce pan and place over medium high heat.
Add the olive oil to a large stock pot, and place over medium heat.
Add the onions to the stock pot and cook for approximately 5 minutes, or until they begin to turn translucent - whichever comes first.
Stir in the garlic, thyme, oregano, pepper, and mighty asparagus and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the rice. Cook the rice for a minute or two, stirring occasionally.
Gradually add the warmed vegetable stock to the pot of rice. Add approximately 1/2 to 3/4 cup of liquid at a time.
This is absolutely key: stir that mother fucker continuously and wait until most of the liquid has been absorbed before adding the next ladle of liquid. If you stop stirring, the rice will definitely burn to the bottom, no matter how magnificent your stock pot is. It will probably take around 30 minutes for the rice to absorb all the liquid.
Add the butter and stir until melted.
Turn the heat off and stir in the cheeses.

Observations:

Wow.

This turned out really, really well. I think constantly stirring the rice helps it absorb all the vegetable stock and spices. I think using 1/2 a cup of white wine would definitely add to the flavour, especially if you used mozzarella instead of cheddar. At any rate, this sucker is delicious. One minor screw-up, though. I don't think I steamed the mighty asparagus long enough before hand. It was a little stiff.

This side-dish took about an hour to create, including cutting and cooking time - so be prepared to stand by the oven for a while.

I suggest serving this meal with fish; I baked a lemon-dill halibut as the main dish.

(Oh, and I apologize for the terrible plate presentation. That's awful.)

Recipe rating: 8.5/10

Plate presentation rating: 3.25/10

Pro-Line payout? Preposterous!

2009-09-27T21:27:00.000-06:00

Well, how about that?

With Indianapolis beating Arizona Sunday night, my victory over the Western Canada Lottery Corporation is secure.

I am now $192.30 wealthier.

Pro-Line pain

2009-09-27T09:26:00.012-06:00

From Wikipedia:

Known as Oddset in British Columbia and Mise-O-Jeu in Quebec, Pro-Line offers fixed-odds sports betting, and is the most popular Sport Select game. It does not offer betting on individual matches, partly because betting on a single sporting event is technically illegal under the Criminal Code of Canada. Therefore, Pro-Line is a parlay game where bettors wager on the outcome of anywhere from two to six (BC and Atlantic) and three to six (Quebec, Ontario and Western Canada) of the matches offered by the lottery corporation. Decimal odds are quoted for individual matches, the odds for each selection being multiplied to calculate the potential payout of the ticket. For the ticket to pay out, all selections must be correct.

For the past two years, my friend Jeremiah and I have gone out for breakfast almost every Saturday of the National Football League season to discuss which teams we think will win on Sunday. When we come to an agreement on the outcome of five games, we complete our pro-line ticket accordingly and then take it to the nearest convenience store for processing.

Unfortunately we seem to have a problem with that "all selections must be correct" thing. One of the favourites (meaning the team experts expect to win) we bet on always seems to lose, or they only win by two points (which counts as a tie, not a win, and thus makes our pro-line ticket a losing one).

This week I put my hard-earned ten dollars on the following games (hopeful winners in bold):

New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Green Bay Packers at St. Louis Rams
Indianapolis Colts at Arizona Cardinals
Miami Dolphins at San Diego Chargers
Kansas City Chiefs at Philadelphia

I hope the Western Canada Lottery Corporation does something good with my ten dollars.

Win or lose, getting together to discuss football (and other topics) once a week is a lot of fun. These breakfasts also afford me the opportunity to try different restaurants each week, some of which I will encapsulate in restaurant reviews at a later date.

Disclaimer: it is not the intent of the author to encourage others to gamble

Wok with Woods: Eggplant Creole

2009-09-26T18:09:00.125-06:00

One of my goals is to cook one exotic meal per week. Something beyond simple steak and potatoes, such as Thai lemongrass stir-fry, Indian curries and the like. At the very least, I want to create meals featuring ingredients I have never used before.

Without further ado, I give you the first instalment (at least, the first on this blog) of Wok With Woods.

EGGPLANT CREOLE

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
2 tablespoons flour (I used gluten-free flour, and it worked just fine.)
2 tablespoons butter
15 ounces tomato sauce
1 can water (Can? Unfortunately I don't have any measuring cans in my kitchen, so I used one cup of water.)
1 clove
2 bay leaves
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used half of a red pepper and half of a yellow pepper for more colour.)
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated cheese (I used a 50/50 parmesan/cheddar mix.)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (September 27 update: For a gluten-free option, use rice flakes.)

The eggplant, peppers and onion were purchased at the City Market Downtown on 104th earlier in the day. You can't get much fresher than that.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut eggplant into cubs and cook in boiling water for eight minutes. Drain and set aside once cooked.
Place butter and flour in skillet and blend over medium to medium-high heat. Stir that motherfucker until it is smooth.
Once the sauce is smooth, throw in your clove, bay leaves, bell pepper, onion and salt.
When the sauce thickens to your satisfaction, fold in the eggplant cubes and sprinkle with cheese and bread crumbs,being sure to cover the entire surface.
Insert skillet in oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes.

Observations:

Right off the hop, I want to say eggplant is nothing like I thought it was. When I cut into it I expected the insides to be mushy, somewhat like a tomato (before you ask, I don't know why I thought this). It turns out the glorious innards of an eggplant are firm and white.

Other interesting eggplant facts:

It oxidizes very quickly; the innards started to turn brown mere minutes after being exposed to the open air.
Eggplant floats.
Raw eggplant tastes good.

mmmmmmmmmm

This was my first time cooking with eggplant, and I'm proud to say the results were excellent. The eggplant soaked up all the flavour of the tomato sauce and various spices, making this dish savoury and delicious. I don't have the nutritional information for this recipe, but given the ingredients I assume it is chock-full of nutrients and vegetable goodness.

When I make this again, I'll probably add more tomato sauce, reduce the amount of water, and add some fresh garlic. I'll use a touch more cheese, too.

This dish is pretty heavy, so I recommend small side-dishes such as garlic toast or a small salad.

To close, I'll definitely experiment with eggplant more in the future (likely the near future, as I have an eggplant sitting in the fridge right now).

Recipe rating: 8.0/10

Obligatory "What's this blog about, anyway?" post

2009-09-23T17:00:00.022-06:00

Hi everyone, and welcome to The Warehouse District. A blog written by a large bald man who makes downtown Edmonton his home.

The goal of this blog is simple - to provide me with a vehicle to pursue creative writing.

For the past two years, any writing I have done has been professional in nature. Writing speeches, newspaper articles, communication plans, grant requests and the like. This, and what was probably a bout of depression, prevented me from doing any creative writing on the side (or so I tell myself).

I'm hoping this blog will reverse this trend. The lack of creative writing, I mean. I curb-stomped my depression some time ago.

The subject matter will vary from post-to-post, but you can expect topics to include:

Edmonton (specifically, the downtown core),
urban planning,
restaurant/movie/music reviews,
recipes,
SCIENCE,
crime prevention,
nonsense,
random thoughts, and
my exciting life in general.

I expect to have my first 'real' post up sometime next week, or perhaps as early as this weekend. There will also be more layout tweaks in the days to come.

On a final note, I have included some of my favourite bloggers under the heading "Friends of the District." Each and every one of them is a product of an outstanding writer (or in some cases, writers), and I encourage you to visit those blogs as often as possible.

Cheers,

Sean.

Test

2009-09-21T21:42:00.005-06:00

Don't be alarmed. This is just a test of the emergency blogging system.

The photo above seems to be too tall. Must fix. Also, I tried to stretch the middle section to 1000 px. Should I bother? It seems 99 per cent of other blogs run just fine at 700 px.

(Plus, I can't seem to figure out to force my posts to use the full 1000 px...)

There is still a lot more layout work to complete. Title, gadgets, etc.