#The Keg

Last Saturday evening we went for supper to the Keg. We don’t go their often. Even though they serve good steaks, the atmosphere is a little bit to noisy for us. The young crowd likes to go to the Keg. The last time we went there was three years ago.

So why did we go this time? Well, we had a gift card from one of our sons for the Keg; that made up our mind for us. We went to celebrate my wife’s birthday.

Our first choice was the one on Gary Street, downtown Winnipeg. We don’t like to go downtown because of the parking. It is difficult to find a parking spot and it is too expensive to park and you are limited with time. We actually did find a parking spot on Broadway. Since it was Saturday, parking was free with a two hour limit. We were only a block away from the Keg.

The Keg doesn’t take reservations on the weekend from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM. It is first come first serve. When we got there we saw a bunch of people waiting to get in and we were told it would be an hour to one-and-a-half hour wait. Too long for us; we'd run out of time at the parking meter, so we left and drove to the one in St. James; it took about 15 minutes drive to get there.

Parking there was no problem. They have a large parking lot, but the wait was for thirty to forty minutes. We actually had to wait only ten minutes to get in. I didn’t care much for the table we sat at; it was too close to the entrance and in a walkway, but we were happy to have a table. The place was crowded with guests and it was noisy. If you want a quiet, intimate dinner you don't go to places like The Keg.

We noticed all the hostesses were nice-looking girls with short dresses and the waiters were young men, also dressed nicely. Not all the guests were dressed that nice. Just an observation. We like to get dressed up when we go out to eat. We got served quickly. I ordered the Prime Rib and my wife had the chicken breast with shrimp, scallops, and crab. We didn’t have to wait long to get our order.

Everything was fine. My #Prime Rib was a bit rarer that the medium I ordered and about ¼ of it was fat, but it tasted good. The steak rested on a bed of some dry noodle-like things. I have no idea what they were and I only ate a few of them. The baked potato was large and tasty.

The chicken breast was good also, according to my wife, but she only got 2 shrimp, 2 small pieces of scallop and a teaspoon of crab meat. She almost didn't recognize it; she thought it was part of the mashed potato.

We enjoyed the evening and I don’t have any complaints, other than that I had to wait for my beer, which I had ordered to be served together with my meal. A small quirk I have. I don’t like stale beer. I was surprised to see that so many people still go out to eat, because the prices for restaurant meals have in my opinion gone through the roof. It cost us $92.00 before the tip. When we were in Germany we ate for half that price, and in a way I thought I received more value for my money. The variety of food was better and the food left me more satisfied. Most likely I was a bit biased, because I like German Food.

The other problem is that my wife is a good cook and I am probably spoiled. I barbeque my steak the way I want it; it usually tastes better because my wife spices it nicely, and we always have fresh salad and a heap of vegetables, which we didn’t get here. Okay, we had a Cesar’s salad between the two of us, but there wasn’t much to it. When we add shrimp we don't add only two. The most important factor though is the price. Home cooked meals are so much cheaper and always tastier.

I mentioned the beer. We paid $6.00 for 11 oz of draft beer. That’s not even a bottle of beer. That seems overpriced. We paid $3.50 Euros for ½ liter beer in Germany; that is about five bucks at today’s rate of our Canadian dollar. I said it many times before: Alcohol is too expensive in Canada. We are being gouched by our government and the restaurants.

I’ve got a couple of carboys with 23 liters of red wine juice sitting in my basement right now. They will be ready to bottle in a month or so. 23 liters give me about 29 bottles, that’s about $1.60 for one bottle of wine. And I can guarantee you that this wine tastes as good as the $50.00 bottle of wine you can buy in the liqueur store. Sure, it is a lot of work and it takes time to get the wine to the bottled stage, but it is a labor of love. And the results are worth the trouble.

About three weeks ago I bottled a batch of beer at the cost of 60 cents a bottle. Now we are talking my language. Okay, I’ll have to wait about 6 months to let it age and before I want to drink it, but the beer tastes great. I could make it even cheaper, but I buy 23 liters of must and add no water, just yeast. It tastes just like bought beer and there is no residue in the bottle. One thing with homemade beer, you can let it sit for years and it will only get better. I’ve had beer that was over 5 years old and it tasted great. You can’t do that with bought beer. It’ll last about a year if you are lucky.

It proves again there is nothing better than homemade stuff. I can’t wait for summer to get my garden going again. I can already taste those sweet tomatoes, the peppers, the lettuce, and all those other wonderful vegetables. Better tasting and healthier than anything you can buy in the stores. No chemicals or preservatives, just good old natural fertilizers, water, and sunshine. And lots of LOVE.

Until next time.

#Blue Jays, Blackbirds, and Rabbits

I just came in from blowing the snow off my driveway—the second time this week. The weather is strange for this time of year. It was minus 10 C at lunch time. One day it is cold and the next day we get a warm-spell. Yesterday it even rained in some parts of Manitoba while it was minus 23 C in Churchill. Tomorrow it is supposed to go up to plus 3 Celsius and then cold again for the weekend. Not normal and not good for this time of year. We don’t have much snow, either. One thing, though, the sun was out and it was beautiful to be outside.

When I was done with cleaning the driveway I filled up the bird feeders. We don’t have too many birds right now. A few sparrows that come early in the morning and four Chickadees. They come every day. Actually, they hang around all day long, flitting back and forth from one tree to the other. They like the seeds of the Tamarack trees that grow behind the feeder. The same four have been here all summer. And then we get four Bluejays every day. I put out peanuts for them. They come and carry them away. I have no idea where they hide them. Not everyone likes the Bluejays, but I don’t mind them. I call them the ‘Parrots of the North’, because of their bright blue iridescent colors. Apparently, those colors are an illusion. A trick of light. I love listening to them whistle. You know when they are around.

 Last week I saw a lonely blackbird in the feeder. Either it stayed behind for some reason while the rest of them flew south or this is an early arrival. Today I saw it again sitting in our chokecherry tree. Our large bird feeder is under that tree. The poor thing was all fluffed up and didn’t look too happy. I hope it survives the winter. I’ll do my best to help it along. In the Springtime, we usually get a few blackbirds coming to the feeder. Last year one came every day. Perhaps this is the same one.

Let us not forget the little rabbit that lives under our sundeck. My wife doesn’t know it, but I put a small amount of dried alfalfa out for him under the bird feeder and a little mountain of seeds. I may have to trap him in the Spring when he starts eating the flowers, though, but for now I’ll enjoy watching him munch on the food I put out for him.

#The Evil of this World

My wife says I suffer from Cynicism. Perhaps I am. How can one not be cynical with all the crazy stuff going on in the world? A few days ago we had a School shooting in Canada. Two students and two teachers were shot to death and a number of people injured. It happened in a little town called La Loche in Saskatchewan, way up north, mostly natives live there. Shootings like that are not normal in Canada; we don’t have a love-affair with guns like the Americans, where shootings like that seem to be the norm. So this is something out of the ordinary and tragic for our country. Canadians don’t commit crimes like that, not as a rule. Not everyone carries or even possesses a gun; by that I mean a handgun. Hunters and farmers have hunting rifles, but no assault rifles. Nobody needs those. It makes absolutely no sense, unless you are a criminal.

It is difficult to keep up with all the killings and murders and all the terrorist acts happening everywhere almost on a daily basis. It is an epidemic. It is insanity. In addition we have the refugee crisis. I have no idea when and how all this will end. Having millions of people of a rigid, intolerant religion suddenly spread across the globe will have no happy ending.

Talking about things that make no sense. Religion makes no sense. Two billion Christians believe in Jesus, the son of a forgiving God, a god that cares. Well, I see no evidence anywhere about such a caring god. If he exists then he is taking a long holiday. The world is in chaos and getting worse with every day that passes. The Earth is populated with violent people. The history of humankind is nothing but the account of the violence that followed us from the day when the first semi-intelligent human picked up the jawbone of a beast he just killed with a rock or heavy branch, speculating how he could use it to kill a rival.

If we believe every word that is written in the bible, including the story about the first people, Adam and Eve, then it is not surprising that the world is in such a horrible state. According to the scriptures, Cain killed his brother Abel. There are no records of other people living on Earth. God only created Adam and Eve. This means Cain was the ancestors of today’s humans, which follows that he had sex with Eve, his mother, or his sister, if there was one. In other words humans are the descendants of a murderer and the result of incest. I can’t add anything to that.

1 ½ Billion people follow the teachings of a man who married a young girl when she was six years old. I’m not making this up. Here is proof:

 (Sahih Bukhari Volume 7, Book 62, Number 64
Narrated 'Aisha:
that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage when she was nine years old, and then she remained with him for nine years (i.e., till his death)

The Radicals of this religion actually believe when they commit suicide and murder a bunch of non-believers they will be rewarded with 72 virgins in the afterlife. The belief that they will go straight to heaven if they die in battle made the Moors in the eighth century so fearless and dangerous when they invaded and spread across North Africa.

Pardon my scepticism and my uncontrollable laughter. Sex with 72 virgins after you die? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything more ridicules and stupid. To die for sex? How horny are these suicide bombers? What’s wrong with having sex while they are alive? I read the story of one of these idiots. He was arrested before he could set off his strapped-on bomb. He actually had his private parts protected with a metal cup, because he wanted to make sure that they were still intact when he reached the ‘Other Side’. Are those the thoughts of a sane man?

Christians, Muslims, and Jews actually believe in the same god. Each of them gave ‘their’ god another name, just to be different. Other religions have their own god or gods or goddesses. Have humans always believed in gods? Probably. We are so unsecure that we have to believe in some higher power and some ‘better’ place, a place called ‘Paradise’ and a score of other names, because the world we live in is so crappy. Of course, we forget that we humans make it so crappy. Nobody will admit that, so we blame the ‘Devil’ or some other fantasy being for influencing us with evil thoughts, not realizing those evil thoughts are our own.

There is no Satan and there are no Evil Demons, but there is Evil on this Earth. This Evil is called ‘Humanity’. What does that say about the religions that rule us? And they do rule us. In fact, the so-called ‘Holy Men’ threaten anyone with harsh penalties, including death, if you have the nerve to question or criticize the prophets, their god, or their ‘Holy Books’. Religion is one of the best and most successful brainwashing techniques ever invented by man.

Here is a list of the #Major Religions of this World and the number of their followers:

1. Christianity: 2.1 billion (apparently there are 34,000 separate Christian groups)
2. Islam: 1.5 billion
3. Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
4. Hinduism: 900 million
5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
6. Buddhism: 376 million
7. Primal-indigenous: 300 million
8. African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
9. Sikhism: 23 million
10. Juche: 19 million
11. Spiritism: 15 million
12. Judaism: 14 million
13. Baha'i: 7 million
14. Jainism: 4.2 million
15. Shinto: 4 million
16. Cao Dai: 4 million
17. Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
18. Tenrikyo: 2 million
19. Neo-Paganism: 1 million
20. Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
21. Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
22. Scientology: 500 thousand

23. And all those people who worship Satan or other Demons

I didn’t make up those religions and those numbers. You can check it out here: https://www.answers.com/Q/How_many_different_religions_are_on_earth

They all claim they are the only and true religion. The other religions are wrong.

If all this craziness isn’t enough to make me cynical I don’t know what is.

Of course, every one of those religions is wrong, because my own personal religion is the correct one. How many followers in my religion? So far I’m the only one.

Musings about Life, the Universe, and other important stuff

 #The Big Bang Theory. No, I’m not talking about the TV series, I’m thinking of the theory that speculates about how the universe began.

Like the word says—it is only a theory. Nobody knows and I’m quite positive that no human will ever really know. Our minds are just not capable of grasping the whole idea of what the universe actually is, what life is, and how it all began and how it will end—if ever.

Okay, let’s assume the universe we know began with a tiny spark (some scientists say it was compressed matter) that for some reason exploded and sent billions of even tinier sparks into a vacuum which we call space.

Let’s stop right there. Where did that original spark come from? Where was this tiny spark? Did it exist in the vacuum? Is the vacuum nothing? Obviously that spark did not exist in nothing. Nothing can exist in nothing. This spark was something (energy or compressed matter) so the conclusion is it existed in Something. Where did that Something come from?

Religious Scholars will say that original spark was intelligent. They call it God. God created the Heavens and the Earth, according to the Scriptures. Okay, so let’s say that this spark was a Super intelligence, an energy being, that existed in Where? In the vacuum? In nothing? Nothing can exist in Nothing. So we are back to square one; back to the original questions.

Who and what created that place where either God or the Spark existed? Who created the Spark or God?

Some scientists say the universe has no beginning and no end. Sounds good, but it had to begin at one time. According to the bible, and plenty of people believe this to be true, the Earth was created only 6000 years ago. Well—that sounds like a fairy tale to me. Besides, how can something have no beginning? It had to begin at one time. Who or what started it? How can anything be created from nothing? But the same basic question always pops up: Where is everything that exists now and didn’t exist before it was created?

Why am I breaking my head over all of this? I don’t know, but it is interesting to speculate. I’m not the first one to wonder about how it all began, who we are, what our purpose here is (if there actually is a purpose). Curious people have asked those questions ever since man became intelligent enough to reason. Humans will ask them for as long as humanity manages to survive, but we will never find the answers, unless we evolve and become like gods ourselves. Perhaps then we may get a glimpse into the mystery of creation. Good Luck to that, I’m not holding my breath. Humans will destroy themselves and possibly the Earth itself if we keep traveling on the path we are.

A number of people believe that humans did not evolve on Earth but were brought here from other planets thousands of years ago. Perhaps Earth was considered a prison planet or an insane asylum. They brought criminals or insane people to Earth for punishment or just to get rid of them. It does make sense. That would explain why humans are so crazy these days. Crazy and violent. Our history is filled with violence and insanity. It is a good theory and not so far-fetched. The English took criminals to Australia a few hundred years ago. That is no theory but a fact.

I hate to think that my ancient ancestors were either criminals or insane, or both. What does that make me?

I like the idea that there once a long time ago existed an advanced and noble, wise race of beings that ‘seeded’ the planets with life. Perhaps their wise and noble genes are still inside me. However, looking at the way humans behave or have behaved until now makes me wonder if the first theory isn’t the real one. The record isn’t good. Let’s face it, what do we have right now? Religious fanatics who murder innocent people in the name of some god; power-hungry politicians who don’t give a crap about the citizens; petty dictators who pretend to be great statesmen; criminals everywhere you look; drug pushers and pimps; the list of undesirables is practically endless. Nothing noble there. Only insanity.

 Anyway, it gives one food for thought. Something to pass the time when sitting in the dentist chair or in the doctor’s office or waiting in line in the grocery store watching an old lady rummaging through her purse looking for the exact change. Or  watching a guy getting gasoline at the self-serve pump where you can pay with your credit card to speed up things—and then going into the store to pay. Doesn’t that drive you nuts?

What a wonderful world. At least it could be, if it weren’t for the snowstorms in the north and the tornadoes in the south--and the people who live on this planet we call Earth.

Yes, I am pondering all this while listening to the wind howling outside, happy to be inside a warm place and hoping the power doesn’t go out.

Cheers, my friends. I think I'll have another glass of wine. Should I make it white or red?

# Of Lords and Criminals

They caught one of the infamous drug dealer kingpins in Mexico. Again. I won’t mention his name. Don’t want to end up on the cartel’s hit list. Anyway, the media calls him a Drug Lord.

What actually is a Drug Lord? Here is my definition:

#Drug Lord: The head of a cartel or other criminal organization. A man who sells illegal drugs. A drug pusher. A criminal. A murderer. A man with no conscience. A dishonest, nasty man. A wrecker of lives. A man who makes his living through bribery and blackmail. A petty thief. The Scum of the Earth. Nothing to be proud of.

#War Lord: (Another cute name): A military commander or Commander in Chief (Oops, does that make the President of the USA a War Lord? I hope not.) Usually the name War Lord is given to a man who controls a group of soldiers; not always a legal group. I would say a War Lord is pretty close to being a criminal, some more than others.

I ask myself why they would call these guys Lords. What is the association of criminals like that with the name Lord? Makes me think all kinds of things; none of them pretty or complimentary. Hmm. It doesn't paint a good picture of anyone who is considered a Lord.

Looking back through history there have been many Lords who could have been or were War Lords. To rule over people the way they did demands ruthlessness. Gives one food for thought, doesn’t it?

Of course, we also call God Lord. Does that mean Lords are like gods? Drug Lords are like gods, but also criminals and...  I don't even want to go any further with this thought.

Why do we put criminals on the pedestal? We call them Criminal Organizations; sounds like some kind of country club. People admire the Hell's Angels and the Mafia. We make movies about the Mafia and criminals like Al Capone. We root for them and hope they get away with their crimes when the cops are after them. We read reports about a Gang War between rival gangs over their Turf to determine which gang will survive The War and control the Drug Trade in a certain city. It almost sounds romantic.

What is wrong with that picture? Come on, these are gangsters, hoodlums, criminals, who should never be glorified.

This whole world we live in is nuts. We have Senators who steal from the public and believe it is their right to do so. We have lawyers who will defend murderers and try every trick in the book to make them go unpunished. They even invent new illnesses like the one that rich kid who killed 4 people with his car suffered from. According to this inventive lawyer, because this guy grew up rich he therefore doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong! Wow! Does that mean every rich person is clueless about what is right? No wonder there is so much crime going on. I’m sure glad I don’t belong to that bunch.

Somebody once said the biggest criminal organizations are the #Governments. If they need more money, they just create a new law, a tax that gives them the right to take the money from honest citizens. A government can do anything, like creating a law that makes making alcohol for instance illegal. Anyone who makes alcohol, or wine and beer is a criminal. Or make a law to force anyone who owns a gun to register it. A gun owner who doesn’t do so is considered a criminal and will be punished with jail time and/or a hefty fine. (It happened).

I believe it is a crime when a government that was elected to represent the people collects money from hard working citizens and, instead of putting that money back into the economy, squanders it by giving it to foreign countries or organizations that don’t appreciate it and think it is their god-given right to receive that money. They’ll never repay it or ever give anything in return, except maybe send a few terrorists to show their appreciation for the kindness they received.

Such is the world we live in. The lines between what is right and what is wrong; what is good and what is evil;  what is acceptable and what isn’t are at best blurry and change constantly.

I’m certain there is a basic law in the universe, a guideline that we must follow. We all have that knowledge inside us; it is in our #DNA, but most of us ignore it. Perhaps some of us humans are born #Good and some are born #Evil to keep the balance, because things must balance in order to create stability. That’s why some people are drawn to the Light and some search the Dark. I prefer the Light.

Which do you prefer?

A cold Day in January

When I looked out of the window this morning I saw sundogs. I could only see the one on the left side, but it was enough to tell me that it was going to be a cold day. It was minus 18 C. With the north wind blowing it was freezing.

Proof again that we live on an alien planet—one that is not friendly to humans. We couldn’t survive without our cozy and warm homes that insulate us from the hostile environment. The animals are superior to us when it comes to surviving outside without protection. They don’t wear clothes the way we do. We wouldn’t survive an hour if we were to go out naked. I just walked to the bird-feeder without wearing gloves and my hands were tingling from the cold.

We think we are tough. What a joke! Even a sparrow is tougher. It is difficult to imagine that a little bird like that with such a small body doesn’t freeze solid in those freezing temperatures. That tiny heart pumps such a minuscule amount of blood through that body to keep it from turning to ice and yet—the little bird survives. Of course, they have to keep eating rich foods to stay alive—oily foods like sunflower seeds. I put plenty of sunflower seeds into my feeders mixed in with the regular seeds. The sunflower seeds are sometimes gone within one day; and I feed peanuts to the Blue jays. They love them.

The chickadees need fat in their diet and they just love the blocks of suet

What a beautiful and strange sight

        
 

    

#Good bye to 2015

When we were younger we used to go out to New Year’s Parties; sometimes to a private one and sometimes to a ‘Dinner and Dance’ at a larger function. It was always fun and we had a good time. Our parents were usually along, because they enjoyed dancing and we liked the same music they did.

As we got older, our parents died along with the other ‘older’ folks. Many of our friends have also died. The clubs we used to go to don’t exist anymore, because the younger generation enjoys different music and they don’t dance the same dances either. Things have changed.

It seems, now young people and older people don’t mix anymore the way we did. They don't want to spend time with their parents, especially not New Year's Eve. For many of these past years my wife and I stayed home alone. We usually bought Lobster or Prawns and made our own New Year’s Dinner. Then we watched a movie, had a drink at Midnight to celebrate the New Year and went to bed. I know it sounds boring, but when you get older spending time at home is fine.

We don’t watch the New Year’s Celebration on TV anymore. They used to have a band for many years, playing nice music; now they have these ‘Heavy Metal’ bands with screaming guitars and singers with screaming flat voices nobody understands. We don’t listen to that kind of ‘music’ any other time, so why spoil New Year’s Eve with that?

Our plan for this time was to go to the Casino and play the slot machines for a little while and then have supper at the Casino. Actually, it was a last minute decision. We usually go to the one on Regent Avenue, the one that is connected to Aaltos. They did have a Dinner and Dance, which was free but rush seating, so we figured it would be no fun to stand in line and maybe not even get a table. We decided to go to the restaurant downstairs and have a leisurely supper and then go home and watch a nice movie.

It was a good plan but it didn’t turn out that way—like most plans. We drove to the Casino and played the machines for awhile. Actually, until the 10.00 Dollars of Free Play we got, was gone. We won a few dollars and that was good enough for me. I’m not a gambler.

It was time to have our dinner. What a surprise awaited us when we arrived at the restaurant: A long line of people standing on the stairs right to the top of the staircase; waiting time to get into the restaurant was around three hours. And that was questionable, so we thought we’d have dinner in the upstairs restaurant. They didn’t have a buffet but you could order. Waiting time there was about 1 ½ hours. Too long, so we left with no idea where to go and have our New Year’s Eve dinner. I suggested Chinese Food but my wife didn’t feel like it.

As we walked past Aaltos restaurant in the same building we saw only a few people lining up to get in. We don’t particularly like Aaltos but their buffet was $22.50 for seniors and we had nothing else planned so we put our name down. Apparently, it would be at least 30 minutes waiting. That was acceptable.

We waited one hour until we got our table.

Thinking back, we would have been better off staying home with a nice homemade meal, a good bottle of wine and a good movie, as originally planned. It doesn’t matter how old we get, we still are so naive sometimes. Why would we assume to actually get into a nice place on a moments notice without reservations on New Year’s Eve?

As I’ve mentioned, Aaltos is not one of our favorite restaurants. We’ve been to a few and were disappointed every time. This time was no exception.

The food wasn’t bad, neither was it good, mediocre at best. The shrimp floated in ice water, you had to peel them and we couldn’t find the shrimp sauce. The warm, breaded shrimp were tiny and so hard, dry, and tasteless I thought I was eating rocks. I worried I might lose a tooth. And for the life of me I don’t know why they even offer crab legs. They were as thin as the legs of a giant spider with nothing inside. For vegetables, they served some kind of turnip. I would have preferred peas, corn, carrots, broccoli or anything else. The chicken was dry. Everything was overcooked. When I told our son this morning he said the Aaltos restaurant at that location is known for their overcooked, dry food.

We made it home by 9:00 PM. Still time to watch a nice movie. In fact, they played a movie on TV staring Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence called ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, according to the hype a ‘Romantic Comedy’. Sounded good and we had looked forward to watching it.

I already programmed the PVR the night before to tape it. As we started watching it, I discovered that they screwed up with the programming and the movie started one hour later, so I quickly programmed to PVR to tape etalk, which was supposed to air at 10:00 PM. We didn’t finish watching the movie because of lack of time and we found it utterly boring. Neither my wife or I thought it was funny or romantic. Actually, we both thought it was downright stupid and disappointing. Nothing but talking, no suspense and no real action. Who wants to watch a movie about some people who are crazy? Not us. Not on New Year’s Eve.

We finished the evening watching the late night news and 'this hour has 22 minutes', which actually had a bit of humor. At midnight we drank a toast to each other and after that we watched 20 minutes of a comedian on TV. He was funny and we did have a laugh or two.

2015 went out with a whimper for us and I hope this evening wasn’t a harbinger of the way 2016 is going to be.

Happy New Year.