Friday Diversion

A little something to help get you through your last Friday with a moustache. As always, here is some of the best reading I've come across over the past 7 days:


The Hungry Travellers
By Jane Kramer

This is a fantastic little piece taken from The New Yorker's Food Issue (Nov. 24th). It is a story about falling in love with travelling, falling in love with food, and falling in love with the city of Toronto... I guess you could say it's a story about falling in love. Just a beautiful, heartwarming piece of writing. It focuses on Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, and the means by which they have travelled the world, accumulating recepies and stories for their wildly famous cookbooks. This is essential reading for any fan of food or fun, or for anyone who lives in the greatest city in the world.

One of my favourite parts is when Alford is talking about writing his Master's Thesis. When his advisor told him: "Write me a story about the things you know", he did just that. The title of the thesis was: "Bread, Travel, and Drugs".

(Note: you may have to sign up for The New Yorker's digital reader to access this one. It's free, and they won't pester you with emails if you don't want them to. Do yourself a favour. This one is well worth it)


The Grammar of Fun
By Tom Bissel

I officially retired from the world of video games when I became the first out of all of my friends to complete Super Mario Bros 1, deciding to go out on top like an eleven-year-old John Elway. But my buddy DVZ works for Rockstar Games, and this is about as close to his working world as I'll probably ever get. I love the fact that the Epic Games parking lot is filled with Ferarris and Lamborghinis, and that most of the drivers don't look like they're old enough to shave. Also, I didn't think I'd ever read the following sentence in the New Yorker: "In this match, I was simultaneously chainsawed to death by three people, a spectacle that everyone in the room claimed never to have seen before."


From Contemplation to just plain Giddiness... Thank You!
By John Buccigross

I don't think Bucci will be winning a Pulitzer Prize for journalism any time soon, but in his weekly hockey bit for ESPN.com, he brings up a great point that I'd never actually considered before:

Thanks for having it take so long to put on and take off hockey equipment. This gives kids time to do what they don't do enough -- talk to one another. There is no better scene than watching mites and squirts taking off their gear and screaming at one another at Hannah Montana concert levels. This is why hockey players are the wittiest athletes. They've had hours and hours of practice since they were 7.

Having spent as much time in hockey dressing rooms as I have (McCallums are always, without fail, the last ones out of the room), I can unequivocally say that hockey players are the wittiest of all athletes. It must have something with the defense mechanisms developed over years of spending an hour on the ice and then having to get naked in front of a bunch of strangers... You do know that it shrinks, right?

Thanks to Flats via DJ Smitty for the link.


The Best Roti in Toronto
By Tim Shore

One of the best things about living in Toronto is the seemingly endless supply of Roti shops. And I'm a sucker for each and every one of them: East Indian, West Indian, Vegetarian, Jerk... No two are alike, but each is out of this world in it's own right. Personally, I'd highly recommend Vena's for the extra spicy Goat, Okra, and Potato, but then again I'm just a white guy from the mean streets of Oakville, so what do I know... This link will help you find the roti that's right for you.


The Fall of Once-Mighty St. John's
By Seth Davis

This one is only for the hardest of die-hard St. John's fans. Those who remember the glory years of Chris Mullin, Greg "Boo" Harvey, and Malik Sealy. For those who got behind Bootsy Thornton, Lavor Postell, and Erik Barkley, only to have our hearts broken by Ohio State in '99 and Gonzaga in '00. The mighty most certainly have fallen. Where have you gone, sweet Lou Carnesecca?

Thanks to Flats for the depression-inducing link


A pretty CRAZY VIDEO of two dudes base jumping off of the Burj Dubai (Thanks to JD for the link)


And finally, a little something to help you enjoy the last three days of your "vacation from yourself":