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Tonight we dined in a restaurant that's all hype and no substance.

The object of my ire is Sassafraz, a ritzy eatery in the heart of Yorkville (cha-ching), probably the most posh area in Toronto.

Having largely been destroyed in a fire several years back, it is now all-new with a new menu to boot. Doesn't matter to me none, I've never been there yet.

There was a time when Hollywood stars came to dine. I don't know if they still do, I can't imagine why they would.

I'm going to cut to the chase here.

Appetizer:
"seared Quebec foie gras with port poached plum and mousse of foie gras and fig square with cloudberry glaze"

Absolutely mint. It was lovingly fat and moist, a hint of sweetness that made it extremely delicate and decadent. Sinful pleasure? I think so.

However, from there on it went downhill.

The other appetizer I tried:
"seared tuna with olives, confit tomatoes and frisee salad with anchovy vinaigrette"

Overcooked and bland. The poached quail egg accompany it sounded better than it looked, and tasted even less so. The trendy greens that looked like re-hydrated tumble weeds I bet came from a plastic box at No Frills grocery store.

The mains:
"roasted lamb tenderloin with eggplant croquant, cherry tomatoes and black olive jus"

Good, well presented, cooked to medium-rare perfection. However the portion was much too little for $39 of my hard-earned loonies. The eggplant? I forgot I'm highly allergic to eggplant, and after just one bite, I had to give it away. Suffice to say, it was crunchy, but bland. Not terrible, but again, overpriced.

I also tried:
"maple glazed wild sablefish with rutabaga and lobster hash, citrus emulsion"

Um, where's the beef mate? Err, where's the fish. Think toilet paper roll, inner tube, one and a half finger in height, two pieces, and that'd be more food than what was served. Plus it was tasteless to boot. Yes, it was moist, and the texture was nice, but really, do rich people abhor salt? Even when eaten with the pepper chutney that was underneath it, it was a disappointment. With so little fish, there wasn't enough to be hugely disappointed about.

Then came dessert. Look, with so little food, you had to get dessert. I didn't bother, but I did get a latte and tried the sweet risotto.

Chinese people eat rice as a main staple. It should never be a dessert. Never ever, especially when the rice is under-cooked, and served with a scoop of cappuccino ice-cream. WRONG WRONG WRONG!

Damage? $115 a person.

....My gawd. posted by losir at 12:49 AM

The TV saga continues.

1 hot pixel, in the middle of the screen. I'm going insane.

I know, it's only 1 bad pixel, but that's one more bad pixel than the last one I bought.

....Screwed again. posted by losir at 9:18 PM

I've been sick for the last two days. Sore throat, that icky feeling right before a fever, the lot.

I've done nothing except surf the web and sleep. In between, I watched Rush Hour 3, started another season of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, and staring at my dog.

He's staring at me right now, begging me to pet him. He just tried to put his nose on my keyboard. He's great indoors, but once he's outside, it's game over.

Man, the dog smells.

....And he's got bad breath. posted by losir at 8:55 PM

Jessica Alba is pregnant!

....That's the dejected groan of a billion men in unison. posted by losir at 11:04 AM

I have often thought that I would be above all the pettiness that is the age old camera war of Nikon vs. Canon.

In my mind, I wanted to believe that neither camera mattered, it was all the shooter's ability to see and capture what he sees onto bits and bytes.

I am a Nikon wielder simply through sheer fluke. I'm sure that if my cousins first bought Canon DSLR, I too might have gone the Canon route.

But I've seen first hand just how competent the Nikon platform has been. The lenses that we can somewhat realistically afford generally offer better performance per buck than what I feel Canon has out.

But I'm above all that. Buy a Canon with the kit lens, and go shoot some great pictures.

Last night however, when I heard that one of my friends were going to go with the new Canon XTi, I lost it.

I didn't really go bonkers, but I finally heard myself utter words I vow to never say, "Nikon is a better camera...."

And then it started. He pulled out web reviews and 100% crops, side-by-side canned laboratory test shots and pie charts. His mind was made up, Canon all the way.

I felt I have failed. I felt I let down my fellow Nikonians, and his misguided journey into the dark side is now complete. Everybody off the train - your destination to overpriced Canon crap is here. Toot-toot

I don't want to be like that. I know that in the end the camera body is only a tool, a way for artists who can't paint worth a lick still be able to convey what they see, how they feel, and what's on their mind.

....I just wish he bought Nikon so we could share lenses. posted by losir at 1:40 AM

Do you know what's absolutely weird? I miss Calvin and Hobbes the comic strip.

Growing up, I never followed it much, in a sense that when I got to read it, it was always good. The art was stunningly beautiful, the animated stance of each frame conveys deeply just how good the artist was.

But I never appreciated Bill Watterson's brilliance. I never realized I was reading something special. I never knew it was that good.

Now I do. After googling the snot out of it, I realize what cartoon genius each pen stroke was.

....And has the chutzpah to not return after only a 10 year run. posted by losir at 5:10 PM