Duncan's Rubies

Alcohol Linked to Cancer

Duncan — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:36:34 +0000

Alcohol Linked to Cancer.

The Brunch Review: Tommy’s Café

Duncan — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:20:49 +0000

Tommy’s Café

1308 Ross Rd (near Lynn Valley Rd and Mountain Hwy, North Vancouver)

604-988-0174

http://www.tommycaters.com

Over the holidays, I ended up spending a lot of time in the suburbs, visiting my family and visiting friends who were visiting their family. After meeting up with some friends in North Vancouver, I decided to scope out the brunch offerings.

Tommy’s, in North Van’s Lynn Valley neighbourhood, came highly recommended. I was told that, despite the Comic Sans on its awning (*shudder*), it had amazing bennies and that it was the best breakfast on the North Shore. Better than the mighty Tomahawk Grill? Tastier than the legendary Savary Island Pie Company in West Van? It seemed very unlikely, but I went in with an open mind.

For reasons too complicated to elucidate here, we went for brunch—nay, breakfast—at 9am. Mercifully, Tommy’s very good coffee had my back. Near the front door were several self-serve urns of organic coffee, traded in the fair style and of various roasts. I chose the blackest coffee I could find and took a seat.

Tommy’s has a fairly cozy room (I counted just eight tables) and it filled up pretty quick. The menu had all the usual suspects, but I felt compelled to try one of the apparently killer bennies. I went for the ‘franciscan,’ which swapped out the traditional ham for guacamole, fresh tomatoes and bacon.

It was not the best benny I’ve ever had, and the eggs were a little cold, but it was still very, very tasty. The accompanying pan fries were top notch and perfectly crispy. Could there have been a few more of them? Sure. Did I manage to fill up nonetheless by stealing some of my friend’s delicious French toast? You bet.

It was a bit pricy, but the food was prepared with a level of care that one doesn’t see at one’s $3 breakfast joint. The service was prompt and friendly, although our server did break a $20 bill with three $5 bills twice in two minutes.

While Tommy’s can’t really compete with the Tomahawk’s, er, “charm,” or Savary Island’s divine baking, it held up better than I expected and I definitely recommend it. Once again I’m reminded, one can’t judge a breakfast place by its awning font.

Something to remember when considering a brunch at Tommy’s is its proximity to Lynn Headwaters Park and Lynn Canyon, a short bus ride or walk away. If it ever(!) stops(!) raining(!), following up your meal with a modest hike in the woods would make for a glorious Sunday. Plus, the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge is both free and cooler than the fancy schmancy Capilano Suspension Bridge. Paying to walk across a bridge is for suckers; you heard it here first.

Price (including coffee and tip): $14

Sundays, 8am-3pm

Lineup: None, but that was at 9am. It got busier.

Vegetarian options: Yes

Soy milk: Yes

Originally published in Tooth & Dagger.

This could be the greatest photo I’ve ever taken

Duncan — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 19:47:28 +0000

The Black Velvet Monica Lewinsky at Bosman’s. Taken at my birthday get together. They keep it in the back because people kept trying to steal it when it was up on the wall.

Brazilians!

Duncan — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 22:04:06 +0000

I may not appreciate their football talents, but I love it when Brazilians make pop music. Let’s see: Os Mutantes, great; last year’s SoulJazz release “The Sexual Life of the Savages, amazing. And now—possibly best of all—glitchy, whirring dance music courtesy of CSS.

Again, I’m unable to embed this video…argh.

Download the song here

Their album has just been released by SubPop and they’re playing with Diplo at Celebrities on August 5th! Sweet.

My first YouTube post

Duncan — Fri, 19 May 2006 07:59:15 +0000

I’m not sure why WP won’t embed the html. Hmmm.

Consider the Brainiac

Duncan — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 07:51:15 +0000

Consider The Lobster
David Foster Wallace
(Little, Brown and Company)

Although American writer David Foster Wallace (DFW) is known primarily for his fiction (Infinite Jest, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and most recently Oblivion), I think his non-fiction is best. Anyone who read his 1997 collection of essays, A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, can tell you he’s one of the funniest writers working today. He might not be as consistently funny as your David Sedaris or your Sarah Vowell, but his sharp and extremely thorough observations put him into a class of his own.

His non-fiction follow-up to A Supposedly Fun Thing… is Consider The Lobster. Collecting essays and reviews since 1997 first published (albeit in substantially abbreviated form) in such diverse publications as Premiere, Gourmet, Rolling Stone, Harper’s and the Village Voice, the book covers (in order) the pornographic movie industry, John Updike, Franz Kafka’s sense of humour, American grammar and usage, 9/11 (poignantly and without sentimentality or jingoism), former tennis star Tracy Austin, John McCain’s 2000 Republican leadership campaign, the lobster (and specifically/horrifically the Maine Lobster Festival), a biography of F. M. Dostoevsky and talk radio. I list off these topics not simply because they are all fantastic, but to show the breadth of what DFW can do. The guy is incredibly, incredibly smart and is able to digest tremendous amounts of very complex data and turn it into clear, precise (oh, the precision), original and funny prose. What I wouldn’t give for those chops.

While some have referred to DFW as “that footnote guy” (and he does love his footnotes), the notations are not schtick; instead they are a by-product of a rigorous assault on his subjects. Reading DFW, you get the sense that mere sentences cannot contain all the information and nuances this man can give us. We need footnotes, and footnotes of footnotes, and interpolations, and subtitles and glossaries of relevant vocab!

What really makes DFW, and in particular Consider the Lobster (an homage to M. F. K. Fisher’s Consider the Oyster, I’m assuming), is his thoughtfulness as a writer. In his profile of Arizona senator John McCain, DFW forces the reader to consider, really consider, what happens to a person when he or she spends five years as a P.O.W., as McCain did. Like most of his writing, he doesn’t just reference this as a matter of biography, as others might, he draws you into it, makes it fresh (and shocking) and relevant again. His books aren’t easy reads (After 343 pages, I’m ready for a break), but DFW provides some of the most satisfying reading I’ve done in a while.

What’s My Take?

Duncan — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 00:14:50 +0000

Saw Cassavetes’s “Love Streams” last night. I thought it was fantastic. Strange, with feverish dream sequences, but charming and moving.

Cassavetes starred as an alcoholic writer who sleeps around. Anna found him repugnant and slowly grew to like him but I was on-his-side from the beginning. He was sleazy, but there was something magnetic and alive about his performance that made him appealing even when he behaved so poorly. It was beautifully shot, too, with lots of play with focus and depth-of-field. It was a great way to kick off my relationship with the new Vancity Theatre.

Gena Rowlands was amazing as well, playing Cassavetes desperately ill sister. She played the role, which easily could have veered into parody, with such humanity and grace. Even scenes with barnyard animals were touching instead of just for a cheap gag. A wonderful, wonderful movie, even in its grimness.

Animal Collective, March 1

Duncan — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 09:15:08 +0000

Awful show. Bought tickets for Anna as Christmas gift. Terrible mistake.

A) The show never should have been moved to the Commodore—way too big, even though it sold out
B) It sounded like a really shitty dub show…tons of reverb and droning—argh
c) They are BORING performers.

Damn. Still bought the record though…the record’s great.

Delicious Scrambled Eggs

Duncan — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:04:24 +0000

Last night I had a delicious four egg scramble. The secret was to sautee garlic and onions at medium-high heat before adding the eggs. Later I added raw, diced spinach, sauteeing that. I then added some diced turkey, reduced the heat and added four beaten organic brown eggs, stirring constantly. After a minute, I added some feta and fresh ground pepper. Mmm, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. I served it with toasted flax seed bread and slices of raw bell pepper

I bought two dozen organic eggs for $5 at MacMillan yesterday, so I’m plotting quiches, egg salad and frittatas. Sweet!

Sickly

Duncan — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:04:36 +0000

Feeling a bit sickly today. Sore throat, achiness and overall tiredness. This feeling is overtaking the sore gums/tooth pain I have, which replaced the weird jaw/lymph node pain, which itself prented as a sequel to the lymph node infection of two weeks ago. I am an old man.

Meeting up with John tonight. I haven’t seen him in a very long time. I don’t really know him anymore; he didn’t know that I was working at UBC, which seems strange.

Went to Whistler this weekend with Anna and Sara. We stayed at Anna’s boss’s cabin which was in a sort-of cabin subdivision, which seemed fairly representative of Whistler 2006. The trip was a bit blah (too much TV and eating and unfulfilling lazing) until we managed to go ice skating on a lake which was fun and—though slightly painful (thanks to my ill-fitting skates)—basically restored the harmony and goodwill of the whole weekend. It was all laughs after that.

Booked tickets to San Diego last night. Easter’s going to be rad.