Offal

A few weeks ago, Kate and I went for dim sum with some friends.  One of our friends is of Chinese descent and remnisced about when her white Canadian husband first met her somewhat traditional Chinese parents and he was served gelatinized pig trotters and chicken feet.  Much hilarity ensued as the guy bravely tucked into his meal.

Offal, sometimes euphemistically referred to as variety meats, are the bits and pieces of animals that today you don't see much of in the meat counter of your local supermarket.  They harken back to a day when people were frugal and every part of the animal was used to feed the family.  They include such things as tripe, liver, kidneys, brain, sweetbreads, testicles and on and on.  As a kid, I remember my mother used to make steak and kidney pie, which I really liked, until I found out what kidneys were.  Then not so much.  Liver was then, and remains today, a form of torture.  Even turkey giblets, which I used to really like when doused liberally with salt, I cannot bear to look at let alone eat.

About the only offal I care for today is foie gras, which I recognize is very politically incorrect of me, but which I just can't resist when I see it on a menu.  It is the crack cocaine of organ meats - irrestible in its rich lusciousness.

Author and one time chef Anthony Bourdian often writes rhapsodically about offal.  Celebrity chef Mario Batali is apparently also an officianado of animal entrails.  I consider people who cook and eat these meats on the same level as I consider those who choose to go over the Niagara Falls just for the funof it.  That is to say, brave with a perhaps a dash of insanity mixed in for good measure.

I would love to hear from all of you about your experiences with offal, what you like and dislike, and your thoughts on food taboos in general.

Noise Pollution

Noise seems to be ever ubiquitous, inescapable, really.  In the great outdoors, we are assaulted by traffic noise, including those infuriating "boom cars" with their thudding bass, the sound of airplanes, construction, inconiderate noisy neighbours, yapping dogs, power tools, honking horns, and slamming car doors.  To name but a few.

Malls are among the most awful places.  Set aside the natural noises of the unwashed masses, and you're left with music blaring from stores.  Nearly all stores, all mingling in an incoherent bray of noise.
Even libraries, once havens of quiet are now dens of insanity, as I've written about before.  Even our homes betray us with furnaces and airconditioning switchin on and off, ditto the fridge, to say nothing of other kitchen appliances, the washing machine which sounds like a helicopter taking of when it is spinning and the clothes dryer.  And don't get me started on noise in the workplace.

Lest you think me just a complainer, please consider:

• the World Health Organization (WHO) has found that noise adversely affects human health through sleep disturbance, cardiovascular impacts and impairs child development and cognitive functioning.  The WHO has also found work productivty losses from noise, learning impairment in children and hearing impairment;
• the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has found that 42% of the population feels their private home life is adversely affected by noise;
• the U.S. Centers for Disease Controls has produced a number of papers addressing health impacts of occupational and community noise.

Research in this area is currently not too abundant, but it is growing and there is a consensus is emerging that people face too much noise in their daily lives and that the health impacts and social conflict are growing as a result.  These impacts are expected to grow as population increases.  The question is what are the appropriate policy responses from all level of government?

Noise pollution does not seem to be a hot topic on anyone's policy agenda, despite a very high number of NGOs and community groups trying to raise its profile as an issue to be addressed.  Those of us who are sensitive to noise hope that meaningful policies are developed to curb the amount of community and occupational noise we are exposed to.

Milestones Restaurant

The family and I discovered a restaurant chain called Milestones a couple of years ago.  Normally, chain restaurants are boringly predictable nd mediocre at best, often reheating or cooking frozen pre-assembled food sent from the mothership.  I have to say, though, that this particular restaurant has a varied menu and everything appears to be made from scratch.  Their prime rib is usually excellent, as are the few fish dishes I've tried.

We normally go to the Ottawa location on Sussex Drive and the service there tends to be particularly smashing.  Once, the Bean and I showed up for dinner without a reservation and were told it would be an hour and a half wait.  We decided we couldn't wait and left.  A few seconds later, the manager called us back and said he would fit us in if we were willing to wait a couple of minutes later.  We were soon seated and perusing the menu when the manager reappeared and explained that he had two daughters and simply couldn't turn us away. 

Several months later, we tried to get a reservation but were told that they were booked solid, but that they did keep a number of tables for walk-ins and at that time of the day, the wait shouldn't be more than a half-hour.  The family and I decided the wait was worth it and we headed into to town only to find once we got there that the wait was an hour and a half again.  My wife mentioned that when we called 20 minutes earlier, we were told that iwe should only have to wait 30 minutes.  Again the manager came to our rescue and seated us within minutes.

The table service has similarly been uniformly excellent.  Friendly waiters and waitresses who know the dishes and provide good advice and generally quick service. This has become a family favourite.  If you live, or are travelling, in British Columbia, Alberta or Ontario, search them out and give them a try.

Luthiery

I recently decided to learn how to play the guitar with my daughter, the Bean.  Long before that, though, I was interested in the art and craft of the luthier, defined loosely as a maker of stringed instruments.  In much the same way a master chef can assemble and prepare a set of ingredients for a sublime dining experience, a master luthier can assemble and prepare a collection of material and produce an instrument that grips the player and the listener with its sound. 

The quality of the sound is, of course, the primary concern of the luthier - selecting and shaping tonewoods, building a a resonant sustaining soundboard, bracing the instrument so the tension of the strings doesn't rip the instrument apart.  However, the skilled luthier also has plenty of opportunities to adorn their instruments with scrolls, inlays, bindings and purfling (to name but a few), elevating their instruments from sonic masterpieces into jewels of visual art.

To feed my interest in lutherie, I have over the years purchased a number of books on the subject:
 
The Violin Maker by John Marchese, 2007:  A book about Brooklyn, New York violin maker Sam Zygmuntowicz, who has made violins for luminaries such as Isaac Stern and Eugene Emerson.  An interesting element of the book describes Zygmuntowicz's evolution from focussing on the traditional aspects of the craft to a greater interest in the science and use of technology in building violins.

Clapton's Guitar by Allen St. John, 2005:  Chronicles the work of Virginia luthier Wayne Henderson as he accepts and works on a commission for guitar playing legend Eric "Slow Hands" Clapton.

Opus:  The Making of Musical Instruments in Canada by Carmel Bégin, 1992:  A selective survey of Canadian instrument makers including luthiers specializing in a wide range of forms:  psalters, violes, hurdy-gurdies, violins and guitars.  Nicely illustrated with black and white photography.

Acoustic Guitars:  The Illustrated Encyclopedia by Dave Hunter, 2003:  As the title promises, this book is both encyclopedic in covering significant guitar makers, and richly illustrated.  For the guitar enthusiast, this more than any other book, is a must have.  It has a sister publication devoted to electric guitars, which I bought for my nephew as a graduation present but which I don't have myself, so please if anyone wants to buy me a gift...
 A comprehensive
With Strings Attached:  The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars by Jonathan Kellerman, 2008:  This is guitar nirvana.  The book features the author's collection of vintage - mostly acoustic - guitars.  His prose makes clear that he loves his guitar.  The book is lavishly illustrated with colour photographs.

Guitar Making:  Tradition and Technology by William Cumpiano and Jonathan Naterson, 1987:  A comprehensive and well-illustrated manual for would-be luthiers, detailing everything you need to know to build a steel-string or classical guitar from scratch.

Happy reading!

the Kazukes?

My mother's Ukrainian maiden name was Kazuke.  This is what my siblings and I grew up thinking (much to the amusement of our childhood friends who gleefully called some of us the Great Gazoo of Flintstones fame).  A couple of years ago, though, my cousin Patricia, who was the custodian of various family documents, sent me copies of my maternal grandparents' Ukrainian passports from when their part of the Ukraine (Galicia in the South West part of the country) was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Much to my surprise the name on their passports was spelled Kaziuka.

Somehow between them leaving Ukraine and settling in Montreal their name got corrupted.  I don't know if it was an intentional corruption by my grandparents, or whether upon arriving in Canada immigration officials transcribed what they thought they heard and my grandparents just lived with the change - not an uncommon occurence.  I think this is the more likely scenario.  Many new Canadians changed their names to anglicize them and make their integration into mainstream society easier, but Kazuke versus Kaziuka would have a feeble change.

Anyway, this should be a lesson for would-be genealogists - names of immigrants often got changed, either by the family or over-worked immigration officials, so you should be vigilant for this when doing your family research.

For more information on genealogy, please check out my wife's family history blog.  She hasn't made an entry in a while, but her past posts are informative and interesting.

Jewelry

I'm not sure why, but I love jewelry.  Maybe the penchant for shiny things is an artifact of a previous life as a cat.  Maybe I appreciate the jeweler's creativity of designing beautiful pieces and the painstaking craftsmanship that goes into making the creative vision a reality.

I should say that I really don't like wearing jewelry.  I seem to always feel it and I don't enjoy the feeling.  After being married for 13 years, I am still not even comfortable wearing my wedding band.  I will almost always wear it while out of the house (otherwise women would be pestering me), but seldom wear it in the house.

I do love buying jewelry for my wife and daughter, though.  I used to buy Kate a pair of earrings every year for Christmas until she made me stop.  Then for her first Mother's Day, I bought her a Swarovsky crystal pin (or brooch to be a little more old fashioned) and I have now assembled for her a pretty decent collection of those.  She has also gotten several bracelets and rings over the year.

Part of the challenge I enjoy in buying Kate jewelry lies in finding nice pieces that aren't overly pricey, for I am not a financially wealthy guy.  Tradeoffs have to be made:  stones that are less than perfect, or perfect stones that are smaller, lower carat gold, well designed pieces made of less expensive material (i.e. sterling silver and semi-precious stones).  I think, overall, I have made some really good choices.  I've never heard Kate complain (except for getting too many earrings).

Now I have a daughter that I can look forward to showering with jewels.  Because she's only eight, most of her jewelry is juvenile, so significantly less fun to buy.  This past Christmas, though, I bought her what I would consider her first "real" piece.  Lena has long been fascinated by opals, so I bought her a pair of opal earings set in silver.  She loves them.  As she gets older, I'll continue to seed her collection.  I hope she'll look on the jewelry I get for her to be something special, something to remind her of me when I am long gone from this earth.

Irises

A bit of an odd topic for me, since I generally enjoy hockey fights more than flowers, but in casting about for an "I" topic for the A-Z Challenge, I realized that I kind of like irises.  Fitting that I should be writing about them in April, because one thing I like about irises is that they are, to me, harbingers of Spring.

They are also reminders of my wife and our wedding.  When we got married on the Victoria Day weekend in 1999, we chose irises to adorn the tables at our reception in the Railway Committee room in Centre Block on Parliament Hill.  So, every time I see an iris I think back to that day and how much my wife, and our daughter, mean to me.  I really don't know what I would do without her.

I have also over the years dabbled in learning how to draw.  One exercise I have tried is drawing a flower.  The first time out, I chose an iris.  It turned out okay, but Vincent Van Gogh can rest easy in his grave, even if I had eternity to match his ability, I still couldn't come even close to his brilliance.  Indeed this another reason I like irises.  My daughter and I share a love of Vincent Van Gogh's work.  We live in Ottawa, Ontario, home of Canada's National Gallery.  One of the Van Goghs in the collection is his 1889 Iris, seen below.

For the last couple of years, I have been clearing out our excessively large backyard garden so I can sod it over.  In the corner, though, grow some irises and I will be sure to keep those for all the memories they invoke in me.

Iris

Vincent van Gogh

1889

62.2 x 48.3 cm
oil on thinned cardboard, mounted on canvas
Purchased 1954
National Gallery of Canada (no. 6294)