Peta Protest

I walked by this anti-seal hunt protest around 12:45.  There didn’t seem to be many people protesting around the inflatable Peta seal in King Square.

I’mma Let You Finish

I love Kanye West.  I really enjoy his music and dig his bravado.  I really love wasting time checking out http://kanyegate.tumblr.com/ which pokes fun at Mr. West’s propensity to disrupt awards shows with rants.

Local TV

I saw two commercials back to back tonight – one for http://www.stopthetvtax.ca/ and another for http://localtvmatters.ca/

Both campaigns have money behind them – cable companies and Canadian TV networks are running the spots. 

What was particularly interesting was that both ads use a “streeter” impromptu street interview format to get their message across.

Giant Tiger: Using a carrot, not a stick on conservation

I was buying some groceries at Giant Tiger the other night and used a reusable bag.  I was pleased to find out that I got a small discount for using a green bag.  I think this is a far better way to encourage reusable bag use than charging for plastic bags. 

However, I do know that I am more willing to carry items in my hands when a store is charging for plastic, so I think both techniques work.

Selling booze for less than Social Reference Price

I don’t know much about alcohol regulation in this province, but I recall $18.67 per 12 pack of 355 ml beer being the minimum.  This is the price the provincial liquor commission announced it would sell its Selection store brand beer for.

The beer was supposed to be cheap in an attempt to stop NB residents from cross boarded beer shopping.  The price was supposed to stay low because the province wouldn’t be spending marketing funds on selling the stuff. 

Then they had a promotion giving away video game hardware.  I thought this was a minor expense and forgot about it.  The province also put up a website with recipes.  Again, a minor expense, so I didn’t think much of it.

Now the province is giving away whiskey with its brand of beer.  This means they are now selling more alcohol for less money than $18.67 per 12 pack.

I think this is strange.

The CBC reports that one Liberal MLA doesn’t think this is a good plan.  They also report that an opposition MLA is questioning the legality of selling more booze for less money.

Beyond legality, one has to wonder the economics of doing this.  Selling beer for less was supposed to help with profitability, by keeping beer drinkers in province. Presumably selling the beer for even less is taking a bite out of Selection’s profits.

Odd.

Stuff Hipsters Hate

I’ve added another site to my procrastination line-up:

http://stuffhipstershate.tumblr.com/page/

Great entries include ‘Tact’ and ‘Gentrification.’

Hot hot eats

I just downed a bowl of spicy chicken soup with more than a few dashes of PC Brand Chipotle hot sauce.

I love hot sauces and wanted share a few favourites with the world wide web.

I’m a big fan of Scorned Woman hot sauce – one that should be used sparingly to add heat to dishes.  This sauce is available locally at Cochran’s Country market.

The other that has a permanent place in my spice rack is Busha Browne’s Pukka Hot Pepper Sauce.  This one is available on grocery shelves and is a bit less reminiscent of an inferno than Scorned Woman, but definitely adds an interesting heat to food.

Seafood Chowder with Dill

With lobster prices low this weekend I decided to try my hand at making a fish chowder.  I followed (for the most part) Michael Smith’s Seafood Chowder with Dill recipe but used lobster instead of shrimp.

Reusable bags and useable customers

I’ve been using PC Green Bags a lot over the last year.  In fact I use these bags most places I shop – not just Superstore.  While I like “doing my part” for the environment, I wonder how genuine the environmental efforts of Loblaws are. 

Local fruit and veggie vendor Pete’s Fruitique has been charging for the use of plastic bags for a while now.  This seems like a genuine effort from a small shop in the City Market.  Of course their produce is shipped in from distance places – but still a small local business such as this can reduce waste and get brownie points from me.

Now Superstore has joined the pay-for-plastic segment of green-washed marketing.  I’m not sure if Superstore means it.  They are certainly reducing bag usage; last night I saw several people leaving the store carrying groceries stacked precariously in hand with no bags.

Still, I don’t know if I can respect this “green initiative” from a company that’s business model is to have multiple stores in the city with huge parking lots, high ceilings and every double-packaged food item the market requests.

I’m not the only cynic – Treehugger has an article with lines such as:

Selling a bag for 99 cents doesn't make you green; selling decent food at the peak of our short season to fill it does.

[ED: Interestingly the bags were half off this week making them unavailable for the new pay-for-plastic launch.

Lemon Dill Salmon

I cooked some salmon last night with dill, lemon, salt, pepper and olive oil and served it with wax beans.

Maritime Beef: unique brand and product

I was listening to a discussion on the CBC about the need for a maritime beef brand. The beef industry in this region is suffering from being to small to compete with western Canadian producers and has had limited success emulating the western practices of grain feeding and using hormones to make big cows.

The proposal discussed on the CBC to help the ailing industry is to move away from trying to bulk up cattle and aim to create an organic or at least more natural beef product that would be branded as such. This beef could then be sold into markets looking for this type of product, including large European and east-coast US markets.

If the industry can afford to make the switch, this seems like it could be a good way for them to become more profitable in the future.

Cuts to civil service: editors say yes, advertisers say no

I find it interesting that the editorial board of the Telegraph Journal is calling for cuts to the provincial civil service, and is running on its website these huge ads for the NB Union Syndicate's critism of such cuts.

More fun in the kitchen

My fiance brought home a nice cut of beef from Cochran's Country Market, so we decided to do it justice and put some effort into preparation. I seared the meat on the stove top and cooked it with a sauce made of onions, hot sauce, mustard and some spices. Thinking highly of myself I made mashed potatoes with a similar mix of flavours. Thinking of myself higher still I photographed the meal and posted it on this rarely viewed blog.

Flushing trees

I read an interesting article in The Guardian about American (and presumably Canadian) bathroom habits. The article explained that the desire to have thick soft toilet paper has the consequence of more trees being cut down. According to the article and Green Peace fluffy toilet paper requires virgin pulp, as recycled fibres don't provide as soft a product.

Facebook Privacy Tips

A link from Lifehacker.com provides 10 suggestions on how to make your Facebook Life more private. I used several of these.

Pad Thai

I made me fiancé Pad Thai this evening for Valentine's Day based on this recipe. I made a few substitutions and opted for no tofu, and it turned out very well.

O Canada

On his blog (http://www.jarche.com/2009/02/o-canada/) Harold Jarche wrote an interesting commentary on the issue of "patriotism" in schools. It is worth a read.

Snow Ban - January 19, 2009

Temporary Overnight Snow Ban Declared for the South/Central Peninsula
01/19/09

For Immediate Release
January 19, 2009
Temporary Overnight Snow Ban Declared for the South/Central Peninsula

An overnight snow parking ban has been declared for the South/Central Peninsula effective 11pm this evening through to 7am tomorrow morning. This means there is no on-street parking allowed anywhere in the South/Central Peninsula area. Any vehicles remaining on-street after 11 p.m. when a snow ban has been declared WILL BE TOWED at the owner's risk and expense.

Five Parking Commission snow ban parking lots have been cleared for use by on-street parking residents beginning at 6 pm tonight at:

• the corner of Princess Street and Charlotte Street

• King Street East

• Peters Street

• Carmarthen Street/Vineyard Church and

• Mecklenburg Street at Wentworth Street

Vehicles must be removed from all snow ban parking lots by 7 am Monday through Friday and by noon on weekends. Vehicles remaining in the lots after these times may be towed at the owner's risk and expense.

Great Pizza Dough Recipe

I made a great pizza dough last night. The only alteration to the recipe from RecipePizza.com I made is that I added some tomato juice from a can of whole tomatoes in place of some of the water.

The homemade dough was topped with a similar sauce I made with a 16 ounce can of whole tomatoes that I blended with a clove of garlic, salt and pepper.

On top of the dough and sauce (there was sauce left over), I put some chopped canned artichokes, some diced red onion, a fist full of baby spinach, 4 thin slices of prosciutto, six slices of hot salami, a cup or so of grated farmer's cheese, some pan-fried chicken breast and a little more cheese.

I was pleased with the result and will be cooking my pizza HOT from now on - I was impressed with the golden crust that resulted from the 450 F baking temperature.