If I had to choose my favourite snack food, it would be Ketchup Chips by Winnipeg snack food company Old Dutch.
It has been a snack food fave of mine since I was a little kid. I would go down to the local grocery store each and every sunday and pick up a bag of Old Dutch Ketchup Chips and a chocolate milk, for me.. Old Dutch's ketchup chips and a chocolate milk went hand in hand!
For a while in the 90s I prefered the taste of Lay's ketchup chips, but that didn't last long. I find the Lay's ketchup chips too vinegary, and the chips itself are thin, brittle and feel like they're kind of "fake".
The ketchup chips by Old Dutch have this thick ketchuppy aroma when you open the bag. the chips themselves are fairly thick, and not brittle at all, sometimes you can get individual chips in the bag that are the size of the palm of your hand, quite large of a chip! I love the chips with alot of powder on them, makes my mouth water. Mmmm
Several years ago there were "Arriba" nacho chips that came in ketchup flavouring, I personally LOVED it, as I'm not a fan of nacho chips what-so-ever. However, the Ketchup Arribas were quickly discontinued (same with Ketchup Doritos).
Ketchup Chips are a very Canadian experience, and have been since who knows when. Whenever I talk to an American (or someone from just about anywhere) about ketchup chips, they start to gag and think it's the most disgusting idea ever, but they never tried it. Like poutine, if they gave it a try, they would fall in love with it!
So I went down to the US in the summer (North Dakota), while shopping for snacks I wandered in the chip eisle, I'm always amazed by the assortment of chips available at the grocery stores in the US, outtrumps what we get in Canada. And low and behold, they had Old Dutch's ketchup chips! The truely Canadian snack was now in stock in America. I found the chips slightly different than the classic Canadian counterpart, but a very tasty itself.
Just blogging about this is making my mouth water. However, the main problem I have is if I have a bag of ketchup chips infront of me, I *must* eat the entire bag/box. It doesn't matter how big it is, I must eat it all... Tooooo addicting! Thankfully I only manage to buy it once every few months.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
My favourite snack food..
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Photo of the day - January 26, 2010
Growing up, all of us have had an experience with ugly wallpaper, a wallpaper that appears to have came from the 1960s, when it WAS the style. To some of us, it's an embarrassment when having friends over when you're young, to others, it's a piece of art, something from yesteryear. However, most of us can agree that it's ugly/tacky!
Today's picture of the day is Ugly retro wallpaper!
One thing I wish that would come back in style..
One thing I wish that would come back in style in culture is glass bottle soft drinks (pop/soda/"liquors"). For probably 20 years or longer now, all of the major soft drink manufacturers, not just here in Canada, but also world wide have been switching from glass bottles to plastic.
While the move is obvious that it saves the company ALOT of money in shipping costs, as well as saves on undamaged goods, a soda in a glass bottle will always be the best.
The Pop Shoppe here in Canada has found a niche in the soft drink market, they offered ALL of their beverages in glass bottles. First, they offered them in a glass bottle with a short "neck" to it, but late last year they brought back their traditional "Stubby" style bottles (similar to the ol' beer bottles until the 80s!)
While drinking a Pop Shoppe soda/pop/beverage/etc, I keep thinking that other soft drink manufacturers should follow. For me, I like to drink a nice ice cold glass bottle of Pop Shoppe Cola or Root Beer, it's a nice treat after a long day. Also it gives a nostalgic feeling that reminds me of the late 80s when glass bottles were being phased out.
While Coca Cola regularly offers 237ml glass bottles in various parts of Canada, that's not enough. It's a great item to give someone as a nostalgic type of gift, but not really as a treat. C'mon Coke! A glass bottle Coke is one of the best things there is! You should atleast offer it in 355ml size. For me, I want to enjoy the beverage thoroughly, not drink a few sips and then it's done!
Pepsi doesn't appear to sell glass bottle beverages in Canada.. unless if I've just never seen them.
Kudos to the Pop Shoppe for bringing back glass bottle beverages for everyone young and old to enjoy, and for bringing back the stubby style bottle back to relevancy in Canadian culture! Coke and Pepsi: we all want glass bottle Coke/Pepsi's! But you doubtfully will ever introduce one that's more than 240ml or so.. boo urns to that!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Photo of the day - January 23, 2010
Arc Group Photo (with John K Samson, Christine Fellows and friends!), originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.
I'm quite pleased to see John K Samson in concert in Brandon FOR ONCE! This was the third time I saw him live in concert. I saw him perform with the Weakerthans in Quebec City in 2008, in Winnipeg in 2009, and now this!
Check out all the "Arc - Six Musicians Map the Current" photos Here!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Photo of the day - January 20, 2010
Today's photo is "Old nursing home hallway..." which gives me the creeps once in a while!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Photo of the day - January 19, 2010
Photo of the day for January 19, 2010. Titled "Desk without a Student."
Monday, January 18, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Photo of the day - January 15, 2010
Today's photo of the day happens to be of a post card of my Grandparent's old barn. Apparently many decades ago, my grandparents barn was used for as a postcard. The barn looks fairly new back then. The barn would continue to provide much use for the farm (raising chickens, pigs, cattle) for several years until around 1999 or so when they tore it down. My parents tore down THEIR barn this past spring because a tornado in 2007 severely damaged it, it was no longer useable for calving in the winter time.
Monday, January 11, 2010
One Great Province! Why I LOVE Manitoba!
A few hours ago I was walking from the university on this beautiful day. Near me, there was this girl, on the phone and she went to say "I just moved to Brandon, Manitoba.. I hated it here and it sucks...a lot!". Like every other person who has moved to Brandon and Manitoba for various reasons such as for school, work, family or just for any other reason.. they quickly discover that it's not as a great place as they were hoping. Even I feel that I feel more welcome anywhere else but here!
But, on the flipside, there are things about Manitoba that I do love, which is weird to say... and if I was to leave Manitoba.. I would miss it.. somewhat.
Manitoba is a place that has an abundance of agriculture, like any other prairie province. We have enough beef to feed a third world nation, enough barley to brew the best beers in Canada, wheat for breads and pastries, and the local potatos are eaten around the world.. ever eaten a McDonalds french fry? A large quantity of those potatos are grown in Manitoba!
The fusion of cultures in Manitoba makes me smile once in a while. Growing up, I grew up in middle of nowhere of course, but even as late as grade one or grade two, I could tell that there were alot of people of different cultures in the class. One of my best friends was Hutterite, others were Irish, French, Métis, Scottish, Ukrainian, and much much more. Heck, I grew up hearing French on a regular basis being from a French family, I also heard several other languages on a regular basis. Brandon and Winnipeg once a year hold these events that let people discover how other cultures celebrate. Brandon has the Lieutenant Governor's Winter Festival, while Winnipeg has the world renown Folklorama. At these ones I get to see what people from El Salvador or Germany like to do culturally, what they like to eat and what sort of traditional music and dance they do. Manitoba is much more welcoming for immigrants than alot of regions are. Well, we need it as most people don't want to work at a pig barn for near minimum wage.
The music. Frankly, Manitoba has one of the best music scenes in Canada, period. While we cannot compare to Quebec, as they have the most amazing music scene I have ever seen, but Manitoba is full of very amazing musicians, ranging from John K Samson and the Weakerthans to local violinist James Ehnes to the Guess Who. I guess there's something in the water that gets people to really experiment with music here.. oh wait, no.. it's the fact that Manitoba is one of the coldest places on the planet Earth, that's why. You have to keep busy while you're here.
Slurpees, as a Manitoban, I loveeeee Slurpees, it's one of those weird cravings that I get from time to time. It can be a cold miserable night where it's -40C with a windchill of -48C, and if I'm craving a Slurpee, I MUST have a Slurpee, and sure enough, I end up getting a Slurpee, making the trek 15 minutes each way just for a 1L jug of Coke or Orange slurpee! But the cold trek is worth it. Slurpees were something I dearly missed while living in Quebec. They have la sloche there at Couche Tard (Mac's Convenience Store), but it's just iced kool-aid and sour flavours, not iced Coke/root beer or whatever.. I guess if I ever do move out of the Prairies, I'll have to buy myself a small Slurpee machine! Mmmmmm!
The Summers. One thing people bitch about Manitoba is that the winters here are unbelievably cold and long (well it is), and the summers are too hot and full of mosquitos. Well the mosquito part is, but personally, I LOVE Manitoban summers, it's hot, it's dry, it's a perfect time to go to the beach, and Manitoba has some of the best beaches in all of Canada! Nothing's better than going to a local beach and going for a swim, then tan for a bit, then at night go back home and sit on the deck with friends and have an ice cold beer while listening to Kim Mitchell on a small tape player! That's what I call heaven.
Winter weather on days like today. As I said before, Manitoban winters are unbelievably cold and long, but on days like today make it special. It's only -6C out today and supposed to warm up for the rest of the week. I love weeks like this as you see people out and about, going for walks, with their family, with their kids, with their loved ones, with their pets, with who/whatever. People are in a pleasant mood on days like this, actually smiling, instead of being bundled up, grouchy and freezing their arses off and wishing it was summer.
Lastly, the beer. Well most beer available in Manitoba is crap. Lucky Lager? Minhas Creek? Club? OV? Blech! Winnipeg's Microbrewery Half Pints Brewing Co is a company I admire dearly. They are one of the first breweries on the Prairies who have a desire to create quality beers, not quantity. Their beers are NOT the traditional Pilsner, lagers, golden and light beers that are popular with Manitobans. They focus on real India Pale Ales, coffee flavoured Stouts, Amber Ales, very hoppy beers and a very very tasty Pale Ale.. which personally, tastes much better than any Keith's, Kokanee, Canadian or Blue on the market. Every person who has ever tried the (St James) Pale Ale has fell in love with it. Why? Well it's just a good tasting beer, not too strong for the pickiest prairie beer drinker, but also appreciative for a connoisseur who wants something of a lighter fare. Half Pints is possibly the best brewery in Western Canada, and also one of the BEST breweries in Canada. Well their Humulus Ludicrous was rated as the BEST beer in Western Canada by RateBeer.com (and #10 Canada wide), so they're obviously doing SOMETHING right! Their beers are such a treat, especially their mixed pack.. but I wish they'd mix up the mixer pack more often, a few seasonal, a few staples, like have maybe one seasonal, a St James, Bull Dog, and something else. That'd be good for everyones tastes. How I love that beer company!
But, on the flipside, there are things about Manitoba that I do love, which is weird to say... and if I was to leave Manitoba.. I would miss it.. somewhat.
Manitoba is a place that has an abundance of agriculture, like any other prairie province. We have enough beef to feed a third world nation, enough barley to brew the best beers in Canada, wheat for breads and pastries, and the local potatos are eaten around the world.. ever eaten a McDonalds french fry? A large quantity of those potatos are grown in Manitoba!
The fusion of cultures in Manitoba makes me smile once in a while. Growing up, I grew up in middle of nowhere of course, but even as late as grade one or grade two, I could tell that there were alot of people of different cultures in the class. One of my best friends was Hutterite, others were Irish, French, Métis, Scottish, Ukrainian, and much much more. Heck, I grew up hearing French on a regular basis being from a French family, I also heard several other languages on a regular basis. Brandon and Winnipeg once a year hold these events that let people discover how other cultures celebrate. Brandon has the Lieutenant Governor's Winter Festival, while Winnipeg has the world renown Folklorama. At these ones I get to see what people from El Salvador or Germany like to do culturally, what they like to eat and what sort of traditional music and dance they do. Manitoba is much more welcoming for immigrants than alot of regions are. Well, we need it as most people don't want to work at a pig barn for near minimum wage.
The music. Frankly, Manitoba has one of the best music scenes in Canada, period. While we cannot compare to Quebec, as they have the most amazing music scene I have ever seen, but Manitoba is full of very amazing musicians, ranging from John K Samson and the Weakerthans to local violinist James Ehnes to the Guess Who. I guess there's something in the water that gets people to really experiment with music here.. oh wait, no.. it's the fact that Manitoba is one of the coldest places on the planet Earth, that's why. You have to keep busy while you're here.
Slurpees, as a Manitoban, I loveeeee Slurpees, it's one of those weird cravings that I get from time to time. It can be a cold miserable night where it's -40C with a windchill of -48C, and if I'm craving a Slurpee, I MUST have a Slurpee, and sure enough, I end up getting a Slurpee, making the trek 15 minutes each way just for a 1L jug of Coke or Orange slurpee! But the cold trek is worth it. Slurpees were something I dearly missed while living in Quebec. They have la sloche there at Couche Tard (Mac's Convenience Store), but it's just iced kool-aid and sour flavours, not iced Coke/root beer or whatever.. I guess if I ever do move out of the Prairies, I'll have to buy myself a small Slurpee machine! Mmmmmm!
The Summers. One thing people bitch about Manitoba is that the winters here are unbelievably cold and long (well it is), and the summers are too hot and full of mosquitos. Well the mosquito part is, but personally, I LOVE Manitoban summers, it's hot, it's dry, it's a perfect time to go to the beach, and Manitoba has some of the best beaches in all of Canada! Nothing's better than going to a local beach and going for a swim, then tan for a bit, then at night go back home and sit on the deck with friends and have an ice cold beer while listening to Kim Mitchell on a small tape player! That's what I call heaven.
Winter weather on days like today. As I said before, Manitoban winters are unbelievably cold and long, but on days like today make it special. It's only -6C out today and supposed to warm up for the rest of the week. I love weeks like this as you see people out and about, going for walks, with their family, with their kids, with their loved ones, with their pets, with who/whatever. People are in a pleasant mood on days like this, actually smiling, instead of being bundled up, grouchy and freezing their arses off and wishing it was summer.
Lastly, the beer. Well most beer available in Manitoba is crap. Lucky Lager? Minhas Creek? Club? OV? Blech! Winnipeg's Microbrewery Half Pints Brewing Co is a company I admire dearly. They are one of the first breweries on the Prairies who have a desire to create quality beers, not quantity. Their beers are NOT the traditional Pilsner, lagers, golden and light beers that are popular with Manitobans. They focus on real India Pale Ales, coffee flavoured Stouts, Amber Ales, very hoppy beers and a very very tasty Pale Ale.. which personally, tastes much better than any Keith's, Kokanee, Canadian or Blue on the market. Every person who has ever tried the (St James) Pale Ale has fell in love with it. Why? Well it's just a good tasting beer, not too strong for the pickiest prairie beer drinker, but also appreciative for a connoisseur who wants something of a lighter fare. Half Pints is possibly the best brewery in Western Canada, and also one of the BEST breweries in Canada. Well their Humulus Ludicrous was rated as the BEST beer in Western Canada by RateBeer.com (and #10 Canada wide), so they're obviously doing SOMETHING right! Their beers are such a treat, especially their mixed pack.. but I wish they'd mix up the mixer pack more often, a few seasonal, a few staples, like have maybe one seasonal, a St James, Bull Dog, and something else. That'd be good for everyones tastes. How I love that beer company!
Friday, January 08, 2010
Dear Futureshop
If you are going to list something as a featured product on your Website for the big "Boxing Week Sale", make sure it's a product that's not a PIECE OF SHIT! I bought your Duracell 6-in-1 memory card reader for $9.99, it seemed like a good deal as my old SD card reader no longer worked 90% of the time. I obviously thought it was going to be a decent product. It was much worse than my old card reader. First of all, it's hard to insert the card and remove the card from the slot... Fair enough. But it has a tendency to randomly disconnect for no reason what-so-ever. If my phone vibrates, which it just did, the card randomly disconnects itself from the computer. Why? Why would it do that. The sudden move from anything near it makes it disconnect. Just TOUCHING the reader makes it disconnect. Also, if you're going to sell a card reader, make sure it's build to stand someone's pocket, since many people will be using the reader to transfer documents to-and-from school or whatnot. The reader literally fell apart, exposing only its USB connector and a microchip. That must not be good for the reader?
Now you're selling this reader for $15, first of all, it's not worth the $15, it's not even worth $10. The memory card reader I got from you before was included FREE with a $15 8GB SDHC card I bought from you a year and half ago, it worked much better in the year and half I've had it, than this Duracell card reader has in the day and half I've used it.
I feel like throwing it against a wall. Thank you Futureshop, for selling junk and advertising it as quality products.
Now you're selling this reader for $15, first of all, it's not worth the $15, it's not even worth $10. The memory card reader I got from you before was included FREE with a $15 8GB SDHC card I bought from you a year and half ago, it worked much better in the year and half I've had it, than this Duracell card reader has in the day and half I've used it.
I feel like throwing it against a wall. Thank you Futureshop, for selling junk and advertising it as quality products.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
My Top Five Favourite Photos on Flickr
I've been on Flickr for over 3 years now and I originally started my account there as a way to keep a copy of my Quebec City photos backed up, as I have bad luck with photos. As I got more and more photos from the trip on the website, I started to take photos for just for fun just to post on there. For the first while I didn't post often, maybe once every 6 months tops. As soon as I got a Flickr pro account, I had one month where I posted over 500 photos! Now I post whatever I think is interesting or just plain funny, from pictures of beer, to funny cats to concerts I go to. Some photos turned out "ZOMG", some turned out just plain alright, and others turned out "meh, could be better". But there's the photos I felt were my faves.
Here's my top 5 photos I've ever posted on Flickr!
Whatcha think? What are absolute favourite photos that you've ever taken?
Here's my top 5 photos I've ever posted on Flickr!
On June 23, 2007, Pipestone had one of its largest tornadoes in many decades. I had personally never seen a tornado in my life. For many weeks following the tornado, I was still startled, and shaking uncontrollably non-stop. It was also a major "wow" event for me, just to see it. My mom had her camera out, but both the battery was dead, and the memory card was full of pictures. Very inconvenient as the camera has a Lithium ion battery! So I whipped out my trusty Motorola v635 camera and took this photo. While it's average cellphone quality, it circulated the internet and only hours later made it to the Weather Network's website. It was also posted in the Winnipeg Sun the following day. The tornado did alot of damage that we're still paying for today.
Back in September we had the Western Canadian Music Awards in town, a few close friends came into town, so we bar hopped and venue hopped, seeing well over a dozen live shows in a short amount of time. It was amazing. At the pub where we went before heading to the concerts, I wanted a photo of the gang together, so I got the waiter to take a photo. While I didn't take the photo, me forgetting to turn off the settings made this photo HILARIOUS! I had it set to taking a constant stream of photos for 10 seconds, so this photo occured, nearly scaring him shitless! It was hilarious and I still laugh at it.
I just loved this photo that I took a few weeks ago. I've always wanted to be cheesy and do a beer theme, like a Corona on the Beach (Miles from the Ordinary or whatnot), so Winter & Snow + Winter Ale sounded like a perfect idea. It was. I loved doing it, while it was cold, chilly and hurting my hands, the photo turned out great! I'll do this for a beer theme again one day. PS The Winter Ale wasn't great, tasted like how wax smells.
#2: Water Fountain
One thing about Quebec City I hated was the weather, one minute it would be raining, the next it would be sunny. I never understood it. So it was always mandatory to have an umbrella with you at all times. This is an example of how bad the weather is. The part of the city I was in was still fairly warm, sunny, but only 100 metres away it was pouring rain like cats and dogs! On the upside, it made this photo turn out amazing!
This is my absolute favourite photo I have ever taken and posted on Flickr. It was taken at the right place at the right time. The band Volcanoless in Canada performed at the Brandon Folk Fest back last summer, and decided to check them out. I was pleased! I love how this photo turned out, 4/5 of the band is appearing to be really rockin themselves out! I loved it!
Sunday, January 03, 2010
L'homme qui est fou
Yeah, Chantal will be giggling at the title of this blog entry but yeah, I suppose i'm "crazy" or weird or "fou" as she says. But what ya expect coming from a region of weird people?
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