The Brown Knowser

If someone were to hand you a bottle of beer and say, "Enjoy... and by the way, it's six years old," would you drink it? Probably not. If that person were to hand you the beer and say nothing, you may open it and be in for a nasty surprise as you actually tasted the old, flat, skunky brew. A couple of weeks ago, a friend handed me a plastic grocery bag that contained four bottles of beer, but he said nothing of what the beer was nor of its age. The labels on the bottles did all the talking, and I was thrilled by what they said. My friend, Perry, was the owner and brewmaster of the Scotch-Irish Brewing Company, which he sold some years back to Heritage Brewing, which is now owned by Kichessippi Beer Company . In the seven or eight years that he ran his brewery, Perry made some of the best beers that I ever tasted. He single-handedly got me away from the mainstream beers and onto premium, hand-crafted microbrewery beer. The Scotch-Irish Brewing Comp...

I'm doing a couple of things here: I'm playing with my iPhone, snapping pics and playing with the Camera+ app; I'm also testing a new app. It's Blogger for iPhone. I wanted to see if I could post to my blog from a mobile device. You know, in case I was desperate to get news out quickly and didn't have access to my laptop. Who knows? It could happen...

For some reason, I can't look at this photo without Cuckoo Cocoon running through my head. Hence, the title of this post. To me, this photo gives a 3-D illusion, as though I had captured raindrops falling from the sky. But in truth, they had already landed. The other day, I was standing outside my office as the rain fell, getting some fresh air while trying to deal with tight deadlines. Because it was raining, I wasn't inclined to venture very far from the building, and so I stood under the covered entrance in the strip mall where I work. I watched the rain bounce off of the hoods and rooves of the parked cars that were lined up against the facing of the mall, most of them faced towards me. The rain streaked off some hoods, pooled in others, spread like thin, transparent coatings on a few. One car appeared to have been recently washed, the rain drops beaded like pearls on the hood. And the way that the light caught the water droplets also caught my eyes. So I pulled o...

I don't think there is a single person in Ottawa who doesn't know who Jamie Hubley is by now, and as of Tuesday evening there are many more Canadians who know who he is, thanks to Rick Mercer. Bullying has to stop. Everyone has to see to it that it does. That is all.

Every day, I have to remind myself of a task that I accomplished earlier this year: I wrote a novel. That is no surprise to many of you who follow me (and in case I haven't said it enough, thank you for following me and for supporting me in my writing and photography: you rock!). I talked about it at length after I finished it and there is a link to it in the right-hand column of this blog. It's been available on its own blog site for years—as I wrote it—and it has been available as a Kindle download since May. I have even started the groundwork for a sequel, though that hasn't seen much movement in a very long time. But I haven't really spoken much of my novel since the spring. And here's why: I'm using a self-publishing company to produce printed copies of the book, and shortly after publishing my story through Amazon, I submitted my manuscript to the publisher. The publisher is iUniverse and they have an affiliation with Chapters , so they told me th...

Last week, the family and I attended a dinner party with some very good friends that we hadn't seen in more than two years. It was a fabulous get-together that reminded us all that two years is way too long to let slip before seeing each other. The friends that we visited are all wine aficionados, most of them having either worked in the wine business, taught wine-appreciation classes, worked in the restaurant industry, or have made wine themselves. Suffice to say, they know wine. So it was no surprise to have an abundance of fine wines at the dinner party. And it was a perfect opportunity for us to share a bottle of wine that we've been wanting to open for some time. For those of you who have been following me for a while, you learned in January that I was hanging on to a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino that I bought in Montalcino in 2004. Lori and I were celebrating our 10 th wedding anniversary with a trip to Tuscany, and I wanted to pick up something speci...

This isn't a Photo Friday. Even though I used my new lens to shoot the pictures in this post, the subject in the photos is pretty lame for a Photo Friday. Read on before you look at the attached pictures. I've been pretty busy at work this week, hence my lack of a blog post yesterday. And I'm going to apologize up front for a lame post today, but please bear with me. I'm pretty stressed these days and don't have a lot of time to think of a topic, let alone write about it. At work, I have two deadlines that are looming for next week. And because other little tasks that have become bigger tasks have snuck in between my main projects, I'm finding myself in a crunch that is putting me into a panic. I'm starting to think that I might not be able to meet my deadlines, and that drives me nuts. And so I worked over the past weekend and put in extra hours through the week. I told myself that unless anything bad happened, I just might get enough completed to han...

I've been invited to do some beta testing again. Over the summer, I was testing the latest photo-editing software from Corel, Paintshop Pro X4 . I've been using Paintshop for a few years now, so beta-testing the latest installment was a lot of fun. I could play with the new features and provide feedback, some that was even incorporated into the final product. And some of my photos are even used in the product itself, to illustrate some of the features. So yesterday, I was asked again to test another product. At this time, I'm not at liberty to say which product, but stay tuned. Because the folks at Corel know the type of camera I use, I had been affectionately known as "Mr. D80." At the beginning of the summer, when I learned about this nickname, I laughed. Sure, I loved my Nikon. It's not a professional camera, but I'm not a professional photographer. At best, I'm a hobbyist. An amateur. I love photography, and I have fun taking photos. The D8...

I want to start off this post by saying that I have the greatest friends. That's pretty much all I want to say. Thanks for stopping by my blog. * * * Actually, there's more that I want to stay. Don't go away just yet. On Saturday, the girls and I drove out to Fitzroy Harbour to join friends for a dinner party. I was looking forward to this gathering for some time, because it's always good to be with these friends and to catch up, share some outstanding wine, eat some great food, and share some laughs. It wasn't until we were all together—Astrid, Perry, Andy, Shirley, Sandy, and Rob—that we were able to remark with some surprise that we hadn't seen each other in more than two years. Time flies with amazing speed: while my friends hadn't changed much (okay, a little: Sandy and Rob had finally tied the knot; Astrid and Perry had lost weight and looked fantastic), we were only able to remark on the passing of time by noticing how much the kids had changed ...

Autumn is in full swing. The city has been highlighted in reds, oranges, and yellows. And despite the rain and wind, there are more leaves still on the trees than on the ground. And yet, there are plenty of leaves on the ground, which makes me wonder: how many good cycling days have I left? A couple of years ago, the wheels of my bike slipped out from under me in the early morning, as I rode to work. Moisture, a little frost, and a leaf-coated pathway made for conditions that made me want to hang up my bike for the season. The huge bruise on my butt sealed the deal. I'm crossing my fingers for a few more nice days. Here's to autumn, but no falls!

Photo courtesy Facebook, via CTV On Tuesday morning, when I read the live, unfolding Twitter feed surrounding Danielle Naçu , a large, heavy weight fell on my chest. Another cyclist involved in a road accident. Another cyclist whose life came to a sudden, tragic end. My hand went to my mouth as the horrific details were tweeted, as pictures of a bent bicycle and shattered helmet on the road next to an automobile were posted. When Danielle woke up on Tuesday morning, she was unaware that it was her last morning. Getting on her bike, she didn't know that it was her last ride. She didn't know that Queen Street was the last place she'd draw breath. That a car door was the last thing she'd see. It's every cyclist's nightmare: the fear of being knocked down in the street, only to be run over by traffic. When we learned the details of Danielle's demise, the blame fell squarely on the driver. The driver was clearly negligent in opening his or her door without ...

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of my father's death, and I wouldn't have remembered had I not put a reminder in my calendar. I know that sounds terrible, but if you knew our relationship you would understand. My father left us when I was five. At 27, he didn't want to be tied down with a wife and three kids. He wanted to be responsible for himself only—a free spirit who could come and go as he pleased. My mother gave me this explanation when I was an adult, living on my own. I might have dismissed her story as coming from the embittered person who was left behind with the three children. But my mom certainly wasn't bitter: she knew that she was better off without my dad and wouldn't have given up her kids for the world. My dad himself confirmed this story when I was in my mid 30s, when he also told me that the biggest regret in his life was marrying my mother. He said that he should never have shown up at the altar. When I replied with an "I'm...

We couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving weekend in the Ottawa area. Sunshine, summer-like temperatures. And the vibrant colours of the Autumn leaves. Whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving, Columbus Day, or whatever holiday befalls you, get out there and enjoy the day!

Thank you to all of you who voted on my poll to help me select the best of my photos for the Worldwide Photo Walk . Some of you clicked a choice on the poll, others left comments on my blog posts, and some even contacted me by e-mail. Thanks! The winning shot was my picture of the door on the abandoned City of Ottawa Sewage Operations building on Bayview Road. The great irony of a door, adorned with a large sign that read "Come In," yet had a padlock and reinforced mesh on the glass. Lots of the photographers for the walk couldn't resist taking a shot of that door. The irony in having that photo selected as my best lies in the fact that despite all of the photos that I shot with my Nikon D80, this photo was shot on my iPhone. The only post-production work was performed on the spot, by using the Instagram filters. Perhaps your choice is a testament to the quality of the camera on my phone. It is a far cry from the camera on my old phone, but I've discussed that iss...