The Brown Knowser

I love beer release parties. Not only do you get to taste something that isn't about to go away (not right away, at least), but you also get to learn more about the beer, see the facilities in which the beer is made, and speak to the folks that have a hand in making the brew. It's a festive celebration. Jillian pours a pint of 1855 at Kichesippi Beer Co. So, I found myself at a beer release party, sampling new beer and trying some of the brewery's regular fare. Some local food was also on hand; namely, pastries from Life of Pie , Pascale's Ice Cream (I never thought I'd ever try cheddar and bacon ice cream in my life—until this weekend), and fabulous sandwiches and stew from The Piggy Market . By the time I left the event, I was stuffed. Wasn't that a party? Honestly, I haven't been to many beer release parties, but so far my favourite has been the release party that I attended yesterday at Ottawa's Kichesippi Brewery. And the b...

Last week, the family and I spent three-and-a-half days in Buffalo, NY, for a dance competition. It was the first time that any of us had been to this city and I have to say, it was a nice place to visit. Sure, there was evidence that Buffalo was feeling the effects of the economic slowdown, but we did our best to inject some cash into their economy. A bit. One of the places we visited was an old diner that had been restored to its former glory: the Lake Effect Diner. It was cosy, clean, and the food was pretty decent—not haute cuisine , but good, solid diner food. Served with a smile. Typical comfort food. Not having my D-SLR but wanting to capture some memories, I did what I could with our Canon point-and-shoot. Here's some of what I caught. For comparison, I also shot some photos with my iPhone. Here are those shots: Which shot(s) do you prefer? If you're ever in Buffalo, stop in at the Lake Effect. I recommend the pulled-pork s...

When I first learned that I would be going to Buffalo for my daughters' dance competition (they rocked, by the way), I thought, oh yeah: beer and wings, baby!   I mean, we've go to eat, don't we? Lori and I searched the Buffalo tourist office almost immediately and found a brew pub that was also famous for its chicken wings. And the tourist video made that pub seem like a fun and lively place that even the kids would enjoy. That place was the Pearl Street Grill and Brewery . Pearl Street is located in the heart of Buffalo, tucked among some great architecture. The pub is in an old building, built in 1841, in what was once known as the most evil square mile in America. The four-story building now houses a grill house, pub, brewery, and restaurant. And with the giant beer tap hanging on the corner, there's no mistaking it. When we arrived, late Friday afternoon, Lori and I thought so little time; so many beers to choose from. So, to make it ...

I love that we're getting into the nicer weather. Warmer days, mild evenings. I love that the days are getting longer, that soon we'll be enjoying those late summer evenings when the sun will fall below the horizon later and later. On an evening the other week, the family and I were heading westbound along the Ottawa River Parkway, when we saw a gorgeous sunset. Normally, there's nowhere to pull over on the Parkway, but we were near an old, abandoned on-ramp, near the Bayview transit station. The on-ramp hasn't been used in decades, was once part of the transitway. So I took advantage of the situation, pulled into that lane, and then backed our vehicle down the ramp, well away from the flow of traffic. Though my D-SLR is out of commission, Lori had her camera with her. I borrowed it and snapped a few pictures. Like this one. And this one. What shooting these photos did for me was to appreciate the coming of the long, lazy days and to refle...

My novel, Songsaengnim: A Korea Diary , has been out for about six weeks now, and I'm pretty proud of it. But that's just me. Here's where you come in. If you are a blogger who reviews books, I'd like to give you a copy of my book. In return, I'd like to get a review from you. Post it on your blog. That is all. If you're interested, contact me at roland_axam@yahoo.ca and we can work out the details from there. And if you've already read my book and want to share your thoughts, please leave a comment. Better yet, tell two friends to read the book. For information about how to order your copy, go to my book's blog site . Thanks.

In my effort to bring some of my posts from the Brownfoot Journal to The Brown Knowser , I thought I'd ease in, bringing old posts to the new blog gradually—you know, when I'm either out of time or out of ideas to write something new. One of my more popular posts from the Brownfoot Journal actually caught the attention of one of the people that is mentioned in this post (all right, I tweeted her and gave her the link; but she didn't have to go to the post, read it, and respond!). We still tweet each other from time to time; most recently, yesterday (okay, she tweeted the world and I responded; but then she replied, so there!). So here is the post about my top five. It's been revised because a few months later, I changed one of the ladies in my lineup. I wanted a top six, but Lori put her foot down. What's my top five? Read on... Do you remember that episode of Friends , when Ross and Rachel made a list of celebrities who, should the occasion ever ...

This is a first: never before have I consumed a beverage that commemorates a tragic moment in history. But it was fitting that I drank a tragically named beer on the anniversary of another event that ended in tragedy and also has Canadian ties. On the 100 th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic , the largest ship in its day, I tried an IPA that was named for the largest elephant of its day. The only disappointment I had with this beer is that it didn't come in a jumbo-sized can. Dead Elephant India Pale Ale Railway City Brewing Company St. Thomas, Ontario LCBO: $2.75, 472 mL can; 6.5% alc/vol. This IPA is named for an event that occurred on September 15, 1885, in St. Thomas, Ontario—home of the brewery. Is it any wonder that a St. Thomas brewery that is named for the railway (which was once a major industry in the town) and by which the elephant met its demise? On that fateful day, when P.T. Barnum's circus was in town, Jumbo the elephant wa...

It's sort of like navel gazing. For years, I've been tracking visitors to my blogs, determining how many people have viewed posts, where these people live, which posts they like the most, and how they arrive at my blogs. Originally, I would only check these statistics occasionally, just to see if anyone at all was reading my writings, looking at my photos. These days—especially since I launched The Brown Knowser , I check the stats on a daily basis. Sometimes, several times a day. The more followers and visitors I receive, the more I try to determine if the post I've published is appealing to my readers. If the post is popular, I try to repeat that type of post. Not surprising, the most-popular posts are for my Where In Ottawa contest. Everybody loves a challenge, especially when a prize or bragging rights are at stake. My beer reviews come a close second and are slowly surpassing my contest. One post that has slowly worked its way up the ranks of popula...

1997: Chŏnju , South Korea

This post is using the premise of Seinfeld : it's about nothing. I didn't write a post today because I've been focusing on my new book, Gyeosunim , and instead of writing something for this blog I've been putting final touches and applying HTML to the rough draft of Chapter 1, which will appear tomorrow. This evening, I will read the rough draft for one last time, make any last-minute changes, and then prepare to publish it. I can't stress enough that this is a rough draft and will no doubt change over the course of the writing process. Songsaengnim changed several times until I gave the final okay to my publishers. I hope that you will read the rough draft and provide any comments. I can take it. So this post is about nothing. But thanks for reading anyway.

Saturday-morning breakfasts are fairly ritualistic in the Brownfoot household. I get up and make breakfast before our endless running back and forth between dance classes and practices begins. The family breakfast of choice is homemade, whole-wheat pancakes. The type of pancake varies. Often, I mush up bananas and add them to my mix. Typically, I throw in a few chocolate chips to appeal to the kids (who am I kidding? We all love 'em!). For St. Paddy's Day, I even added a bit of green food colouring and shaped the pancakes to resemble shamrocks. If you follow me on Instagram , you saw a shot of my first attempt. Trust me: the others looked far worse. This past Saturday was no exception to our pancake tradition, except that this week we woke up late and Lori made the pancakes while I rushed one child to a jazz class, only to learn that because of the Easter weekend, classes were cancelled (but comp practices were not). And so we returned home to a lovely stack of panca...