Alexandra Wolfe's Blog, page 23

Montreal ComicCon: Day 1

Yes, you read right, I’m going to bore you with photos from my long weekend at the Montreal ComicCon. Turn away now if you’re not into SciFi, CosPlay, or ComicCons in general, as I’m about to gush … because, look at these costumes!

We arrived in Montreal on Friday about mid-afternoon, which was perfect timing for us to dump all our stuff at the hotel which, by the way, was conveniently placed just around the corner from the Palais de Congrès where the ComicCon was being held. We always book this one for obvious reasons.

There is never much happening by way of special guests on the opening Friday afternoon, so we did like every other Con-goer did, and hit the Dealer room. 22,000 square feet of treasure and yes, we bought way too much, as usual.

The Dealer Room is also the place to check out all the CosPlayers, as there’s usually a section (and there was) where the best hang out for geeks like us, to go take photos. Here’s who we saw that afternoon:

Happy Birthday Québec City

Yesterday, we got up early and went to watch the Birthday Celebrations in front of the Town Hall here, in Québec City. As yesterday, July 3rd, is the city’s birthday. Québec City turned 411 yesterday, and She doesn’t look a day over 400! Ha! Ha!

Every year the 22nd Regiment troops the colours (as they’re stationed here) in salute to the city, and we were there for it all. I’ll spare you the 5 minute video. Instead, here are a couple of snapshots.

The city was also celebrating being twinned with the Belgium city of Namur—BIG shout out to Sophie! So, of course, there were bands, juggling, Fools dressed in costume and … CHOCOLATE! Yes, lots of it. Anyway, we almost died from heat-stroke, as it was 35 in the heat of the sun. But managed to find some shade in order to watch the “Fools” do their dance through the fountains.

And, as an added bonus, here’s a short video of them dancing!

http://wrywriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/IMG_1520.mp4

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Relaxing, French-Style

This, my friends, is how we roll here, in Québec City when not rushed to go to work. We have brunch at one of our favourite restaurants, the Cochon Dingue at Laurier—a Parisienne style bistro—where they serve up some of the best crepes around. All served with a side order of potatoes, bacon, and yes, that’s Chantilly cream next to my plate!

Oh, and to wash it all down? A Shirley Temple, of course.

Canada Day

Just wanted to say HAPPY CANADA DAY to all my Canadian followers and friends. Have a fun-filled fireworks day, and celebrate safely.

See everyone tonight, at the fireworks!

The Holiday Hiatus

It’s that time of year again, the end of June, when we start all the holiday festivals, and the long weekends—we just had one this weekend for St. John Baptiste’s day, and there will be another one for Canada Day next weekend—which all leads perfectly into our own extended holidays.

We have the entire month of July off.

Yes, you read right. My Other Half works for the government so we’re lucky enough—because most families want to take August off—that we can enjoy July, the hottest month of the year, bumming around one festival after another, here in the City.

But, of course, no holiday preparing would be complete without the obligatory head cold/sore throat/strep throat to start the proceedings. And yes, we both started with strep throat this weekend. And last night, I had to sleep on the couch propped upright, just to breath. UGH!

Hopefully, we’ll be through the worst before we head off to Montreal on July 5th for the Comic Con, as I don’t fancy cozying up to the star guests for photographs/autographs and breathing toxic germs all over them!

Note to self, don’t go kissing any frogs, it really is bad form!

Anyway, Kiddies, play nice in the sand pit while I’m off sweltering in the Big Smoke (Montreal) enjoying pizza, bagels, jazz festivals, comic cons, and lots of ice cream … you know, to ease the sore throat.

Meanwhile, you’ll either hear the crickets playing our song around here or, be inundated with lots of photos and gossip. Either way, I hope you all have a great summer! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to gargle some salt water.

Top 5 Tuesday: Fantasy eh, Bookish Facts

As we have already had a similar Top 5 Fantasy in which I listed my top 5 favourite YA & adult fantasy, I thought well, I’m going to talk about my Top 5 favourite Science Fiction reads and then, realised that we’d already covered that HERE and HERE.

I’ve also done my Top 5 Authors, done my Top 10 reads of all time, I’ve told you about my favourite Top 5 books covers and characters, plus what my favourite genres are. I think I’ve even shared my Top 5 Fav SF TV shows. So what else is there left to discover about my reading and viewing habits—well now, that would be telling wouldn’t it!

I could tell you about my serious popcorn addiction. No, I’m not kidding. I think I would live at the cinema just to eat popcorn while watching the screen flicker, doesn’t matter what movie is showing.

Or that I lived in a bed-sit at one time where … a lot of my furniture was stacked books. Thankfully, I had a ‘real’ bed, otherwise I might never have gotten any sleep. You know, reading.

I could also mention I had (past tense) a serious comic addiction. It was so bad I nearly rented a 2 bedroom apartment just so I could ‘house’ my collection. Then … I got offered a job in New York and moved half way across the planet and the collection was sold. I can still hear myself sobbing in the past!

Other useless bookish facts about me are, I still have my original, much-thumbed copy, of Frank Herbert’s DUNE!

See, you really wanted to know all that, right?

Read A Recipe: Chicken Cacciatore

I think it’s because I’m missing Christina from over at, Recipe and A Read, and have been thinking about how she shares a great recipe, paired with a recent read. While I don’t have a recent read to share with you, I do have some of my favourite recipes I want to share.

Today’s choice is Chicken Cacciatore. Simply delicious and what’s more, easy to make. And yes, it can all be made in one large skillet or frying pan on the stove top.

INGREDIENTS: for 2 servings

2 chicken breasts or 4 chicken thighs
4 − 6 oz sliced mushrooms
1 med onion diced
1 sliced red bell pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp red chilli flakes (or, to taste)
1/2 cup red wine
1 can chopped/diced tomatoes
1 cup of chicken stock
1 − 2 tbsp of flour
salt & pepper to taste

METHOD:

Season the chicken pieces, in a bowl, with salt, pepper, and flour.
In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over a med-high heat, add seasoned chicken and cook for 3 to 4 mins, till lightly browned. Remove and let rest on a plate.
Add another tbsp of olive oil to the pan and add the mushrooms. Cook mushrooms till lightly browned. Remove and set aside with chicken.
Add final tbsp of olive oil to the pan with the onion and red pepper. Cook over a medium heat until they brown, about 5 − 6 minutes, then add tomato paste and cook for further minute.
Add garlic, rosemary, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Mix them into the onion mixture then add the red wine. Then let wine reduce to about half before adding the diced tomatoes and chicken stock. Bring back to a simmer.
Place chicken and mushrooms into the simmering mixture.
Cook on med-high heat for further 10 to 15 minutes or, till chicken is cooked (internal temp: 165F)

Serve with your favourite pasta or rustic bread.

TIPS:

Use Cremini mushrooms, where possible, because they add more flavour to the sauce.
Cacciatore usually has rosemary in it, but my crew dislike the herb, so I leave it out.
I use 1/2 a Knorr chicken stock pot for my stock. But an ordinary stock cube will work too.

Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 Male Characters

There’s no contest between my top 5 favourite male characters of recent years, they’re all outstanding, for different reasons. Shanah, over at Bionic Book Worm, is giving us an easy task this week. I’m sure, some of my choices will already be familiar to anyone who stops by here regularly.

Here they are, in reverse order:

#5. ASHWIN CHOPRA — Insp. (Retd.) is a gem of a character originating from the fertile mind of Vaseem Khan. This erstwhile reluctant hero, aided and abetted by a baby elephant, Ganesh, finds himself going up against Mumbai’s criminal underbelly, and shining through with his integrity, clever tenacity, and dry observational wit. I so want to see this as a TV series.

#4. CALIB ZELIC — from Resurrection Bay and, And The Fire Came Down, by Emma Viskic, is shaping up to be a character I want more of. And, so far, has been a really interesting find among MCs: he’s deaf and works as a security consultant, in between solving murders. Viskic does a wonderful job with her character really giving us a sense of what it’s like to live in a world without sound.

#3. EDDIE FLYNN — from Steve Cavanagh’s series of novels, ex-conman turned slick lawyer, is more than you expect. And, as a character, has taken his shady past, and is trying to create a better future for not only himself, but his estranged family. Flawed, Eddie Flynn still, nonetheless, manages to rise to the occasion and do what’s right (in the end) even if the means are a tad dubious and involve more than a bit of sleight of hand to get the job done: Eddie’s heart is in the right place.

#2. GEORGE SMILEY — One of the originals written by John Le Carré. In Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Smiley is no longer a young man, but an MI6 Intelligence Officer with the “Circus,” on the cusp of retirement. He’s the ultimate opposite, if you like, of Fleming’s James Bond. He short, bolding, and overweight and under-estimated by everyone, including his superiors. Cunning, clever, and a wily fox, he outwits, outplays, and outlasts them all. While a tad shabby in appearance, the one thing you know for certain is, that his morals are without question.

And coming in at number one—

#1. ARMAND GAMACHE — from Louise Penny’s Three Pines series of books, Chief Insp. Armand Gamache has come a long way in terms of characterization and growth, as well as rising through the fictional ranks of the regional police, the Sûreté du Québec. Gamache, through Louise Penny deft writing, exemplifies all the best qualities you could hope for in a human being, let alone a man. Honest, true, good, gallant, strong, courageous, and yes, astute and shrewd too. Here’s a character you truly wish were real, and more, you want as an uncle or father-figure.

So, there you have it. Now, tell me, who would be your top 5 choices?

i Watch, You Watch, They Watch …

Or, the saga of the expanding batteries in iWatches!

I bought an iWatch way back in 2016 because, you know, I so wanted to be Dick Tracy … well, maybe not the man himself as, after all, he was a comic-book character. But the idea that I could talk to my watch and have it linked to various items as if I lived in the actual 21st century was, well, alluring (yes, I know, we’re supposed to be living in the 21 century now, but you wouldn’t know it sometimes).

Anyway, to make a short story even longer, the batteries on iWatches, or at least, so far as I know, the 1st generation watches, like mine, have an inherent problem. When they overheat the battery expands (supposedly a safety feature) popping the watch face up. I guess to vent steam or alert us to the fact the battery has over heated.

Safety feature it may be, but waking up to find your very expensive watch has popped its top to cool down is, to say the least, shocking. You sit there for a good twenty minutes, staring at your watch brain stalled in panic mode. Wondering what the hell’s going on, and, is it fixable!

Once the urge to sob finally subsides the logical part of the brain kicks in, and tells you to check online at Apple. And yes, sure enough iWatches the world over have been over heating and doing exactly what mine did. And more, my watch is just within the 3 years limit for the repair or replacement extended warranty from Apple.

Phew!

Feeling a moment of relief, I took my watch into the nearest Apple branch and did the spiel to at least 3 different people before someone smiled, took my watch, packaged it in nice made to fit Apple packaging—like they knew about this problem for years, having created specific packaging for it—and sent my watch to be repaired … in Ontario.

That was six days ago. And, despite an email the following day from the shop saying my watch repair was done, and they would let me know within 1-2 days to come and collect it. I’ve heard nothing since.

Now, the question is, do I cave and go into the shop today and look like a lost puppy, or do I hang on for the rest of the week? Sigh!

I need chocolate. I need lots of chocolate.

Café au Lait

Sometimes, there is only one thing that makes life just right … the perfect cup of coffee. But not just any cup of coffee—a café au lait!

Thank you Brulerie Rousseau, you know how to give a woman what she wants!