Prince Edward County

We went for a little getaway on Friday and Saturday down to "the County" as the locals refer to it. There are many very nice little towns down there, right on the Lake (Ontario, that is). The place we stayed is called the Devonshire Inn. www.devonshire-inn.com It's a charming place with several nice rooms and a terrific restaurant right on the lake in "downtown" Wellington. The room, dinner, and breakfast cost around $220 on some kind of Winter Special. Dinner was tomato basil soup, Cornish Hen, fingerling potatoes, vegetables, creme brule for dessert along with a quite decent local wine from the Waupoos winery. Breakfast was scrambled eggs and bacon with toast, muffins, juice, coffee or tea. Wellington is a cute little town with a few nice shops and a couple of restaurants/tea shops. We also drove on to Bloomfield, another quaint town as well as over to Picton, a larger town, very close to Sandbanks Provincial Park (which has some of Ontario's very best sand-dunes and beaches). We're going to go back to visit the County in the summer, and to go to the Merrill Inn for lunch or dinner, as well as to "Lake-on-the Mountain". This is just a great part of Ontario with several wineries, gifty shops, ice cream shoppes, chocolate shops, coffee houses, tea rooms, art galleries, and restaurants. Well worth a visit if you've not been down there before, or if you haven't gotten out of the city for a while. It's only a couple of hours away, but feels like another, quieter, nicer world where people in the street say "hello" to everyone, and actually smile at you. (Click on "Merrill Inn" and "the County" above for links to more info on them).

Amy Winehouse - new, great CD

Please listen to "Back to Black", "I'm no Good", and "Rehab", which you can get from this link: http://www.myspace.com/amywinehouse It's just below the main banner on the right side of the page. This CD is amazing! Strong, clear vocals reminiscent of 60's Motown, or some 50's - 60's jazz, or some Shirley-Bassey-Goldfinger-kind-of-vibe. This young woman is a bit odd, but very cool, I think and definitely has some "issues" from the sounds of things, but clearly a wonderful new talent.
Instant Classic Lyric:"They want me to go to Rehab, but I say No, No, No!"

American Idol - Only the Girls are Real Winners?

1. Confession: Yes, I really do watch American Idol 2. I couldn't think of how long this show has been going (turns out this is Season #6) 3. Then I couldn't think of all the previous five winners (turns out they're Kelly Clarkson, Ruben something, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, and my personal least-favourite-no-talent-annoying-"SoulPatrol,SoulPatrol"! goof: Taylor Hicks). 4. Then it just popped into my head that only the women winners have gone on to have any real success in selling their music, whereas the years that the men won, the second or third-place people have done better than the winner. e.g. Ruben > Clay Aiken; Taylor > Chris Daughtry and Katharine McPhee. (Well, maybe Taylor has sold some albums, but I'm way too biased against him to admit it...).

Vesuvio's Pizza & Spaghetti Restaurant

This place is really terrific...excellent, fresh food, a clean, nice-looking place to dine, and good friendly service! http://www.dine.to/restaurants/vesuvios/gallery.php?establishmentid=4552
I personally like and prefer Vesuvio's but many people also love Terroni, which has a few locations around town (one within walking distance of here) : http://www.terroni.ca/menu.html
My advice is to try them both - you won't be disappointed either way...

What's on My iPod, you ask?

Since I posted this last year, I've added some more folks: Shirley Bassey; Chaka Khan; Feist; Fujiya and Miyagi; Ingrid Michaelson; KT Tunstall; Mark Ronson; Paolo Nutini; Peter Green; Ruthie Foster; Serge Gainsbourg; Sharon Jones; Thelonious Monk; Viva voce; Wilco.
Plus my previous favourite 2,500 songs by : Paul Carrack; Alicia Keys; Allman Brothers Band; America; Andrea Bocelli; Angie Stone; Antony and the Johnsons; Aretha Franklin; Arlo Guthrie; Art Garfunkel; Astrud Gilberto; Audioslave; B.B. King; the Band; Barry White; Beach Boys; the Beatles; Beck; BeeGees; Ben. E. King; Beyonce; Bill Withers; Billie Holiday; Billy Ocean; Bjork; Blue Rodeo; Bob Dylan; Bob Marley; Bobby Darin; Bobby Vee; Bonnie Raitt; Boomers; Bread; Brian McKnight; Brian Wilson; Bruce Cockburn; Bruce Hornsby and the Range; Bruce Springsteen; the Buckinghams; Buddy Guy; Buena Vista Social Club; Burton Cummings; the Byrds; Caetano Veloso; Calexico; Carole King; the Carpenters; Cars; Cassandra Wilson; the Castaways; Chet Baker; Chicago; Christopher Cross; Classics IV; Cliff Richard; Coldplay; Colin James; Colin Linden; the Committments; Corinne Bailey-Rae; Cream; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Dan Fogleberg; Dave Brubeck; Dave Matthews Band; David Gilmour; David Gray; David Sanborn; Dean Martin; Deep Purple; Delbert McClinton; the Dell Vikings; Derek and the Dominoes; Diana Krall; Dido; Dinah Washington; Dione Taylor; Dire Straits; Dixie Chicks; Don Henley; Donald Fagen; Donna Summer; Doobie Brothers; the Doors; the Drifters; Duke Ellington; Dusty Springfield; the Eagles; Earth Wind & Fire; Ed Harcourt; the Eels; Electric Light Orchestra; Ella Fitzgerald; Elton John; Elvis Costello; Elvis Presley; Eric Clapton; Erykah Badu; Eurythmics; Eva Cassidy; Everly Brothers; Fantasia; Fenton Robinson; Fiona Apple; Flaming Lips; Fleetwood Mac; Four Seasons; Four Tops; Frank Sinatra; Frank Zappa; Free; Gary Lewis & the Playboys; Gary Puckett & the Union Gap; Genesis; George Benson; George Harrison; Gerry & the Pacemakers; Gerry Rafferty; Gipsy Kings; Gladys Knight & the Pips; Gnarls Barkley; Gordon Lightfoot; Gorillaz; Grateful Dead; Green Day; Grover Washington; Hall & Oates; Harry Chapin; Holly cole; hootie & the Blowfish; Howard Jones; Ian Dury & the Blockheads; Il Divo; Jack Johnson; Jackson 5; Jackson Browne; James Blunt; James Carter; James Hunter; James Taylor; Janis Joplin; Jann Arden; Jay & the Americans; Jeff Beck; Jennifer Warnes; Jesse Cook; Jill Scott; Jim Croce; Jimi Hendrix; Jimmy Buffet; John Osborne; Joe Cocker; John Coltrane; John Hiatt; John Lee Hooker; John Legend; John Lennon; John Mayall; John Mayer; John Mellencamp; Johnny Cash; Johnny Rivers; Joni Mitchell; Jonny Lang; Josh Groban; k.d. lang; Keane; Keith Jarrett; Keith Richards; Kenny G.; Kenny Loggins; Kim Mitchell; the Kingsmen; the Kinks; Kyu Sakamoto; Lauryn Hill; Led Zeppelin; Lee Dorsey; Lee Michaels; Lena Horn; Leon Redbone; Leonard Cohen; Letoya; Linda Ronstadt; Lionel Ritchie; Little Anthony & the Imperials; Little Feat; Little Village; Loggins and Messina; Loreena McKennit; Los Lonely Boys; Lou Reed; Louis Armstrong; the Lovin' Spoonful; Lucinda Williams; Lulu; Macy Gray; Mamas and the Papas; Manfred Mann; Marc Anthony; Maria Muldaur; Marianne Faithful; Martha Reeves & the Vandellas; Martha Wainwright; Marvin Gaye; Mary J. Blige; Mary Wells; Michael Buble; Michael Jackson; Michael McDonald; Mike & the Mechanics; Moby; Molly Johnson; the Moody Blues; Nat King Cole; Neil Young; Nicollette Larson; Nilsson; Nina Simone; Nirvana; Norah Jones; Oscar Peterson; Otis Redding; Pat Metheny; Patsy Cline; Paul McCartney; Paul Simon; Peggy Lee; Percy Sledge; Peter & Gordon; Peter Frampton; Peter Gabriel; Peter Tosh; Phil Collins; Pink Floyd; the Platters; Poco; the Pretenders; Prince; R.E.M.; Radiohead; the Rankins; the Rascals; Ray Charles; Ray LaMontagne; Red Hot Chili Peppers; Richard Ashcroft; Richie Valens; Rickie Lee Jones; the Righteous Brothers; Rob Thomas; Robbie Robertson; Robert Cray; Robert Palmer; Rod Stewart; Rolling Stones; Ron Sexsmith; Roy Orbison; Rufus Wainwright; Rush; sam Cooke; Santana; Sarah McLachlan; Sarah Vaughan; Seals & Crofts; Sergio Mendes; Shaggy; Sheryl Crow; Skeeter Davis; Sly & the Family Stone; Smash mouth; Smokey Robinson & the Miracles; Soft Cell; Solomon Burke; the Spinners; Squeeze; Stan Getz; Steelers Wheel; Steely Dan; Stevie Nicks; Stevie Ray Vaughan; Stevie Wonder; Sting; Supremes; T-bone Burnett; Temptations; Todd Rundgren; Tom Waits; Tony Bennett; Tracy Chapman; Tracy Nelson; Traffic; Tragically Hip;U2; Van Halen; Van Morrisson; Warren Zevon; Wax Poetic; White Stripes; the Who; Wilson Pickett; Youssou N'Dour; the Zombies. *Note: some of the above artists, when you hover the cursor over the name, are hyper-linked to further info, so just click on their names to proceed...

Recently Sampled and Recommended

These are a few of our favourite places...some a bit eclectic, but all with really good, interesting food, and not-too-expensive. Go hungry, and go with an open mind:

Aunties and Uncles (in "Little Italy" College Street area): http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/article/506036
Easy (near Queensway and Roncesvalles): http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/article/restaurants/article/369527
Boom (in "Little Italy" College Street area): : http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/article/000-374-902
Over Easy (I like the one on Yonge and Wellington): http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/article/000-371-903
Mars (in "Little Italy" College Street area):
http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/article/000-369-526
Edward Levesque (in "Leslieville", Queen Street East): http://toronto.com/restaurants/article/000-377-387
Le Petit Dejeuner (King Street East):
http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/article/000-379-760
Maggie's (in "Little Italy" College Street area): : http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/article/000-379-761
Golden Star (in Thornhill, Yonge and Steeles): http://www.toronto.com/restaurants/listing/118981

The Funk Brothers - Best music documentary Ever?

This is a wonderful story, with the greatest back-up band in popular music history that almost nobody ever heard of...http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/film.htm

I was lucky enough to see them live here in Toronto on their last tour through the city at "the Guvernment". These guys played "all" the back-up music for Motown: for the Supremes, the Tempations, Four Tops, Martha Reeves and the Vandelas, etc. Check out the DVD.
p.s. the original piano player, Joe Hunter passed away yesterday.