Have an "Elfing-Good" Christmas!!

This is my Christmas Card to all of you: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1422709350

Christmas Favourites

These are a few of my favourite things...

Porky Pig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPgq_fxaW7U&feature=related

Best Christmas song ever? The Drifters: http://badaboo.free.fr/merryxmas.swf This song was also in the movie "Home Alone" (briefly) .

I'll come back here and update this entry as we move along in the season.


Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Robert Plant & Alison Kraus - new CD is Great!

You just "gotta" check out this collaboration between Led Zep's lead singer Robert Plant, and American bluegrass multi-award-winner Alison Kraus with (very well-respected but not-so-well-known-in-the-mainstream) producer/writer/arranger/singer T-Bone Burnett (he worked on the "O Brother Where Art Thou" album of the year for 2002, as well as on the fantastic "Black and White Night" concert cd and dvd with Roy Orbison and friends - Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, k.d. lang, Jennifer Warnes, Bonnie Raitt J.D. Souther- a real classic itself, so go get that while you're out at the shops)! Anyway... Plant and Kraus rocks, it rolls, it's bluegrass, it's country, it's Everly's, it's...almost indescribable. "Fortune Teller" cut is just a beauty as is the opening track. Different, yet utterly familiar and comfortable all the way through.

www.robertplantalisonkrauss.com Click on "Listen to CD" top left area of the page. My favourite song so far is track#9: "Fortune Teller"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5KF4dKq-6I&feature=related

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/radio/cl-ca-plant11nov11,0,6282113.story

New (to me) Red Wine

My friend Frank Bo. brought this wine to our last hockey tournament: "Trapiche" Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 bottled by Bodegas Trapiche Mendoza, Argentina.

...that's right - Argentina, not Australia where I almost always find my favourites. It's a very nice, full-bodied red wine and it's under $15. Quite a nice wine, one that you wouldn't be ashamed to take to someone's home for a dinner party.

Italian Restaurant - "Capocaccia"

Went to this nice Italian Restaurant http://www.capocaccia.ca/location.html last night with my daughters. We had a bottle of their quite decent house red wine, a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (Citra), as well as the grilled calamari, which was very tasty and tender, served on some kind of greens. The girls each had a personal pizza, and pronounced them to be very good - these are the little wood oven-baked "gourmet-pizzas" like the ones you may think of from places like Il Fornello, but with a much more authentic home-style Italian look and taste. I opted for the Chicken Penne in a delicious, but not-too-decadent creamy parmesan sauce.
(Cost: around $90 plus tip)

Condo/Apartment For Rent! Warden & St. Clair

684 Warden Ave #310
$995 For Lease
Toronto, Ontario M1L0A1
Condo Apartment

Bedrooms: 1
Dir/Cross St:
St. Clair & Warden

Washrooms: 1 x 4-piece

MLS#:
E1249095
Landlords: Macneil
Occup: Tenanted (until April 1, 2008)

Heat: Gas,Forced Air
Central Air
Apx Age: 0-5
Apx Sqft: 500-699
Exposure: N
Rec. Room: Y
Water Incl: Y
Heat Incl: Y
Hydro Incl: N
Cable TV Incl: N
CAC Incl: Y
Bldg Insur Incl: Y
Parking Incl: Y
Balcony: Open
Pets Perm: Restrict
Exterior: Brick
Surface Parking Spot(s): #74

Bright And Clean Spacious One-Bedroom Condo Apartment. Walk To Warden Subway Station (And To Tim Horton's!!) Includes Appliances And Ensuite Washer/Dryer. Non-Smokers Preferred. *Note: Showings After 6:00 P.M. Weeknights With 24 Hrs Notice. W/Ends To Be Arranged Also 24 Hrs.
Refrigerator, Stove, Built-In Dishwasher, Washer & Dryer, Central Air Conditioning, Broadloom Throughout.
Show After 6:00 Week Nights, 24 Hr.Notice. Empl. Letter With App, Credit Check Will Be Done. First Month's Rent Required At Time Of App(Upon Approval) Then Cert. Last Month's Rent And 10 Post-Dates

Lease Term: 1 Year
Application Required: Y
Employment Letter: Y
Payment Frequency: Monthly
Deposit Required: Y
Lease Agreement: Y
Payment Method: Cheque
Credit Check: Y
References Required: Y


MIDDLEFIELD REALTY SERVICES LTD., BROKERAGE 416-365-3232 Fax: 416-340-1080
First Canadian Pl,Box 192, Toronto M5X1A6
FRANCINE MARIE ALLEY, Salesperson 416-340-8439
MICHAEL SCRIVEN, Broker of Record 416-409-1833
Appts:
416-409-1833
rent per month= $995

Thelonious Monk

Just picked up a new cd at Starbuck's called "the Measure of Monk", by Thelonious Monk. This guy is a jazz legend, one of the best piano-players of his time. I'm only a minor jazz fan, but am always tryng new things, and feel that this is a very good sort of beginner's sampling of this guy's work. Very easy to listen to at first, then just gets better on repeated listening...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelonious_Monk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2s6LZUdYaU