October is the worst time to be taking a course. It’s the only time of the year where doing season-related stuff really feels important, but all my free time is being sapped up by class and assignments and studying. That time is supposed to be wasted on spooky video games and cheesy horror movies that I’ve already seen seventeen times!
Jeez!
(Blogging is also falling way behind, I have like 46 draft posts that I have no time to finish.)
Back in June/July, Kellogg’s made the minimum required effort to celebrate Canada Day by introducing a new limited-time-only flavour or Froot Loops:
Behold, the fairly-appropriate Birthday Cake Froot Loops! I mean, I guess they’re alright. It’s a safe bet. Not something I’d sell my first-born child for, but surely a better way to go than making something more specifically Canada-themed. Maple Froot Loops would be bad. Poutine Froot Loops would be even worse.
Froot Loops do not support the same range of gimmick flavours as chips, is what I’m saying.
Flavours aside, I do like the simplistic box design. It’s fairly close to the standard F’Loops (Has anyone ever called them F’Loops before? I want credit if it catches on.) box, only with a Canada-inspired white stripe down the middle and a tasteful smattering of festive flair. Very classy, as far as sugary cereal boxes go.
The Loops themselves did not quite fare so well. When I puled open the plastic bag in which they resided, my olfactory sense was greeted by a whiff of something mildly unpleasant. I can’t say it was outright offensive, but it did not bode well for a product that expected me to put it in my mouth. There’s a reason why I never eat fish.
Upon further reflection, I was able to identify the odor as the typical synthetic birthday cake flavour that is used in other junk foods. Peeps, for example. But it wasn’t quite right here. Party Cake Peeps smell delectable. Birthday Cake Froot Loops, not so much. I can’t put my finger on exactly what about it was off, which I’m sure is not a great help to you, the reader. But I’m also publishing this post a month and a half after the product in question has been pulled from store shelves for the rest of eternity. Clearly, being helpful and timely are not part of my mission statement.
The taste of these Froot Loops also left something to be desired. If I continue comparing them to Party Cake Peeps, the Loops tasted like very lightly flavoured cardboard. I guess that Froot Loops have just been that way for some time in general, as I can’t recall the last time I actually enjoyed a bowl, but I was still hoping for more from these. It was a long shot, but dreamers gotta dream, you know? They weren’t as bad as, oh, let’s say a certain Cap’n Crunch offshoot, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I never went back for a second box.
And so that’s the end of that story. If you found this post underwhelming, don’t worry! I have another cereal-related post in the hopper. Though to be fair, it’s probably not going to be any more exciting. At the very least, it will be more genuine because I won’t be trying to recall the smell and taste of a product that has been out of my mind for weeks upon weeks.
I’m gonna get drunk as f**k and eat chicken fingers!
But that’s for much later this evening. The big event for my birthday this year is… football? My dad procured a couple of tickets to this year’s “Banjo Bowl,” which I gather from stray bits of conversation in past years, is some sort of big deal. I don’t really know why, but I’m excited!
Full disclosure: I was interested enough after that paragraph to actually do the research. What I’ve learned is that there’s a rivalry between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders, and they have apparently created a tradition of two back-to-back “event” games. The first being the Labour Day Classic, always played in Regina, followed the next weekend by the Banjo Bowl, which is always played in Winnipeg.
I still don’t really understand why these two games mean anything more than any other football game. The closest I’ve come to an answer is simply, Sports: Who F**king Knows?
On account of my silly Monthend posts running on the first of every month, I’d like to extend to all my fine readers a Happy Canada Day! today, in lieu of tomorrow.
I probably won’t be doing much. Maybe go see Wonder Woman with my dad. Drink a few beers. Basically, act as if it’s any other Saturday.
The beloved Ryan’s Canada Day Tradition is dead and buried. I feel like I cannot bear to go out to Lac Du Bonnet any more, as I really don’t want to have to put up with my ex-laws for even a minute. And we all know that my ex-mother-in-law would not simply let me go if she caught a glimpse of me. Oh, if only it were so easy as to just ignore them.
I suppose I could try to go in disguise, but it’s really not worth the effort. Doing the exact same thing every year kind of killed it for me, anyhow. The fireworks are always set to the exact same soundtrack, the Bargain Shop hasn’t had anything that sparked my interest in years, and I just don’t think I’d enjoy spending the day out there as much as I used to without a ladyfriend.
Sorry if this comes off as a bit depressing. It’s a long weekend! Be happy! Have a great time! Eat something maple-flavoured! Yay, Canada!
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[I didn’t already have an image of a maple leaf and couldn’t be bothered to steal one from Google]
Anyone who has been following TE since its Angelfire days or bothered to read through the archives will know that I have a certain fondness for pancakes. Well, I suppose I haven’t written about them all that often, but I very frequently reblog suggestions to read this article. For me, that’s good enough justification for my opening sentence.
Yesterday, as a combined celebration of Father’s Day and my mom’s XXth birthday, the family went out to The Original Pancake House for a (very) late lunch. Now, I’ve been to one Pancake House location many times, and it’s not really anything to write home about. But for this occasion we drove all the way across the city to the much bigger and newer location that I had never even seen previously.
In retrospect, it’s not really that much more impressive than your average sit-down restaurant, but at the time I was very much wowed by its size and fanciness. Also there’s a tiny gift shop at the entrance which is weird on its own, even moreso because it didn’t seem to sell any pancake-related goods.
The big downside to this particular establishment is that their menu is absolutely massive. Pages and pages and pages of choices. I strongly agree with the theory that a good restaurant has a smaller menu that focuses on a number of specialty dishes. The Original Pancake House has more entrée options than the friggin’ Olive Garden. It took me forever to finally make a choice, because I kinda felt like an omelette, but also those blintzes looked delicious, and a nice Belgian waffle is always great. Oh, and then all the other things on the menu. Augh!
I finally settled on the same thing that I always get at the Original Pancake House: triple berry pancakes with a side of turkey bacon. It’s not very adventurous, no, but I really doubt that I could be so satisfied with anything else. You’ve got raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries all swirled up in a generous helping of whipped cream, laid on a huge bed of six pancakes. It’s basically the perfect meal. I mean, at least for me, because I love berries. And pancakes. The turkey bacon is always a little disappointing, but there has to be a tradeoff for being able to eat bacon and not having to feel bad about it afterward. Maybe one day I’ll get used to it.
I did not take a photo of my meal. Sorry. Taking pictures of my food has lost all of its appeal now that everyone does it every day. Instagram, I hate you more than you could ever know.
Anyway, the meal was delicious and the service was adequate (the “how were the first few bites?” visit came as I was taking my last bite). However, I felt that while the building and décor were very fancy and new, the chairs seemed a little lacking. They were passable, sure, but I don’t know… I guess they could have been a little nicer. They were so bog-standard in a place that seemed like it wanted to be more than the average dining establishment. But hey, if that’s the worst thing I have to say about the place, I think that’s pretty good! Oh, no, wait. I complained about the too-big menu as well. You mileage may vary on that one.
So yes, I would give the McGillivray Original Pancake House my official seal of approval. While it’s a bit of a drive, and it doesn’t have quite the same “this has been here forever” character that the one at The Forks does. But that’s to be expected, since it’s considerably newer, and I’m perfectly fine with that. I don’t see myself making the drive out there again any time soon, because I don’t normally do sit-in dining, but I’ll be perfectly pleased if it’s picked to be the place of another family gathering.
Guess what! I went and slapped a few more of those old non-WordPress articles into WordPress! Now there are more things here to read! Hooray! Exclamation points!
GameCube Demo Disc – Honestly, I wish there were more of these. I’m very much at the point in my life where hidden gems of that era interest me greatly.
Birthday Article 2003 – The first of… several. Certainly could be classified as a relic of another era, as I will never again get enough things for my birthday to write an article about.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! – Read this and get excited for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch! Or at least, wish that Nintendo would bring back the two-person karts. I liked that gimmick a lot.
Holiday Viva Puffs – I had actually moved this one over back in December, but forgot to make a big stick about it. Whoops!
With these up, all articles from 2003 and 2006 onward are available on the WordPress site. Of course, they all still exist in their gaudy web 1.0 glory on the archive site. So feel free to check that out if you’re tired of the unified white-and-blue theme. Some of them have ugly background jpgs!
It’s finally here! The most exciting quinquennial (give or take) occasion: The launch of a new Nintendo Games Machine! Happy Switch Day, everyone!
Betcha didn’t know that word. Quinquennial.
This post was written in advance, because quite frankly I’m going to be upset about and try to avoid having to do anything that’s not Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the next few weeks. Expect few posts in the coming weeks, but maybe some vague impressions on the Switch and/or Zelda over the weekend. Maybe.
Oh my, has yet another year passed already? Well, I guess three years if you’re just going by the last time I wrote one of these things. Remember how it used to be an annual tradition? Did I write this exact same intro paragraph last time? Ehh, I’ve already recycled the idea and the banner, might as well re-use some of the text as well.
I think that, for the most part, I stopped doing these because I began to feel embarrassed about all of the stuff I get for Xmas. I mean, it’s not like it’s all that excessive (especially with my lack of wife), but it’s easy to look at these articles and think to myself “gee, I sure am spoiled, aren’t I?” Maybe next year will be the year I finally act on my desire to volunteer somewhere and help those less fortunate.
But probably not. That would also require leaving the house, and my incredible selfishness is a defining character trait.
Happy Christmas!
In honour of the special day, here’s a tiny picture I drew of Popplio wearing a Santa hat.
Every October (and even in late September), I get so excited about Halloween, and intend to play a bunch of spooky games to celebrate. And that… doesn’t usually pan out. Was 2016 any different? Read on to find out!
FNAF: Sister Location (PC) – If you don’t count the RPG spinoff, this is the first FNAF game I’ve really gotten into. And it’s spectacular. While it is not quite as terrifying as its older brothers, Sister Location is still Spooky As Heck.
Year Walk (WiiU) – I’ve been itching to replay this for months, telling myself “wait for Halloween” and finally the time came! It’s a really great adventure with clever puzzles and a neat twist halfway through. Turns out that you can clear it in well under an hour, but still, it’s Pretty Darn Spooky.
Pokémon Pearl (DS) – While I have a team that’s half spooky-looking Pokémon (Misdreavus, Crobat, and Luxray), and the bad guys want to basically destroy the universe, Pokémon is simply Not Spooky.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force (3DS) – A regular Metroid game could definitely be considered spooky, but with Federation Force’s focus on action and teamwork, it falls just short of the bar. Not Spooky, but a very solid game otherwise.
Picross 3D Round 2 (3DS) – Decidedly Not Spooky. In fact, it may be the least spooky game on the list, with its relaxing atmosphere and lack of any sort of conflict.
Final Fantasy VIII (PC) – There are a number of creepy monsters and witches in this game, but overall, I’d have to say that it’s Not Spooky. The hammy characters and colourful graphics just don’t lend themselves well to creating a frightful atmosphere.
