JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

Hey folks, I'm back on my feet again. The cold is in its last stages, just the occasional coughing spell. I should have stayed home on Wednesday, but one meeting and a mound of work did not need to be dumped into anybody's else's lap...which I had to do anyway on Thursday when half of the documents I expected to wrap up lingered on (and were there to welcome me back yesterday - my anxiety was unjustified). The combination of nasty cold and many other things that went on this week has caused a 42-car pileup in items awaiting entries. Consider the next few a crash course. True to form, my birthday fell amidst the most oppressively hot days of the year. A few moments of anxiety led into Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, due to tickets selling like hotcakes. We weren't above searching for no-show tickets (got lucky twice), while others just missed the mark. Highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet - how many movies allow Christopher Lee a touching moment? ...

A recent morning paper included a course calendar for U of T's School of Continuing Studies , whose offerings include a few chuckle-worthy courses. I'm not necessarily mocking the validity of these course - some of them sound interesting. It's the name or the concept of somebody shelling out $100-600 for these that's funny. ARTS Ciao Italia: Have Imagination, Will Travel Yes, my imaginary Italy includes crowded freeway rest stops where old ladies push you out of the way while ordering lunch at the cafeteria (true story, happened near Genoa). In Italy, Do As The Italians Do Course coming next year: In Uzbekistan, Do As The Uzbeks Do . Journey with Us to Magical Places with Great Art Actually, "Magical Places" seems to be a theme among the art courses. Sadly, no "Magical Places: Scarborough". BUSINESS Essentials of Competitive Intelligence a.k.a. How to Cope with Wal-Mart. Advanced Mediation: Getting Beyond Impasse Not guaranteed to ...

brought to you by Prudential - Get a Piece of the Rock and EF Hutton - When EF Hutton Talks, People Listen Three down, three to go in this year's sampling of the Fringe theatre fest. Let's cut to the chase, sports fans - here's the roundup so far, in alphabetical order: ( Eye ratings based on a scale of five stars, Now on five Ns) Confessions of a Class Clown (**** eye, NNNN Now) The Glen Morris has a reputation for being the kiln of Fringe venues. When I volunteered a few years ago, others shuddered whenever it was mentioned, thanking their lucky stars they didn't wind up there. Given how steamy it was last night, and hearing how others had their enjoyment of shows there this year damped by the heat, would it be worth it to check anything out? This show was worth the sauna effect. A one-man recounting of his experiences as a school cut-up, then his experiences seeing such behaviour crop up on provincial English exams he marked, it managed to be funny and ...

Puchased at an Acme in Clifton, NJ I rarely buy snack cakes, but made an exception on the roadtrip. I'd read raves about Philadelphia-based Tastykakes over the years, so why not give them a shot? But what to pick - Butterscotch Krimpets? Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes? The winners, chosen through the highly scientific eeny-meeny-miny moe, were Snowballs and Jelly Krimpets. Krimp on this! Mmmm...snowy Package Notes: Nothing oddball, just a smart blue scheme. The Snowballs were wrapped individually, while the Jelly Krimpets were in two-packs. What's It Like?: The Snowballs were very fresh, with moist cake and non-sickly vanilla filling lying under a mound of coconut-studded "marshmallow". Didn't have an overwhelming chemical taste like some bargain-basement cakes. My mom would have liked these, even if they weren't pink like the kind she used to get. The Jelly Krimpets did not live up to the brand name. A blah, bordering on stale, sponge cake with a...

Bedford, MA - Boston, MA - 80.5 km* * this is the last day I have mileage for, as the sheet I kept track of my driving for the rest of the trip has decided to go on vacation. There aren't any pics for this entry either, due to the dreary weather. By 5:30 AM, I was in full burp/nausea mode, then slumped back to bed for a few more hours. Like most down moments on the trip, there was an upside. Because I needed to rest, I missed the free breakfast buffet that came with the room...which opened an opportunity to take a second shot at grabbing a meal at Legal Sea Foods . Once I felt ready to move, I drove in along Mass 2 to Alewife subway station. The last time I left the car there, somebody smashed into the back of the car, leaving no exterior damage but a twisted trunk latch...which proved beneficial in the long run, as the trunk no longer flew open with little prodding. This time, both official garages were full, but I was able to park at an impromptu lot at the restaurant/furni...

Purchased at Market Basket, Billerica, MA Package Notes: Eye-catching label. Key ingredient: Prepared Bean Mix (Contains Fifteen of These Bean Varieties: Northern, Pinto, Large Lima, Garbanzo, Baby Lima, Green Split Pea, Red Kidney, Cranberry, Small White, Pink, Red, Yellow Split Pea, Lentil, Navy, White Kidney, Black) . Adds up to sixteen...so at least one of these beans will not be in your soup. This soup comes from Indiana, but I've never seen it in neighbouring Ohio or Michigan. What it's doing in New England is a good question. I know that my Mom has used HamBeens dry 15 Bean Soup packages over the years. What's It Like?: About as close to homemade soup as I've bought, except for the use of starch as a thickener and a hint of artificial flavour. Lots of beans, lots of ham chunks. Nice smoky flavour. Would You Buy It Again?: Yes, though it also makes me crave a bowl of Mom's bean soup. - JB

Busy weekend in these parts. Spent Friday night down in Cabbagetown, hearing Paul and his buddies spin tunes at the Underdown. Like last time, I made a prolonged exit. My first attempt to leave ended when I wound up being pulled aside by one girl to answer a round of 20 questions, which was fun but proved when you put me on the spot (especially by an attractive interrogator), my mind empties. Spent Saturday on the road, on a trek with Maria down to Buffalo to the birthplace of the deity of bar foods, the chicken wing. Me in front of the Anchor Bar. For full details, check out Maria's site (June 12th entry). I will add that the spaghetti with meat and mushrooms ($9.00) was of gargantuan proportions - the salad alone would have made a normal-sized meal (the spaghetti sauce had an average jarred tomato base, but the added meat and mushrooms were tasty). Driving north along Main from the Anchor, we came across this charming insurance sign. It was a change from Cellino & Ba...

Purchased at Trader Joe's, Burlington, MA Package Notes: Clear glass jar that promises "a hearty and savoury vegetarian soup...filled with tender chunks of butternut squash, potatoes and garbanzo beans, this unique soup is a quick, savoury and inexpensive trip to the Northern reaches of Africa." Let's compare the price of a journey. Expedia.ca flight from Toronto to Marrakech (with connections in New York and Casablanca) - $3,165.67 CDN Cost of Trader Joe's soup - $2.75 CDN (based on today's exchange rate) What's It Like?: It's what Amy would call a "grilled cheese soup" - a hearty tomato-based soup with the chunks promised above that would be suitable for dipping a sandwich. Nicely seasoned, not spicy, goes down well. Would You Buy It Again?: No question. Have to wait until July to find more - hopefully TJ's Detroit-area locations carry it. - JB

Newark, NJ - Bedford, MA - 502.2 km One last look at the hotel in Newark. I expected even at 10 am to be caught in bad traffic jams while departing New Jersey. Turned out to be smooth sailing as I passed through swamps and the Meadowlands to work my way up to the Palisades Parkway. The latter was a pretty, tree-lined route, with occasional scenic outlooks onto the Hudson. ...or else you'll fall into the Hudson. The clouds had rolled in to stay, so shots of the northern tip of Manhattan/south Bronx weren't so hot. Little did I know that overcast skies would remain until I returned to the Great White North. At the end of the Tappan Zee bridge was an exit for Broadway, leading to Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. Decided to hop off the freeway and take the scenic drive up to the setting of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow . Typical street sign in Sleepy Hollow. The village is scenic, with few tourist traps (unless I missed them), where it looks like residents don't have to wor...

TELEVISION, Pulser - passed away peacefully on the evening of June 9, 2005 after a short illness. Adopted from a Canadian Tire store 20 years ago, it served as a faithful servant to the Bradburn family, through sitting on a toybox, displaying college basketball games while endless newspapers were cut, etc. Spent past five years in Toronto serving as an alternative to cable. Remained strong until its last two days, when periods of consciousness were brief. A brief remembrance ceremony will be held on Wednesday, June 15, 2005, before being laid to rest on the curbside. - JB

Newark, NJ - New York, NY - no driving Started day 3 early with the continental spread at the hotel. Travelling through the States the past few years, the hot trend in continental breakfasts is the waffle maker with Dixie cups full of batter. They also had a better than usual selection of single-serving cereals...slipped a couple of boxes of Total for the trip home. Took a cab down to Newark Penn Station - I could have walked, but it would have meant navigating heavy traffic, heavy construction and few sidewalks. After spending 10 minutes figuring out where to pay the fare for the PATH train (a glorified subway connecting Newark and Hoboken with Manhattan), it didn't take long to reach 14th Street. This trip to the Big Apple broke the pattern. Every other visit has been on a three-year cycle, with a few days to soak up the anger around me. Past highlights: 1995 - First university bust trip. First met EC, who's great at remembering the details of that trip (maybe she'll...

Partly as a going-away party for Sheila before she heads to England for a month, partly as an idea she and Paul had at the back of their minds for awhile, spent Saturday night at a potluck at their apartment in the heart of Kensington Market. The opening spread. British tea sandwiches, dips, toasted corn tortillas, Guiness Cheddar cheese, etc. Missing: antijitos with guacamole sauce, squash-potato-coconut curry, salad, chocolate walnut cookies, greek pastries and chocolate cake.

A pair of shots from today's Sunday Constitutional... This is a small fraction of the birds fueling up on goodies from the ground at Bathurst and Dundas. Suspect they were auditioning for a remake of The Birds . Sure sign summer's here - a full patio at the Cafe Diplomatico. Taken from the College streetcar. - JB

Syracuse, NY -Newark, NJ - 510.0 km The clouds rolled in to stay as I left Syracuse, rocketing my way down I-81 towards Binghamton. Scenic for a freeway, not like the torture test 401 can be in SW Ontario. The surroundings grew nicer as I hopped onto NY 17 to first follow the Delaware River, then hug the southern end of the Catskills. Towns like Hancock and Liberty had seen better days, but were good for a quick diversion. Spent a grand total of two minutes in Pennsylvania - it would have five to snap a picture to prove I'd set foot in the Keystone State, but the sky chose that moment to open up. Didn't hop out of the car until I grabbed lunch at an old-school diner in Roscoe. Had a hearty meal of pastitsio with salad and soup. Kicked butt on an old Ms. Pac-Man game. The outside of the Roscoe Diner, Roscoe, NY No borscht or borscht-belt comedians in sight. Review from Roadfood.com . Driving down to Newark proved hassle-free, due to a knack for dodging traffic jams that ...

MARKET BASKET SARSAPARILLA Market Basket, Billerica, MA Package Notes : Bubbly motif, used on all Market Basket sodas. "Made with Sparkling Water", as opposed to flat swill drudged from a neglected New England harbour. What's It Like?: Root beer, with a mellower taste than many brands of the foamy stuff. Market Basket also has cans of RB, but I neglected to pick any up for a direct comparison. Indistinguishable colour from RB. Would You Buy It Again?: Yes, due to that mellower taste - it's easier to polish off a can of sarsaparilla than full-strength A&W or Mug.

Toronto-Niagara Falls-Syracuse - 474.7 km Lesson: if bringing a suitcase with you across the Canadian-U.S. border, such as checkpoints along the Niagara River, make sure you cut off all tags from your last trip, as the Amtrak tag from last year's visit to New York raised the guard's ire. Several questions were repeated, likely to try to catch me off guard. She also seemed ultra-curious about how much money I was bringing into the US. No sign of humanity whatsoever, furthering my theory that all guards along the Niagara border are partially cybernetic. What border guards along the Niagara River look like underneath. Limited myself to a quick stop at the outlet mall in Niagara Falls, where the trip's book blitz began. Walked out with a couple of cookbooks and a history of Our Gang/Little Rascals (yeah, I grew up with endless Sunday morning reruns of Mush and Milk and Our Gang Follies of 1938 on channel 4). Headed east on the NY Thruway, breezing along while burning ...

Over the course of the roadtrip, I couldn't resist visiting most grocery store chains I came across. Let's just say the nuclear stockpile of food grew significantly. As a consumer service, the Warehouse Test Kitchen will review these products over the next few months, letting the public know if it's worth the trip to Massachusetts for sarsparilla or Quebec for "exotic" fruit juice. First up, some homestyle goodness from Joisey... PATHMARK HOMESTYLE LENTIL SOUP Pathmark, Newark, NJ Package Notes: The folks at Pathmark are proud of their product. How so? Dig these directions: "DO NOT ADD WATER. SERVE FULL STRENGTH, JUST AS WE COOKED IT." It's much funnier if you picture these instructions in a New Yawk accent. What's It Like?: different from most canned lentil soups I've tried, due to the chunks of potato and smoke flavouring. Borders on bean and bacon, without the little bits of bacon. Thick consistency, dark brown colour that may ...

Just checked my phone messages and found a note from your friendly-neighbourhood Yanous, everyone's pal from Best Price Movers (yes, that's how he spelled it this time round). He wondered why I haven't called him back to move the piano (you know, the one that makes the music...dum-de-dum-de-dum...Yanous admits he can't play that tune). He also told me that if he wasn't around, I could talk to his pal Bisti, and that because "in this country, you have the big places", he'd always be there to help. Anybody else get this latest Best Price message...and if so, do you think they moved beyond mere camp value with this one? - JB

Pictures and stories from a trip with the family to the Glass City, Toledo, Ohio... Our story begins just north of the Michigan-Ohio border, at the outlet mall in Monroe. At one time, this was a thriving retail centre, with three full sections. Today, only one is near-capacity, while only a Pepperidge Farm outlet and one other store remain open in the section shown above. The in-between section was torn down years ago. However, my Mom still has good luck at the remaining stores, so we haven't written off this "dead mall" yet. This was our primary destination, the Libbey Glass outlet store. Located in one of Toledo's many failed projects to resurrect its downtown, this is the only part of the Erie St. Market one could honestly say is healthy (the outdoor market looked meagre, the indoor all but replaced by antiques).

The local media has gone gung-ho about tales of parking ticket quotas and increased driver rage against the parking cops. None of this surprises me, given several sketchy tickets I've received for parking on my street. A permit doesn't make you immune from zealous officials. I've learned not to park in certain spots, regardless of how they are marked. The weirdest ticket happened five years ago. In front of my house, there are two legal spots. Between our driveway and a short alleyway behind Mt. Pleasant, there's an illegal spot, marked as a "no standing" zone by a pole in front of my house. One night, the front of the car was sitting about 5 cm in front of the pole. 5 cm too far for a parking cop early one May morning. Here's an entry on the ticket from my journal - I used to number each installment, giving up after one volume disappeared along with the backpack it was in. 948: 25 May 00 Wha' The Fuh? It was not a good way to start off the day...