What's In A Nickname?

http://www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_20640.shtml

Long Time No Post

I just signed up for CBC Radio 3. My user name is 'paynondiaz', and my playlist is called 'wearemany.blogspot.com'. The music on this site is from Canadian, indie bands only so if you must, consider this a limited preview to RANK radio . . .


http://radio3.cbc.ca/play/paynondiaz

Some Kinda Love . . . Some Kinda Hate

If you are a regular reader of my weblog, you may have noticed that my attitude towards life in Toronto leans a towards being negative. Yet I love living here. Therefore, I’d like to disclose a few reasons I'm happy to be living in Toronto. Of course, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t also include some reasons this city pisses me off.


LOVE (In no particular order):

1. Diversity – so many places to go in this city with a unique feel to all of them (i.e. Kensington Market, Roncesvalles, The Village)

2. Location – travel East or West and you're just a few hours away from Niagara Falls, The U.S. or Montreal; head North you’re setup for some great spots to go wilderness camping or to make a stop at Canada's Wonderland

3. Driving alone the Gardiner – nothing reminds you that you are in Toronto more than driving above the city past the various tourist attractions such as the CN Tower, Sky Dome (that’s right, I said “Sky Dome” and not “Roger’s Centre” – deal with it), and various high rise buildings

4. Toronto parks – the Islands, High Park

5. A lot to do – there is something going on somewhere all the time

6. Indie Cinemas – some are closing but the few that remain show great documentaries and independent films

7. Making a big city seem small – the TTC will, in theory, get you anywhere you need to go (as long as you’re willing to wait long enough to get there – see HATE #4)

8. Buskers - music while you walk is alright by me



HATE (In no particular order):


1. The price of alcohol – we pay too much!! (both in bars and in the beer/liquor stores)

2. The cost of living – groceries and rent alone can make it difficult for a guy paying off his various debts to get by

3. Traffic – mostly during rush hour, but also on week-ends

4. TTC – drivers with attitude, long waits for busses and street cars, frequent disruptions in service, fellow riders who don't shower, rush hour commuters who think only of their own well-being

5. Radio – the agonizing programming on public radio in Toronto makes satellite’s thirteen bucks a month seem quite reasonable

6. Scarborough – need I say more?

7. Cyclists – perhaps learning the rules of the road would be wise if you are going to ride alongside two-ton machines that travel between 50 and 100 km/hr

8. Pushy Panhandlers - I understand they are poor and desperate for money, but that doesn't give them the right to interrupt my dinner on a patio or walk down the street with rude scam attempts to get money to get home to [insert city here]

Steep Spirits

In much better spirits today. I have the nicotine pumping through my system again, my lungs no longer ache, I can walk short distances without breaking down from asphyxiation and the long week-end is finally here. This week-end my beer of choice will be 50, though I may splurge of a 12 of Sleeman's India Pale Ale – damn I love that beer. Sadly it costs way too much.

For those of you living outside of Canada, it may interest you to know that we pay, on average, $35.95 for 24 bottles of beer.

Seriously.

We do have discount beers, the lowest being priced at $26.40 (24 dollars plus our mandatory 10 cent deposit per bottle/can). Alas, these are never the best beers and they usually have a funny taste to them (although Red Cap’s nice).

Anyhew, for the Sleeman's Pale Ale we pay $44.95 for 24 bottles, so you can see why I’m hesitant to buy it. On one hand I feel like you can’t put a price on a beer you enjoy. On the other, I hate sending the message that people are willing to pay for over-priced beers. Sure, it’s not the breweries’ fault. They’d charge less if our government didn’t financially rape Canadians for wanting to have fun.

Grrrrr . . . there goes my high spirits.

;)