12.16.17
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Updates on Capital City Comic Con

capital_city_comicon_event.jpgThe groups behind organizing Capital City Comic Con is confident folks far and wide will come to the Garden city of British Columbia to get their geek on. It takes place at the Victoria Convention Center and Crystal Garden on March 16-18th, 2018 and passes are on sale through Ticket Rocket.

Cherry Bomb Toys, The Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA) and Tourism Victoria are not resting over the holidays. Announced Friday morning is Patrick Warburton. He’s done many cartoon voices like Kronk in The Emperor’s New Groove and played The Tick (2001) and the narrator, Lemony Snicket in Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. To hear him talk about his career will be fascinating. Most will remember him from Senfield but how many people will remember him in Quantum Leap?

Guests announced in previous month include Graham McTavish (Aquaman movie, Preacher) and James Marsters (Buffy). Both are great draws for those people who love their works. More names will be revealed in the coming months, and the plan is to make the star around this city brighter. It is known for Nerd Row where the corner of Broad and Johnson has a high concentration of shops to buy goodies from and the municipality of Oak Bay is recognized as where Gracepoint was filmed. On other parts of Vancouver Island, Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla came to town and so did parts of the western beachscape became the battlefront for War for the Planet of the Apes.

Biago Woodward is one of the convention producers. He said he would love to get more people from Hollywood to take notice in everything this city, if not the entire island, can offer. It’s been used in many a cheery Hallmark movie like A Heavenly Christmas and independent production like Nick Simon’s masterful horror flick The Girl in the Photographs. Disney and Fox sent a crew to this island to make use of Hatley Castle to film Descendants (both movies) and X-Men 2. Deadpool knocked at the door of this historic building to find Professor Xavier. Only time will tell when the second movie comes out if he answered it or not.

“This city has its own tastes, its own feel … we’re going to do what’s best for the city to highlight the tourism and what the downtown core offers,” revealed Woodward.

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12.13.17
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[Seattle, WA] It’s a Kind of Magic at Marcela’s Creole Cookery

RestaurantMarcela’s Creole Cookery
106 James St
Seattle, WA
Phone: 206-223-0042

If you have not been to Marcela’s Creole Cookery in Seattle, Washington, please do yourself a favour and check them out before they close on December 22, 2017. I discovered this operation while wandering Pioneer Square on a Sunday night. I heard of this diner and was often a passenger in a vehicle whenever my friends and I passed by this area. As much as I would have liked to say let’s stop by here on those past visits, those pals are not obsessive foodies like me.

By the fortune in the need to refuel (I walked over from the nearby Chinatown-International District) and craving something other than American cuisine, this place not only hit the mark but was spot-on. Not many inspired diners offer enough or they are just not authentic enough to give me the tastes I so desire. I ate a little more than I should, and that’s okay.

IMG_20171210_184713683_HDR

Instead of going by order of what I ate first, I have to give their crawfish roll high marks for putting the classic Asian spring rolls to shame. I’ve have many varieties over the years and while a few have a pleasant combination of vegetarian flavours, this mountain lobster really adds a taste to make the crumble wonderful. More meat could have made this single serving perfect; instead it was found in the center like a tootsie roll. Instead of plum sauce, perhaps what I had is a pineapple cayenne mix. Other ingredients included the holy trinity in cooking this style of food with carrot added on top.

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11.29.17
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The Sandwich Nazi Reigns Again … on VOD!

viff2015sandwichnaziLa Charcuterie
19080-96th Avenue Unit 8
Surrey BC V4N 3R3
(604) 882-0881

While everyone loves to have a good sandwich, not every body visits the same place to have it made … and hear the life story of the shop owner at the same time. The Sandwich Nazi made waves last year at the film festivals. As I wrote in my review of the film, “A trip to the industrial neighbourhood of Port Kells in Surrey, BC is needed to experience ’s capricious if not salacious behaviour in The Sandwich Nazi. Yes, the allusions to Seinfeld are there, and if the two had to be compared, Kahil is funnier.”

Filmmaker Lewis Bennett said in an interview on otakunoculture.com about how he loves how juvenile humour can play out on screen (i.e. when the cameras are rolling). “I’ve been drawn to people like Salam since I was in kindergarten. He kept making us laugh so we wanted to spend more time with him. The project started with a short documentary and as we were making that film we felt that there was a whole lot more to his story so we expanded it into a feature,” revealed Bennett.

I thought about visiting this operation on my last recent trip over to the Lower Mainland since I was there with a friend driving us around, but alas … it was on a day when the shop was not open. Fortunately, for those people who have not seen this funny, serious and somber documentary, it is now available on iTunes and Google Play. Additional services include Vimeo on Demand, Amazon Instant Video, and Microsoft Video.

To stay abreast with other releases, including a physical home video release (let’s hope there will be outtakes!), please visit them on:

Twitter @TheSandwichNazi
Facebook @NoSandwichForYou

11.29.17
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Not Really Floored with El Furniture Warehouse  

533 Yates St
Victoria, BC
Phone: (778) 265-9575

El Furniture Warehouse is a strange name for a dining establishment. They began operation in Vancouver, BC and they made a name for themselves with reasonably priced meals — mostly in the pub style variety — for $5 or less, and since then they have expanded. After a fair number of years on the mainland, they decided to become island bound and set up shop in Victoria, BC.

The evening I was there was busy. I asked if I can grab a bite in under an hour as I wanted to get to a live theatre production in time. I was promised that’s possible and given a seat by the bar, the only space available. I like the fact this place is well stocked with a variety of beers, but I stayed sober if I had to run to catch my show.

I also knew what I wanted and placed my order in no time. My meal arrived fairly quickly, and it was not what I thought I’d get. I asked for a salad. Given how loud this place can get, I’m betting the waiter I ordered from could not hear.

I got a burger and fries and did not bother noting the change to the server. I ordered “The Works” which had no tomatoes or lettuce despite saying so on the menu, and the bacon — I hardly was able to taste it. The in-house specially made sauce gave the burger a good kick but there was nothing to make me think this place is special. If folks want cheap bites to help sustain them for a few hours, it’d be a place to hit. For filling bites, I’d go elsewhere.

Unlike other operations which gives you heaping amounts of fries, this place offers a reasonable portion to complement your meal than be it.

I may one day return to give this place another chance, but my first impression was not good. Another server came by with the salad I wanted and I saw it came with a burrito. I said I was given my order already and he walked away confused.

2 Blokes out of 5

11.15.17
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Revisiting Futaba & A Mini-Review from James Shaw

1420 Quadra St #101
Victoria, BC
Phone: (250) 381-6141

I can’t say Futaba is a favourite restaurant of mine. They did a bit of change in the menu offerings over the years and the overall result is not convincing me by much. The quality is not quite there anymore as another mutual friend pointed out (see below image) and while the meal I had was certainly tastier on the night I visited here with James Shaw, the improvements were minuscule.

These days, this guy still has an opinion about the places we dine together and he always has to express (to me) what he thinks about the place. I tell him to speak to someone else or resume being a bloke. He stupidly looks at me and I always roll my eyes. I really have no clue why I still hang out with him since he can’t separate from when we are hanging out together as pals to when to shut up if we happen to hit an eatery. He knows I can use his words to put into the next food review. He can’t stop me. In that regard, he’s still continuing to be part of this food-zine (or should I say scene?)

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11.08.17
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Updates & A Foodie’s Guide to Fan Expo Vancouver 2017

Fan Expo Vancouver is nearly upon residents living on the Canadian side of the Pacific Northwest! I’m looking forward to returning to this harbour city and …

Ed Sum's avatarOtaku no Culture

ffoodfanexpovancouver.jpgBy Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Residents far and wide will soon be descending upon Fan Expo Vancouver (Nov 10-12, 2017) in British Columbia. Now into its sixth year, they are having a Steampunk exhibition where folks can learn about this subculture and their Artist’s Alley looks bigger than the retail/exhibitor’s space! In the television world, The CW is being very well represented. The big three — Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow — is the spotlight. The list is long and on the week of, adjustments have been made: Maisie Richardson-Seller has been added, and due to work commitments, Stephen Amell, Caity Lotz and Michael Shanks are unable to appear.

This media side will have fans who are not residents of Vancouver get to meet these performers without having to go stalking around in an active film set and herded away by production assistants. People are allowed to…

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