Mr. P – The Story of the Real Mr. Potato Head is Fringe-worthy Fun!

1184948_500545486699996_1927149996_nQuebec-based Belzébrute Theatre has a wonderful show that really must be taken on the road for more people to see. If there’s a lesson to be learned afterwards, many a person from the entertainment industry will get it. The creative minds behind this production know how rigorous life is when constantly travelling, hitting places like Radio City Music Hall, just to perform night after night. Between balancing the struggles for finding recognition to just finding that me time to relax, the team who wrote this show created an entertainingly comic product which brings nearly a century of the best performers from live entertainment into a fun-filled 90-minute production.

Mr P – The Story of the Real Mr Potato Head looks at the life and times of the world’s most famous nightshade. An usherette welcomes audiences as they come in and provides much of the live music. The silent film montage introducing the spud gives this show a surreal-like quality ala Toy Story (especially when Pogo the sausage dog is introduced), and when he can channel the best — ranging from Frank Sinatra to Elvis to Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury — this potato can win many a crowd!

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Eerie Ed’s Top Picks for the 2016 Halloween Season

From getting my spooky fervour on as a Paranormal Investigator to enthusiast this Autumn, this downgrade is not because of the group, Paranormal Victoria (PARAVI), I was with decided to take an extended break since we all have busy normal lives. We sometimes make it a tradition to investigate a venue at this time (and sometimes it’s with media, like the Oak Bay and Victoria News back in 2012). One day, I hope the great folks who make up this PARAVI team will be back.

In the meantime, I will continue my interest on the cinematic, theatrical and storytelling front. My love for the supernatural started from discovering this genre in those mediums and here are my picks to get my muse singing the praises:

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Movie Under the Maltworks
Shaun of the Dead Movie Screening

Date:
Oct 28th, 7:00pm
(doors open 6pm)

Admission: $20

Location:
Phillips Brewing & Malting Co.
(2010 Government St)

I have often wondered what a perfect cinematic night during this season would be like? To boil down the perfect pair depends on the mood and which sub-genre best represents Halloween. Some may say zombies and others will say ghosts. For the former, comedy is needed. While not everyone will appreciate the golden age classics, my choice would be Shaun of the Dead and Fido. With kids in the audience, it would be hard to keep them down for two films, but for one, the former will do and the Victoria Film Festival committee has this choice easily nailed down. That’s tough to do for keeping a zombie still.

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[Seattle, WA] Getting drunk on Sazerac

IMG_20160407_205656540Sazerac Restaurant
1101 4th Ave.
Seattle, WA
(206) 624-7755

Once the ragin’ Cajun in me saw the Sazerac offered upscale Southern (Louisiana) inspired food, I knew I had to make this place a must during my next visit to Seattle! As I stay in different hotels, I like to explore what’s nearby instead of walking to another district for my usual grub. This city has more wide and varied tastes within reach in the downtown core than any other I’ve been to. While my knowledge is mostly centered around feasting in either Emerald City or Hollywood North, there’s a reason why I love living in the Pacific Northwest. The access to seafood is immediate and fresh.

I think both cities have eateries that are worthy of earning at least a star in the Michelin guide. That book is not the be all end all for diners looking for new and exotic tastes. At this place, their Buttermilk Panna Cotta is an Italian dish that I could eat forever! The strawberry foam settled upon my lips like an air nymph and I was sent to heaven with how added basil cream made my tongue dance. A symphony with little gelatinous berry nubs was playing hallelujah in my mouth!

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Bugs on the Menu to Debut on Documentary Channel Oct 11th! & Its Future

Bugs_on_the_Menu_-_The_Vic_Poster_for_Web_2_250f94b0a36d369d5b4497e974f0aed8The feature-length movie Bugs on the Menu will soon be served across Canada beginning Tuesday, October 11 (9pm ET / 6pm PT) on CBC Canada’s Documentary Channel! If you can’t PVR this show, it does repeat again on the 16th (9 pm ET/ 10pm PT) and hopefully change a few culinary minds.

When I first saw this movie during the Victoria Feast, Food and Film Festival, I was all over it like ants to sugar because I have always been open to the thought of adding an unusual crunch to any of my meals. Samples were offered and I was anxious to see if a vendor would appear to offer up grasshopper (there was). To imagine the staples — mealworms or crickets — added to hamburger only has me salivating. But the question of which source has more protein needs to be asked. Some people may get surprised at the fact that crickets contain more per ounce than a similar slice of bovine, and this detail is just one of many factoids revealed in the program.

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Uvic’s Phoenix Theatre Celebrates 50 Glorious Years this Month & “One” Huge Revue

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The University of Victoria’s Phoenix Theatre is celebrating 50 glorious years of creating great theatre and many great acts are on board to let citizens know just how awesome this school is. From Charles Ross working an exhaustive One Man Marathon (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Batman) starting things off  October 11 – 17, 2016 to TJ Dawe with The Slipknot [October 18 – 22] and Shannan Calcutt (Cirque du Soleil’s Zumanity) & Sue Morrison in Burnt Tongue [October 25 – 29], the list does not end there!

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[Everett, WA] They Build Their Meals High at The Totem

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The Totem
4410 Rucker Ave
Everett, WA
(425) 252-3277

The Totem Family Diner has been serving the residents of Everett, Washington since 1953 and I was there with my friends, enjoying some time with them before returning to Seattle again for yet another event. This time, I’ve gone down to checking out BrickCon to get my LEGO on.

I enjoyed relaxing in this diner’s quiet and casual ambience. It had the homey feeling of people coming here to share stories, relax and chill in after a stressful day at the office. One can have soda and coffee refills as often as they like, but when I had an orange juice it was sadly limited to one. Thankfully I was replenished with water to wash the huge Tucson Omelet I ate down. I only needed half of it to keep me going for the rest of the day, and just how I managed two-thirds is a miracle in itself.

I was told by my friends most people are not able to finish their dishes and take the rest home.

Four eggs made up the eye budging meal. A sweetly seasoned and smoked pulled pork lined the inside. The pepper jack cheese oozed with delight and the green peppers crackled as I chewed. I didn’t find the onions special only because I favour the sweeter red variety’s more flavour enhancing, especially raw, over the traditional yellow. This half cake was very filling and I wondered how I was going to wolf down the biscuit that came with it.

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I maybe ate the equivalent of one sliced bread to go with the avocado salsa that topped my meal. This topping made this meal king. I had little crouton sized bits of starch to fit into my mouth along with some egg. But I don’t know how anyone can consider this as a small breakfast, let alone a lunch. I’d be afraid. I’m not against large meals but I’m thinking I understand why the obesity rate is high in the United States because some restaurant’s idea of a portion is the size of a dinner plate instead of half.

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