12.18.15
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Even Ewoks Shy Away from The Sticky Wicket

the-sticky-wicket

The Sticky Wicket
919 Douglas St.
Victoria, BC
(250) 383-7137

E: Instead of sooner than much later, one of Victoria’s best known watering holes had to be visited — The Sticky Wicket. James and I have been reluctant to go there much more than the adjoining Big Bad Johns. Both have their distinctive clientage and when I peek in, there’s no cheer to be heard and only the cracking of peanut shells and an odour of clique. I can walk past both operations whenever I cruise to The Vic Theatre to catch an art house film. I’m hardly cajoled into either operation but I can certainly wander in with James in tow. He’ll do anything that I can manage to convince him to do.



J: 
I’ve dined at the Sticky Wicket and had one of my staff parties there. The food I tasted on those previous visits is nothing to write home about. The point of going to the Sticky is to have a few pints with friends. The wood interior of the pub is to be admired. One has to wonder who the original interior designer of the pub was.

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12.15.15
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Sailing Against Tradition at Sushi Island

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Sushi Island
#105 – 1633 Hillside Avenue
Oaklands
Victoria, BC
(778) 433 – 8488

E: This newer restaurant has one great thing going for it and that’s its evolving menu of fusion delights. From the Incredible Hulk which I first tried to the Pink Panther, I’m sure the almighty Thor will pop up one day as a corn, tuna and tamago combination that’s rolled inside out for fusion sushi diners to feast on. Poor Odin; he must be rolling in his grave by now at seeing his son turned from Norwegian to Japanese.

I must say that I wasn’t too sure about this place when it first opened over the summer. The name is not necessarily inviting, but it does live up to being the place to visit for the strange and exotic. I see that with the monkey roll, they are trying to compete against the time-honoured Shiki Sushi downtown. Bananas and rice? Surely they must jest.

James and I met up at Hillside Centre to deal with some issues he’s having with one certain operation, and since we had to wait for them to figure out what to do with us, I said let’s set sail to Sushi Island since it’s nearby!

J: And that certain operation never could get their act together. At least Sushi Island can. I took my mom here before and I praised it to Ed afterwards but he adopted a “we’ll see” attitude. This article will probably be Ed’s way of admitting I’m right unofficially. I love my Japanese food authentic, fusion and mom and pop style (Sushi Plus). If ever I live in Japan, American food would be quickly abandoned in favour of my adopted country. One can only dream.

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12.08.15
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Tasting the Times at The Breakwater Cafe & Bistro

Breakwater1

The Breakwater Cafe & Bistro
199 Dallas Road
James Bay
Victoria, BC
(250) 386-8080

J: It seems I can’t get my hands on some decent tea. Instead of sitting in the Fairmont Empress drinking tea from a nice China cup, having a tea-pot and all the amenities that it brings, because of a parking issue with our photographer’s car, I’m drinking tea from a mug with coffee creamers on a side plate. And instead of the Empress’ own blend or even some British created tea bag, its English Breakfast from an American company called Harney & Sons. Oh how we’re living it up now. Pinkies raised, pinkies raised.

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11.24.15
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One Man Star Wars Does The Dark Knight Parody!

Dark-Knight-web-imageNov 27 & 28, 2015
Intrepid Theatre
1609 Blanshard St #2
Victoria, BC, Canada

Feb 18 -21, 2016
Waterfront Theatre
1412 Cartwright St.
Vancouver BC, Canada

Charles Ross, the One Man Virtuoso of the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings (LotR) stage has a new act! In One Man Dark Knight: A Batman Parody, he will be presenting his take of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy into a reduced format that will play out for an hour. Trying to figure out what trilogy to tackle next was difficult for this performer.

“It took a lot of time to figure out what I wanted to do as my next show. I wanted to find another Star Wars / Lord of the Rings type of film to adapt, and Nolan’s take on Batman was the only one that for me — pound for pound — I was really happy with,” said Ross.

In a prior interview with me for Absolute Underground (revised and reprinted here), he revealed what the story comes down to is about a disenfranchised person who’s least able to affect much change in his station in life. Like Frodo, a guy that lives in the Shire, or Luke Skywalker, a kid from a farm on the planet Tatooine, adventure comes to their front door. It whisks them away.

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11.05.15
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Can Victoria’s Foo(d) Compare to Vancouver’s Ramen Scene?

FooRamen1Foo Ramen Bar
762 Broughton St.
Victoria, BC
(778) 432-4366

J: When it comes to ramen I’m obsessed. I can eat ramen anytime of the day. When Foo decided to open up a ramen shop, I was excited. It is the next step in their evolution and I wanted to be a part of it. Yet it took me over a year to finally bring myself to their door. There are very few places that serve ramen in the greater Victoria area, Zin Sushi and Noodle, Sushi Plus and Kuma Noodle off the top of my head. And of those only Kuma is the place I return to over and over again. For this review Ed and I were in need for a quick refueling before we were to see comedy legend Billy Connolly grace the stage for what may be the final time.

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10.28.15
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IFCon to Arrange Refunds over Cancellation

ifcon-preview-unicorn-logoIt’s been roughly 24 hours after the official cancellation of Victoria’s Island Fantasy Convention (IFCon) and already the con’s spokesperson Ken Twyman is moving forward with plans to refund ticket sales. After IFCon’s founder Bill Code was admitted to hospital a week earlier, he is still in intensive care. Unable to carry on, the con’s committee cancelled the event days before the convention was to take place. Today Ken Twyman posted on IFCon Victoria’s Facebook page the following statement:

“This specific post is about the following issues:

Lyle’s Place
They will issue a refund to those that have purchased a ticket (s) from them. I would assume your receipt of purchase would be required to make this a stress free refund. They are happy to accommodate you.

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