So I am tending to DL’s orchid while she is away and now it appears that things are turning south. Please read on if you are able to help me with fixing the situation.
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This story takes place a few months back. I was in a mall near one of those kiddie rides and in close proximity to them were a mother in her late 20’s, her toddler daughter and her own mother, who was in her late 50’s. The little girl asked her mother if she could go on the ride. Mom, however, was not playing along and told her daughter that she could not because “Grandma says they are run by the mafia.” Grandma then retorted “It’s true.”

I found the situation perplexing. On the one hand, I reward the mother for not belittling her daughter and providing her with an adult answer to the situation. On the other hand, however, did the mother really expect her daughter to not only understand the concept of organized crime, but make the connection to the mafia? And where did gradma get these facts? Sure, perhaps some ‘thugs’ may own or run those kiddie rides, but to implicate the mafia just like that, well that is just brazen disregard for proper fact gathering.

I generally do not use this space to post about personal happenings, but I have major news to share with whomever will listen. Yesterday, Sunday, I got engaged to the most wonderful woman, Dana (she’s the inspiration for many of my playlists). After two and half amazing years together, we are looking forward our lifetime of happiness together. Sorry if this sounds too shmaltzy for some of you, but it is how it is.

Wow, do I have a nice big smile on my face. I just found out that activitybook is a finalist for ‘Best New Weblog’ in the 2007 edition of the Bloggies!!!

First, let me thank all visitors of the site for giving me a raison d’être to put so much effort into the blog. Second, let me give a big and gracious thank you to everyone who nominated the blog for the short-list and a just as big thank you to those panellists who voted for the blog so that it could be in the finals.

There is still one more step in the process: voting for activitybook to be the ‘Best New Weblog‘. If you enjoy the blog I ask that you would be so kind as to follow this link to the voting page and select Marty Finestone’s Activity Book (as it is listed there) as the Best New Weblog. Voting will close at 10:00 PM EST on Friday, February 2.

Thanks for your support.
Marty

I just added about 10 new pictures to my flickr sets. Pop over and give them a loook - I now have 81 pictures up over there.

(all images by me, Marty Finestone)

The nomination process for the 2007 weblog awards, aka the bloggies, is underway. Overall, there are 18 categories to choose from.

If you are planning participating in the process, perhaps consider nominating activitybook for both or one of the “best kept-secret weblog” and “best new weblog” awards. Nominations are open until January 10, 2007. If you have nominated activitybook for an award and want me to consider nominating yours, let me know so that I can return the favour. I will be holding off on my nominations until January 9, 2007.

Here is to you in 2007. May it be a year filled with laughter, love, luck and creativity.

Marty

This is fantastic, activitybook is today’s blog of the day from the folks at Blog of the Day Awards. It is a very nice touch of recognition. Although, what I am most fond of is the wonderful write up that the site got:

Marty Finestones Activity Book - what can I say. I don’t care what you care about there is something here for everyone. Marty is prolific and funny, and he provides a constant stream of new and unusual material to be perused.

Thanks Blog of the Day Awards people.

On December 25, 2006, I went back to my old playground CHRW 94.9FM in London, Ontario. Back in my undergrad days, I was heavily involved in CHRW, the campus radio station at the University of Western Ontario. This year, over five years since I was last on the air, I had the chance to do a fill-in slot and play DJ again. For the next week you can catch the show via high-quality mp3 archive.

Part 1

Part 2

As most people are wont to do, I’ll be taking a hiatus for the holidays. There will likely be some sprinkles of postings after the 27th, but until then it is break time. That is of course for the December 25, from 9 am until noon EST, when I’ll be DJ’ing live over the airwaves for CHRW 94.9FM in London, Ontario.

Way back in the day, I was a DJ on the radio on CHRW Radio Western. It has been over five years since I was last on the air. Now, for one day only, I make my perhaps triumphant return to the airwaves, although this time with a twist: I’m bringing with me my super side-kick Dana.

Why am I telling you this? So you can listen to the show online at http://chrwradio.com/listen/

This past weekend, I made some changes with the site’s design. For the returning visitor out there, you will notice that the sidebar on the right has been changed, somewhat radically. The main change is the addition of the weighted appearance of the categories. Prior to this addition, I did not display the blog categories. Now, they appear in varying size, which is relative to the amount of posts per category. Thus, the more posts a category has, the larger it appears.

A second great addition to the site is the e-mail daily digest. Sign up and you will receive a collection/digest of the activitybook blog posts. Note that this service is operated by a third-party, so please read their terms of service and privacy policy to make sure that you are comfortable with them before signing up.

A key structure/design change made to the site over the weekend was the addition of the !best of section (found on the top menu). This is an index of some of my favorite posts on the blog.

Lastly, I am now using a different site search function, which you will find on the sidebar, just above the picture.

If you have a moment, let me know what you think of these changes.

Is it me or have things quieted down in North Korea for the time being?

Months ago I had the pleasure of dining at what is now my favorite restaurant in Toronto, Czehoski. On the menu was an heirloom tomato salad with buffalo mozzarella cheese and I went for it. When the dish arrived I was amazed at the appearance of the tomatoes: they were beet red and multiple greens (like a watermelon – see the picture). And the taste was terrific. So what is an heirloom tomato?

An heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated (non-hybrid) cultivar of tomato. For the most part these are the tomatoes that existed decades ago, before the mass-commercialization and breed of produce to select the ones that will survive long-distance transport. Maclean’s Magazine has an informative article on heirloom vegetables.

I recommend that you seek out heirloom tomatoes. The look and taste are well worth any premium. I have even seen some at national grocery chain stores in Ontario.

Last night Chicago indie (but crossing over to mainstream) rockers OK GO played the Mod Club in Toronto. It was a solid rocking show. This quarto knows how to work and play a crowd.

Torontonians are typically quite reserved and almost statuesque when attending a concert, but not for OK GO. With high energy songs, singer Damian Kulash’s (who walked by me and my girlfriend while the French Kicks were playing their opening set) frequent interaction with the crowd, the tossing out of tambourines and the use of a b-stage in the back of the crowd for a couple of acoustic numbers got this Toronto audience heavily into the show. The highlight of the night was the closing number that featured the group doing the dance routine to ‘A Million Ways’ that forms the content of the video. Check it out to see what they fuss can be about: