08 .22 .02
I'd have to say that Jell-O chocolate pudding made on the stove top is probably one of the best types of pudding around. It's very creamy and chocolatey, and something about hot pudding like that with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream is just super damn good. My dad used to make that a lot for us when we were kids, and I quite often hoped that my brother or sister wouldn't come home for supper just so that I could eat their dessert.Ah, the smell of the pudding cooking, the classic glass bowls with plastic wrap over them, and cleaning out the pot with the wooden spoon were all excellent little teasers to the delectable treat awaiting us at the end of our meal.
I'll have to put in a request to Dad to see if he can make that some night next time they invite me over for dinner. This time I'll be sure to not burn my mouth as I clean the pudding from the pot, and I'll enjoy the steam rising as the ice cream sinks into the warm pudding.
But don't think I'm a one pudding kind of guy. Instant chocolate pudding is great too, it's just a different experience than the cooked stuff. And I'm not limited to chocolate, though, it is my favourite. Butterscotch is probably my next favourite, then vanilla, pictachio was always a good but weird one…oh, there's lots.
Even the pudding cups are pretty good, especially the chocolate fudge ones. They have their place in filling that immediate pudding need but they can't match the goodness of the stuff you make yourself. And some brands are obviously better than others. The no name brand is good but Jell-O will always beat them out in flavour.
However, the absolute best single serve pudding cup award has to go to Nestlé. I haven't seen this brand around in years but I enjoyed it quite frequently in school when it rattled around in my lunch box. The pudding was in a can with the peel back lid, just like your average fruit cup. I would always lick the lid (who doesn't?) and worry about slicing my tongue on the tin, which I did at least a few times.
The chocolate pudding was dark, rich, and had the best flavour—bar none. It was the most distinctive and delicious puddings I have ever had, and now it's nowhere to be found. The last time I had it was when I found it by chance at the Co-op probably close to 10 years ago. Of course, they didn't have chocolate but they did have tapioca which I like anyway. I ate the four cans (or was it eight?) in one sitting as I recall, some in the car as we drove up to my grandparents' place. I remember feeling quite sick from eating so much tapioca and it turned me off of that kind for a short time. Probably also because it was the closest thing to a breakfast I had that morning.
If I could find Nestlé chocolate pudding in the cans I'd buy vast quantities. I doubt they make it anymore, and if they do they've probably opted for the more common plastic cup with the foil seal. They've probably changed their recipe too but one can always be hopeful.
08 .19 .02
An eventful weekend was had, yes. Nathan had an invite to attend Mike Campbell's retirement from MuchMusic party, and Sharon and myself were lucky enough to tag along. Not only was it nice to get away from PEI for a day or so but it was pretty neat to get to go to such a nifty party. Plus, Nathan was able to get a free room with a balcony and a view of the harbour at the Delta Halifax because he just so happens to know the owner of the hotel. So free room, backyard party, hanging out in the Tiki Lounge, perfect outdoor party weather all equals a great Saturday night.
The only minus was that I stayed until 5am hoping that some cast members from Trailer Park Boys might show up. Of course, they go to all of Mike's parties except that one and the reason for their absence is simple—my stupid, bad luck. But it was still really fun to hang out there for the night and meet a bunch of people.
Well, everyone except the meat market folks who poured in after the bars closed. That was less than a treat and a half having to listening to those idiots jabber away about the most useless and pointless things that I care nothing about. I would have rather stabbed myself in the eyes than discuss anything with those undoutedly coke-headed tools.
Then upon my return, some eats were had at Tyler's and there was potential for a pyjama party they had planned. Too bad people had to leave and it never happened, though, I doubt I could have stayed anyway due to the whole having a job that I don't want to go to in the mornings. But we did play some Fireball Island and that always makes everything alright.
Especially when I win for once.
08 .15 .02
Hot. Humid. Hot. Humid. Hot and humid. The last week has been sickeningly muggy and hot. It's enough to knock one onto one's own ass. It's finally a nice cool night OUTSIDE while it's gross and sticky INSIDE. I can't get away from it and I have two fans going at once.
Then I go to work and it's even worse. No air conditioning and a bunch of fans blowing around hot, moist air. I told them that we needed air conditioning but, oh nooo, they had to get a bunch of fans instead and now they complain about the heat in the office? Who's fault is that?!!
Fuck.
So tomorrow there's a video crew coming to do something for the city that involves our company for some reason. It's 2:15am and I haven't shaved in almost two weeks, and I'm sure as hell not going to have time to shave in the morning. So I guess I'll have to do it tonight before bed. A nice burning face on a nice hot night should feel really good and aid in the sleeping in the damp, clinging air.
And I've got two big cuts in the top of my head because I'm a blundering clutz. I cracked my head twice in one day on Tuesday and those should look sexy on camera tomorrow morning. Mix that with my "barely crawled out of bed look and demeanor and I'm sure to be a hit. I should start wearing a helmet like that weird kid in grade three who ran around like an animal and once dropped his pants and took a nice long piss in the sandbox during recess.
08 .11 .02
Walking around in the heat and sun for 4 hours is enough to make me want to die. Me, Sharon and Nathan went to Rainbow Valley today and it was a very hot day to do so. I hadn't been there in probably 10 years and wanted to see all of the classic things that I remember. Things like The Witch's Cave, the shaking bridge, the Dark Ride and, most of all, the troll. Of course, they have everything but the troll. I wanted to video tape the creepy little thing inside of its little house with the glassed-in doorway and the rising and falling door. But, no, it's gone.
I did get to see puppies, kitties, and a lot of girls in bikinis though.
After we got back, I went up to Adam's for some BBQ-age and basically just hung out there with a bunch of people all night listening to everyone torture each other.
08 .06 .02
We went to see Signs at the Saturday matinée and I recommend you go see this movie if you want a good scare. It really had quite a few good scares really, and genuinely creepy moments. It seemed to have a nice blend of similar elements from Night of The Living Dead and War of The Worlds but then it had a whole bunch of its own scenes that made me freak.I used to be genuinely terrified of the concept of aliens, and stories and movies of this genre really bring that out again when they're this well done. This movie was approached in a very good way compared to all of the other alien/sci-fi crap that been pouring out of Hollywood in past years.
It was very fast-paced but only in the timeframe, the feel of the movie wasn't rushed. I really liked how that was done but that could be because I'm a seasoned X-Phile and have become accustomed to slow moving sci-fi plots.
A lot of the shots which seemed to have a first-person quality to them quite often and there were some very slick and impressive shots.
Then there were the aliens themselves. Creepy. Creepy. Creepy. And well done. I wasn't disapointed at all by this movie. M. Night Shyamalan has made another great movie and it's good to see him moving away from surprise endings which would undoubtedly pigeon-hole him really quickly.
08 .05 .02
So August starts off right because I'm able to go see an amazing band in Moncton at The Oxygen. And just what band did I go see? Well, it would most certainly be Reverend Horton Heat!
I almost missed the bus because the SMT Web site had the non-summer schedule posted (thank you Mr. Webmaster). So thanks to my mom giving me a lift to the station I was able to reach Moncton without a hitch. Then I got my motel room and headed over to Spin It to see if I could get a CD or two. Who do I spot in the store? None other than the hot rod stand up bass-playing Jimbo! I didn't have any idea of what I could say to him so I didn't even bother going up to talk to him. Though, I'm wishing now that I would have.
I head over to the club, get my ticket, and before long I'm watching the show from the best seat in the house. I endured the opening act which was Sour Grapes, a punk band that did nothing to enhance my evening. But then out came The Reverend in his hot rod flamed suit and the show was on.
Those guys know how to put on a show. Not only did they play for almost two hours straight with loud, twanging energy but Jimbo surfed on his bass, let The Rev hop up on the bass and put on the best damn show that I ever did see.
It was honestly the most fun I've ever had and they played tunes from pretty much every album. Then they came out for an encore and blew everyone away with a few more songs and Scott had a long and impressive drum solo. The whole show he flipped and twirled his sticks and played some of the best drums I've ever seen anyone play. He has such a cool style and to a degree it almost looked effortless. I wish I had been up front to get one of the drum sticks he tossed out at the end.
But from my seat I could see the whole show over everyone else's heads and snuck a camera in to nab a few snapshots. It was a fucking cool show and if they play anywhere near here again I'm definitely going.
Friday I joined Ian and Holly for the day. It started off with snacks and monkeys, and ended with more snacks and fireworks. We went to the zoo and I got to see a bunch of monkeys, marmosets, big cats, and a bunch of other crazy animals. Outside the skunk cage, I overheard a French guy say, "Une mouffette albino" and outside the squirrel monkey cage I heard another French guy say to his kid, "Voit-tu la singe?" Now if you don't know French you'll probably not see the humour in that. But I do and I almost spit my Coke out.
After we reached PEI, that night we went to the beach at Sea View and I lit a bunch of fireworks and made sure to save one for a special someone's lawn.
When we were at the beach we saw something pretty weird out on the water. It looked like a boat with a single sail illuminated orange but the shape kept changing so we knew it wasn't a boat. Not only that but it wouldn't have been lit up like that anyway. We figured it must have been the moon partially covered by clouds because it was up a little higher not long after that. But why the moon was so low at almost 1am I can't explain. You'd think it would be way up in the sky and even if it was we'd never see it because not one star was showing through the cloud cover.
So all in all it was a pretty good way to kick off August. I have more to write about but I'm way too damn tired right now. Bon soir.
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