Bryan Lee O'Malley’s Neighborhood

DiGi Charat Cosplayers, originally uploaded by eswiftfire.

Cutest thing evar. Looking at Digi Charat stuff on flickr brought this up. Hilarious.

Have you ever met any celebrities? Any interesting stories?
Submitted by Tasha.

Joss Whedon. If I remember correctly, he was creeped out because Sabina kinda reminded him of his wife and I kinda reminded him of his brother. He wanted us to stop being so cuddly with each other.

Mashing the WIN button., originally uploaded by Jen Chan.

For you gamers out there, there is the joke of "Mashing your win button" when we speak of some accomplishment. So I made one for a friend of mine, using the the Easy button from Staples. With some sand paper, a little spray paint and blessedly warm weather for December, I managed to complete this project in a few hours over a week. Mostly, it was letting the spray paint dry and applying enough coats.

The bonus is that when you mash it, the button goes "It's so easy!" We have some thoughts of trying to hack into the electronics so we can record our own voice clips, though I don't think that'll happen at this time. We're lazy that way.

So now I have a ton of spray paint left over, (which, sadly, cost more than the button itself...). Maybe I'll make a couple more for friends. And make a better WIN stencil. And use spray glue for a better seal on the stencil. And really take it apart to spray paint.

Obviously, I have a better idea how to make this for Win Button 2.0. I just have to get unlazy about it.

Check the project out step by step.

So yes, it's been eons since I've posted. I'm alive, but it's crazy busy. I'm moving, I'm launching, I'm eating. Not necessarily in that order. I hope you guys have had a nice holiday and that the new year brings you much warm fuzzies.

So, on to the food porn

Mushrooms at the Market
In Owen Sound, we took a walk at the market and the offerings were tasty....

Japanese French in Canada
La Bamboche, a Japanese bakery chain, has a store in Toronto of all places. To my delight, of course. Here we see a chestnut truffle, (background), and a matcha truffle. Matcha was better, but the cakes there were pretty good! More photos from La Bamboche.

Just Jules
Anyone remember La Tournayere on the Beaches? Well, when they left to return to France, I was very sad. So imagine my joy when I discovered at least one of them returned!! Jules Patisserie opened last year and they heavenly croissants are just south of Celestin. This was a cake that we did not get... ;;_;; More Jules photos.

Toiling in the kitchen with Jen
So I was house sitting for about three weeks and one of my freestyle cooking attempts was this vanilla duck with asian pear on cabbage. Turned out pretty decent!

Kaiseki to you!
Kaiseki is a formal mode of Japanese dining that doesn't actually feature a lot of sushi/sashimi. This is a shot of a dish from one of two places in Toronto that formally serves Kaiseki, Kaseki Sakura. Super fun meal with a great gaggle of friends.

Wii and PS3 impressions at my NOW Magazine blog. Which is semi secret ish for now, but feel free to share. It's just not public, per se.

What song makes you rock the karaoke mic?
Submitted by Ann.

Daydream Believer by The Monkees.

But really, I think I've only ever sung three karaoke songs. The others were Sk8r Boi by Avril Lavigne and a horrendous rendition of some Bon Jovi tune. It was so bad I can't even remember what song I butchered.

What are 5 things you'd like to accomplish in the next 5 years?

Write + draw another graphic novel or comic series of my own.

Design + sell a bunch of t-shirts.

Create + sell a run of my own toys.

Get out of debt and actually have something I believe is called "savings".

Get a bigger apartment so Sabina and I have more space to make things.

Fried chili turnip cake. Finally found a place that does it right!


A nice find: Orange caramel creampuff. The orange peel embeded within the carmalized sugar was just so.. ohhhh! Crunchy but soft and squishy - making one tasty cream puff!

Yummy wine poached pears for dessert later on with some homemade ice cream.

Couldn't resist buying this Caramel Apple while walking a street festival. Covered in peanuts.

Swar, swar, how I love thee. Even the guys behind the counter grinned at my glee while ordering these! The crispiness of the buttery pastry, drenched in the delicious honey/sugar syrup... Each bite mingles on the tongue in a mini taste of heaven.

Figs, procuitto, camberzola, walnuts and honey. SO TASTY. Must replicate at home some time.

Smelled and tasted so good! I love heirloom tomatoes! I also love their colours and shapes. So great visually and taste-wise! Used in a Chunky Salsa Salad

Quite a bit in the last while, but there you are! And September isn't even over yet! O_o

What's your middle name?  Is there a story or history behind it?

Montgomery. It was my Irish grandmother's maiden name. It's also my father's middle name and he's gone by the name Monty since he was young.