Dave Samojlenko

  • Bluesfest 2010: Lineup Predictions, Wishes, Hopes, etc…

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    dsamojlenko

    Bluesfest is set to announce their lineup next week, and as always, there has been much speculation around the major headliners.  Bluesfest announces their lineup relatively late compared to other summer festivals, which drives a lot of rumours and discussion around the bands on the festival circuit or otherwise that may drop by our beloved Bluesfest.

    I’ve been doing a fair amount of rumouring and speculating myself, so here are my predictions/hopes/wishes and impressions of the current rumours floating around:

    Iron Maiden – this seems to be pretty much in the bag.  The band is touring this summer, they’ve got dates in Montreal and Toronto right around that time, and then there’s this bit of evidence.

    Crowded House – another one that seems like a fait acompli.  With a new album coming out in June and a US/Canada tour kicking off on July 12th, they seem a pretty likely candidate.  Oh, and of course there’s this.

    Weezer – I haven’t seen this name come up in many rumour discussions, but let’s file it under my wish/hopes.  The timing seems right – they’re on the festival circuit and are playing Sarnia Bayfest and Osheaga in Montreal around that time.  If they don’t play Bluesfest, I guess I’ll be hitting Osheaga – I’ve been dying to catch these guys live.

    Black Eyed Peas – This name came up a couple of times – they’re currently on tour and are also hitting the Sarnia Bayfest on July 18th.  But they’ve got a date at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa on August 1st, so they probably wouldn’t want to cannibalize sales from that show so soon after.  Unlikely.

    Lady Gaga – This was the big rumour that hit last week.  I don’t really care either way, but she’s got two gigs down the road in Toronto on July 11 and 12th – but the schedule seems a bit too tight for her to make the trip here – she’s only got a day between New York and Toronto, and a day from Toronto to Cleveland.  I think this one’s pretty unlikely.

    Neil Young – I came across this rumour for the first time last week as well.  I really hope it’s true, but it’s hard to find any evidence to support.

    Kings of Leon – Another persistent rumour, but I think this is more wishful thinking.  They’re on tour, but at the time of Bluesfest they’re cruising around the western states, so I think this is pretty unlikely.

    U2 – HA!  I doubt it.  Yes, they’re in Montreal at the right time, but really?  Not exactly a festival-circuit type band…

    Rush – hmmm… another strong possibility – they’re on tour, playing outdoor venues and festivals.  Also playing Sarnia Bayfest and there’s a rather glaring 4 day gap between that show and Toronto where they could take a jaunt down here.

    Arcade Fire – hard to say… they’re doing a European Festivals tour and are playing Oxygen Festival on July 9th, but they have nothing else booked until Osheaga at the end of July.  Would love to see these guys!

    Stevie Wonder – has been a pretty persistent rumour, and would be an amazing get for the festival.  He is playing some festivals this summer, but I can’t find any single listing of his currently booked dates.

    Those are the big rumours, and of course the best thing about Bluesfest is that over the 10 days, there are so many acts to catch that the headliners are really just icing on the cake. Word is this year’s festival received a record number of requests from local bands to play, so Ottawa should be well represented as well.

    The other great bit of news is that the Byward Blues concert series is going to be expanded and will include free outdoor shows over both weekends, as well as lots of club shows through the week.  Two of my favourite experiences from last year – Arrested Development on York Street and Peter Murphy at Mavericks – were a part of the Byward Blues series, so I’m really glad to see it back.

    UPDATE: Just spotted another rumour that seems pretty likely:  Santana.  He’s on tour playing basically every day or two and then there’s a rather conspicuous gap between Toronto on July 11 and Montreal on July 15th.  hmmm..

  • In The Kitchen: Mom’s Easter Bread

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    dsamojlenko

    Originally posted on FineDiners.ca

    easter_bread

    Last year around this time my sister and I got together to do some Easter baking with the intention of writing up a post on our adventures for this site.  As with many of my intentions for this site, this post kept slipping through the cracks and just didn’t end up getting written up in time for a proper Easter post, and now that it’s come back around again, I figure I ought to get something up.

    Our family has Ukrainian heritage on our father’s side, and while we got to experience a lot of the wonderful Ukrainian Easter traditions through our Baba (grandmother) as we grew up, much of that has faded away as we’ve all grown into our own lives and adopted our own traditions.  This delicious traditional Easter bread is a vestige of our heritage that has survived and been passed down.  Our version turned out a touch lopsided, but it was yummy nonetheless!

    Mom’s Easter Bread

    ¼ cup warm water
    2 tsp dry yeast
    ½ cup sugar
    1 tsp salt
    4 cups flour
    1 cup milk, room temperature
    2 large eggs, well beaten
    1/3 cup butter, melted
    Glaze:  1 tbsp water
    White from 1 large egg

    Sprinkle the yeast on the ¼ cup warm water and leave for 3 minutes.
    Add sugar, salt and 3 ½ cups flour.
    Stir the yeast mixture; slowly pour into the bowl and stir in.

    Add the 2 beaten eggs to the milk.
    Slowly pour the milk, eggs and melted butter into the bowl.
    Knead.
    If the dough is very, very sticky, add the remaining ½ cup flour, a little at a time, until the dough is just a little sticky.

    Place in bowl and brush all over with melted butter and cover with a damp tea towel.
    Place bowl in oven with light on and let rise for 1 ½ hours.
    Remove dough from oven and pound it on a floured board until it is flattened.

    Divide the dough in half and roll each half  into a rope about 28 inches long.
    Twist the ropes loosely together, braid fashion.
    Place the twisted dough on a greased cookie sheet and bring the ends together so they won’t separate during baking.
    Return dough to oven with light on and leave for 40 minutes.

    To Make the Glaze:  Stir together the water and egg white.

    Remove the dough wreath from the oven and brush it with the glaze.  Heat oven to 325°F.  Bake wreath on the middle rack for about 28 minutes.

  • Climategate: No proof of fraud

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    dsamojlenko

    This won’t stop the deniers of course, but good news nonetheless:

    On the much cited phrases in the leaked e-mails—”trick” and “hiding the decline”—the Committee considers that they were colloquial terms used in private e-mails and the balance of evidence is that they were not part of a systematic attempt to mislead.

    Insofar as the Committee was able to consider accusations of dishonesty against CRU, the Committee considers that there is no case to answer.

    The Committee found no reason in this inquiry to challenge the scientific consensus as expressed by Professor Beddington, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, that “global warming is happening [and] that it is induced by human activity”. But this was not an inquiry into the science produced by CRU and it will be for the Scientific Appraisal Panel, announced by the University on 22 March, to determine whether the work of CRU has been soundly built.

  • Elsewhere: Homemade Ricotta Cheese

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    dsamojlenko

    20100219-ricotta-composite

    Serious Eats has a Food Lab feature on how to make Ricotta cheese, where they dispel some myths about temperature and level of difficulty, and confirm something anyone who has ever heated milk on the stovetop already knows:

    As milk heats, the proteins and fats on the top surface begin to coagulate, forming a sort of “raft” on the surface. Once it starts getting close to its boiling point, water vapor forms, getting trapped underneath this raft. As soon as enough pressure has built up, the raft goes the only way it can: up and over. This tipping point can occur in a matter of moments, and in fact, it has been independently proven by several renowned chefs and scientists that milk will only boil over when your back is turned.

    True dat.

  • I get water from a tap. Anything else seems silly.

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    dsamojlenko

    Ron Eade on bottled water:

    Yes, I suppose we can mitigate our guilt by tossing plastic bottles into a blue box recycling bin (originally promoted by the packaging industry to put an end to returnable bottles). But the fact that non-renewable petroleum is used to make beverage containers, and then more petrol is used to ship them across the countryside, and still more fossil fuel is consumed to collect and ship them back to a publicly subsidized recycling depot for (presumably) additional processing to make bad lawn furniture, makes bottled water one of the silliest products ever conceived — simply because the product is so unnecessary.

    Amen, brother!