A lovely night was had.
Jen is still as beautiful as they day we met. As we both age, she has retained her youth better than I. I am grateful to have her. She had a wonderful birthday dinner at Golf’s Steakhouse in Kitchener.
She had the prime rib, medium rare. I had the salmon. The soup was vegetable puree. We both had salad bar, and I added some garlic shrimp to my order.
Please join me in wishing the beautiful Jennifer a happy birthday today! I know all she wants for Christmas is the Leafs to win the Cup, but let’s wish that for her birthday too. They need all the help they can get if they wanna hoist the cup in 2024.
OK, so now I’m in trouble on her birthday.
But seriously, she’s the best Jen in the whole world and if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today.
Happy birthday Sweetie Cutie.
No show tonight as we celebrate a special day. Instead we are re-running the awesome Arkells Appreciation episode from last summer with Nurse Kat. Enjoy and we’ll be back next week with surprises and recap!
RECORD STORE TALES #1086: Seven Tales for Seven Photos
Instead of one new Record Store Tale, today I present seven mini-stories! With photo accompaniment.
#1087 A: Canadian Redneck
Found this guy on my Facebook one morning. No idea who he is. Looks kind of familiar. “Hey ya’ll!” he said, apparently on his vacation. “Take a vacation from yourselves once in a while!” he said. Should I be taking advice from this guy? Something tells me no, but something also tells me yes….
I’ll give this guy credit for one thing, whoever he is: great hair. That’s a classic style he’s sporting there.
#1087 B: A Couple Turkeys
Fall has arrived and it’s turkey season. I snapped this selfie up at The Beef Way, north of Kincardine Ontario.
Regular readers here know we take food very seriously. We had some bad luck earlier at a Kitchener store called Robert’s Boxed Meats. I am here to tell you that we will never shop at Robert’s Boxed Meats ever again. Twice he sold us spoiled beef, and the last time was an expensive tomahawk steak.
The Beef Way sold us three freshly butchered tomahawks this summer, not to mention some T-bones, porterhouses and ribeyes. He also sold us the best bacon I’ve ever had in my life, some amazing “fry-pies”, and condiments & jams. It is a shame the Beef Way is so far from home, but we won’t be wasting any more dollars at Robert’s Boxed Meats. Which is a shame, since Robert’s is the only place within 100 kilometers that sells A5 Waygu steaks. Just not worth the risk. Don’t be a turkey; don’t buy from Robert’s. One pack of spoiled meat is an isolated incident. Two is a problem. You have been warned.
#1087 C: Jen is Joining Tee Bone Man!
Harrison has created a prototype Jen figure for the Adventures of Tee Bone Man! But this is not her final form, and we have her own Jen In Space spinoff planned. I have purchased a number of different hair pieces and hats for Jen as she ventures into space on board the Galaxy Explorer.
You will just have to keep reading Tee Bone Man to see how she fits into the story. Though she has been mentioned in the past, a few people asked me “Why is Jen not in the Tee Bone Man stories?” The truth is there isn’t a good reason, aside from the fact that we don’t write together very well. We never have. We tried to write our own Trailer Park Boys fan fiction when we first met, and we immediately realized we do not collaborate well with the written word. At all. We’re better off creatively with me writing and her knitting!
However, this winter we’re going to start integrating her character into the story — wish us luck!
#1087 D: If It’s Too Loud Then You’re Too Old
The porch is my happy place. Music sounds better out there in the great green open! And I play it loud. It’s easy to forget how easily sounds carry at the lake. You’d think the trees would act as a sound baffle, preventing the music from carrying. You’d be wrong!
Maybe it’s the lack of city background noise, but if I am cranking it really loud, you can hear the tunes almost all the way down at the beach. At normal volume, passers by can hear it from the road.
And they know I’m playing music way cooler than they are!
A few weeks ago, a couple kids were biking down the road with some kind of speaker on their bikes. They were blasting “Kickstart My Heart” by Motley Crue.
“GOOD SONG!” said one kid to the other.
I just laughed, and remembered being told to turn that song down when I was their age, about 34 years ago!
1087 E: Green Lamborghini
Driving home from the cottage on October 1, I snapped a photo at a stoplight. I know, I know. You’re not supposed to handle your phone at any time in a car, even a stoplight. But I could not resist this beauty. Two kids crossing the road filmed this car as it sat low to the ground, ready to rip.
He did not “rip” though; he drove the speed limit the whole way, even on Highway 8, which surprised us.
It was a pleasant drive home, with only one guy zipping in and out of passing cars, and it wasn’t this guy. It was some guy whose car sounded like a weedwhacker when he gunned it. Lambo Man just kept going the speed limit.
Good going, Lambo Man!
1087 F: A Penny For Your Thoughts
I just found these coins in my music room: one of each major denomination of Canadian coinage.
#1087 G: The Face of Terror
Ah, childhood photos. Always good for a laugh…or pure horror!
My parents took me to meet “celebrities” a couple times. Once was David Prowse, dressed as Darth Vader. He even signed his autograph as “Darth Vader”. That terrified me…but just look at Bert and Ernie here!
I may be smiling, but I was terrified and did not want to be there. Bert was tickling me. I was not amused! I wanted the hell out of there!
Somewhere out there is a guy who used to dress as Bert and tickle kids to get them to smile.
Parents, never do this to your kids! They will only post the photo to shame you down the road!
I’ve often said that the best day of my life was August 31, 2008.
While that was a truly awesome day, was it actually the best?
I think every day since has been pretty special. The fact that I found my one and only, and grown deeper in love since, is a pretty cool thing. We’ve survived everything thrown at us so far. Death, illness, and all manners of stress have not taken us down. Broken bones, bruised faces, and bad bad days. There were mornings I felt like I could not go on. She picked me up, and we just kept going.
When we met, all was hunky dory. Well, not quite…I was miserable in my dead-end job at the Record Store, but we had no health challenges to speak of. We were dating (sort of) long distance, with her in Brampton and me in Kitchener. I picked her up in Brampton on a lot of Friday nights. She took the train home on Monday mornings. For three years! We made it work. Our families got along. Four months after we met, and with her support, I finally quit that terrible job. I have not regretted it for one moment. I have said it before, but I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to quit if not for Jen.
We knew it was just a matter of time before we had to make it official. We got engaged. With six months to go before the wedding, I started noticing signs that something was wrong. Jen and I loved played Nintendo Wii, and she was very competitive. So was I! When I noticed her spacing out during one of her favourite games, and having no memory of the previous few minutes, I knew it was time to call the doctor. Jen, being the stubborn girl that I love, didn’t want to go, so I called her mom and dad. She was diagnosed with epilepsy, which is what I had suspected.
So say this illness has changed our lives would be an understatement. It would be safe to say that epilepsy has impacted every single aspect of our lives.
It’s only made us stronger, smarter, and more devoted. Maybe we can’t go on movie dates like other couples, and sometimes the days get terribly stressful. But here we are. As committed as we were in that church, on that day in 2008.
I love my Jen. Here’s to us!
By popular demand, here’s an updated version of the show intro! Now featuring more Jex Russell!
Here’s some site news.
Stay frosty,
Mike
First cottage show is done for the record books!
Two surprise guests made this nice extra special: John T. Snow of 2Loud2OldMusic, and my wife Jen! Together with Harrison, Kevin and Rob, we looked at:
Thanks for watching everyone!
Today is our anniversary! In this throwback post from 2019, enjoy some wicked looking steaks.
RECORD STORE TALES #776: (Wag)yu Shook Me All Night Long
For highway driving, nothing quite hits the spot like AC/DC. It feels right. Who Made Who works as a quickie “greatest hits” selection for a quick spin down Highway 401. Mrs. LeBrain and I were heading to the GTA to celebrate 11 years as a married couple. We rocked to “You Shook Me All Night Long” on the dance floor that night, and we were returning to the very same location once more.
Highway 401 is in a perpetual state of construction, but good music helps take the edge off. This was my first drive that way in the new vehicle, and also the first with my latest gadget, a nifty dash cam that is sure to provide lots of content for my YouTube channel in the coming months.
Sorry, quick tangent: Phil Rudd is the “man”, but Simon Wright doesn’t get enough credit for his time on the AC/DC drum stool. AC/DC isn’t an easy beat to get the feel for, and every AC/DC drummer has their own approach. The 1980s were a period of hard-hitters and Simon Wright was the perfect drummer for that era. His precision is absolute on “Who Made Who” and it just sounds right. Compare the original to Chris Slade’s interpretation on AC/DC Live. That’s all I have to say about that.
We arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon and I settled into the jacuzzi pretty quickly. I wanted to do a funny gangsta style photo in the hot tub with me holding a couple of American dollar bills. I was thinking about when Floyd Mayweather threw the $1s at Conor McGregor. And holy shit did Facebook react.
“Dude you look like if Kuato from Total Recall was successfully removed from his twin, grew up, lived a long and depressing life and got really excited when someone gave him 2 bucks to sh!t in the local YMCA jacuzzi.”
Two things: Yes, I had pants on. And yes, that “gang sign” is the Vulcan salute. Relax. Let a man enjoy his jacuzzi, publicly on social media like damn 20 year old. Are you not entertained?!
We did some shopping. Because, like an idiot, I forgot to bring a nice pair of shoes for dinner, I had to get a new pair just for this one night. Then we met up with Jen’s best friend Lara for lunch. Did some more shopping. I wanted to go to stores that we don’t have at home. There isn’t much of that, just the same old chains. We did hit one up cool store, where I bought something called “Jean Guy”, but we couldn’t find any cool music or toy stores. At least I got my shoes!
So where were we headed? In ’08 when we got married it was the Pavilion Royale, but now it is a high end restaurant called 17 Steakhouse & Bar. It’s very different on the inside, but recognizable. There was the dance floor, where I once spun to “You Shook Me All Night Long”. But we chose 17 for more than sentimental reasons. The main draw was the real Japanese A5 wagyu. And that’s what this chapter is really about.
I’ve never had real wagyu in my life and American wagyu was not going to do it. You only live once. Carpe diem. Go big or go home. It’s only money. All that bullshit. I’d done my research, I knew what I was getting my wallet into. I’d been planning it over a year.
We started with a simple but delicious field green salad, with incredible goat cheese. The smoothest goat cheese I’ve ever tasted. Only when we finished the salads did they began firing our steaks. None of that “here comes your main dish before you’ve finished your starter” nonsense. Jennifer chose the US prime T-bone, medium rare, and let me tell you, that alone could have been the best steak I’ve ever tasted. It was 25 oz, so more than enough to share. So tender! With cripsy, tasty fat.
Jen’s steak could easily have been the most tender I’ve ever tried, if not for my Japanese A5 wagyu. Market price was $30 per oz. I chose an 8 oz striploin, medium rare. You should always get a wagyu steak cooked to medium rare. I was electric with tense anticipation. The steaks arrived, cooked precisely to order.
I gently cut a thin slice, which came off like butter. There was a lovely char on the outside, a crisp splash of flat, and then the most tender meat you can imagine. It was seasoned simply and perfectly, the saltiness enhancing that beefy umami. On the tongue, it was like butter with only the slightest sensation of a meaty texture. I probably didn’t even have to chew.
It’s a very rich piece of meat, far more than I anticipated. I’d estimate that I finished about 3/4 of my meal, leaving a $60 chunk of wagyu in my takeout bag. And that chunk of leftover wagyu was the best lunch I ever had the following day.
For sides, we ordered the fingerling potatoes roasted in duck fat and thyme, the asparagus with hollandaise, and the scalloped potatoes au gratin. Of those three, the asparagus was the clear winner, with the potatoes au gratin in second place. Only I liked the fingerling potatoes; Jen didn’t care for them, leaving her batting average with any form of duck to be zero.
We had an incredible dessert of cheesecake, Crème brûlée and whipped cream which was supernaturally good. Everything was.
Having had probably the most expensive steak I’ll ever buy, was it worth it? If you are a steak lover, then yes, it is worth it. And I love steaks. A little goes a long way, but every steak lover should try real Japanese wagyu once. It’s unlike anything I’ve had before and it is easily categorised as a true delicacy. Having said that, should we return to 17 Steakhouse in a year, I don’t know that I would order it again, and that is only because there are other interesting features on their menu that I would like to try. The 36 oz tomahawk would be a sight to behold, though I couldn’t eat it all myself. I would also like to try the Porterhouse, the lobster bisque, and beef tartare.
Yes, the wagyu was worth it, and I can still taste and feel its texture on my palette. It won’t be for everyone except in small doses. They have a 4 oz minimum order, and I suggest that may the perfect size to experiment with.
17 Steakhouse & Bar gets 5/5, and so does the wagyu. 
We started with AC/DC so we’ll finish with AC/DC. Who made wagyu? 17 Steakhouse did, and it was hell’s bells! I couldn’t wait to sink the pink steak in my mouth. It’ll shake your foundations just like it shook mine. It’s a little bit of a ride on, down the 401, but worth the drive. Hell ain’t a bad place to be(ef)!* For those about to rock, I wagyu.
* Courtesy 1537
There have been a lot of anniversaries lately. On January 4, I celebrated (but not did not post about) 15 years of freedom from the Record Store. (Why beat a dead horse?) But today I choked up a bit when I saw the photo.
I say it was the happiest day of my life. It was the day I brought Jen home from the hospital after finishing her cancer surgery. The photo says it all. Look at that face. The glow. Just looking at her, reminds me of how worried I was. How much I missed her. How happy I was to be able to drive her home that day.
It was not a pleasant time when she was in hospital. It was a harsh winter. The drive to London and back was hell. I wasn’t eating. Finishing an apple was an ordeal. Meanwhile poor Jen was dealing with that nauseating hospital food. She started a game called “Guess the Grossness” where she would post pictures of her meals and people had to guess what they were. She was so strong at that time.
Little did we know that her mom, who was supporting us through all this, had less than nine months left to live. I can tell a secret now. The night that Jen had her surgery, her mom collapsed at the hospital. She hit the ground and bruised her face. She brushed it off and complained about a loose rug, and refused to be seen. Deep inside, I knew that she was hiding something. She didn’t tell us. I’ll never hold that against her — she did what she thought was right to support Jen, and I truly don’t know if we could have handled more stress at that time. So she quietly fought her own battle as Jen was dealing with hers. But that’s what happened. On the night my wife was recovering from her surgery, my beloved mother-in-law was dying of cancer that we didn’t even know about. But I could not have made it through all this without her support.
I dedicate this writing to Jen’s mom, who was with us side-by-side through it all, until she was unable to be. She was just as happy to have Jen home as I was. The picture says it all — the face of an angel aglow with life.
GETTING MORE TALE #854: Mushy
15 years seems like a long time even though it’s really just a blink of an eye. My life changed forever 15 years ago. That’s when I met Jen. A big gaping hole in my heart was filled forever that day. There was never really a question that she was the “right” one for me. She always knew.
She had my back from the start and helped give me the confidence that I needed to finally quit the Record Store. Since 2000, the environment there had become extremely toxic and I needed to get out for my own health. If she didn’t have my back, I wouldn’t have left and my sanity would have been frayed.
This extra-mushy post has been brought to you by love.
Our first few years together were filled with dreams. We talked about what we wanted to do for our wedding and what we were going to name our kids.*
Then she got sick. That put the brakes on some of our plans. Her doctor wanted us to wait to have kids. When her health got under control, we thought, we could have as many as we wanted. Two seemed like a great number. A boy and a girl. I really wanted a baby girl. As time went on we realized it was never going to happen.
“Why don’t you just adopt?” asked people who didn’t know our situation. Adoption stopped being possible when her health got worse. The reality was we needed someone to babysit her, not someone for us to babysit. It has been a tough reality but I’ve never regretted any of it. I’d rather live with just the two of us, than have kids with somebody else. If this is what our lives were meant to be, then so be it.
After we got married and settled in, we had to deal with loss after loss after loss. We still paid off the condo, and just rolled with everything that life threw at us. Every time one of us feels like giving up, the other one says “no way”. We’ve come too far to throw in the towel now. The things we’ve endured together would slay lesser mortals. Sometimes at night, I’ll just lie there thinking about how lucky I am.
We keep on keepin’ on. Because of her, love songs are sweeter and breakup songs don’t sting like they used to. We live quiet lives now but I’m never, ever bored. She gives me the time, space and inspiration to keep on writing. In exchange she can watch all the sports she wants! It’s a pretty sweet deal and I’ll never take for granted what a lucky bastard I am.
* She has never approved of my choice, Spencer Peter Oscar Carl Kevin. Spell out the initials.
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