Glee vs The Volcano

It's the 20th of April. Tuesday. For the past 3 months I've been dreaming of this night. The night I'd spend on an Air Canada Airbus, flying across the Atlantic in my business class seat - nay, fully reclining bed. In a pod. With a privacy screen. Sure, I'd arrive jetlagged and spent - after all who wants to waste a business class flight SLEEPING?! I'd be staying up to enjoy every second of it.

But 'twas not to be.

Bloody Ash. Stooooopid Icelandic volcano. My story's not a bad one. I canceled my flight a day in advance and re-booked for a couple of weeks from now. I'm not stranded, in transit or missing anything or anyone. I'm just staying put. At home. Constantly checking the status of the various flights to Heathrow because I've become addicted to British Airport Authority updates and all things Eyjafjallajokul (and yeah I had to cut 'n paste that one). I'm also watching the neighbouring volcano, Katla, the one that could really f&ck us all up.

It's all so "Day After Tomorrow", no?

I tried to put on a happy face. Until I took a shower and the pipes two floors down exploded. That's right readers, it's the plumbing. Again. No running water, no flushing, five people.

A far cry from business class.

But there's a glimmer of hope on the horizon as the 5 grand dig begins. And there was happiness in the air tonight, not just sewage.

Because of Glee.

Everyone watches Glee, right?

RIGHT?!?

If you're not. You should be. And you should start with tonight's Madonna Tribute episode. Yep, all Madge, all the time. The results? As Kurt says: Madge-ical.

Cheesy, yes. Absolutely, unapologetically and resoundingly so. And that's what makes Glee work. Musicals + one hour TV does not a perfect partner make. And to be honest, I was getting nervous about Glee. It started with a bang, totally remaking - and rejuvenating - network television. And Journey. "Don't Stop Believin'?" Never liked it the first time round, but love it all Glee'd up.

As the shows went on, they had their highs (Kurt's "Single Ladies") and lows (most of Emma's numbers). But I was getting nervous. It felt like the writers were pulling out the wrecking ball....and focusing on the adults. Sure "Acafellas" is a funny name for a group, but I'm not so big into Will Schuester. His fake-pregnant, soon-to-be-ex-wife? Yes yes yes. His romance with the bush baby Emma? Only as the B-story. Keep it with the kids.

But I needed Glee tonight. Early Glee. I needed to know that, stuck at home with backed up toilets, I could count on television to take me away....

And tonight, thanks to Sue Sylvester, it did. Fact is, Jane Lynch could stand stock still and have everybody howling. She's a master of comic timing and delivery but lately even she, well, her rivalry with Will, was starting to grate .... Until tonight.

Tonight was Sue's night. Her obsession/tribute to Madonna could've been a trainwreck. But it was glorious. She was glorious. Made me (almost) forget about the men I was paying to dig up my front yard tomorrow morning. Even my pvr cutting out (AGAIN) with 5 minutes to go couldn't put a damper on Glee tonight.

Perhaps it's becasue I was at the end of my rope. Or, more likely, because it was coming off yet another dreary American Idol. "Songs of Inspiration"?! Puh-lease. Songs to sleep by. Or cringe. Call me a cynical bitch but I thought Mamasox's breakdown was as contrived as....well, the show itself. I didn't see any tears. I think she was working it. And it worked. Maybe I'm just over it. Between the youngster and the grinner and the all-round earnestness there's just not much more left to say other than: it blows. You can read all about it on all the other blogs/mags/sites. Bye bye Simon. Tick tock Idol. Hello Glee!

Just when I feared it had prematurely run its course, Glee sucked me back in. Welcome back! My name is MOAM. And, yeah, I'm grounded by Icelandic ash. And practically living in a campground without the luxury of an outhouse. But I'll say it loud: I'm a Gleek and I'm proud.

For now. The winds could change.....

STATE OF THE UNION

Word of mouth is huge in the restaurant world. Well in all worlds, but especially for foodies. Buzz+hype+critical mass = big business for chowhounds.

We've all heard about places that are spectacular. We stalk the site, try to book, and somehow make our way. Some live up to the hype, and some do not. What I've noticed recently, however, is that there's much ado about a whole lot o' nuthin'. Nuthin' appealing, that is.

I blame the Locavore revolution. If I lived in California or in the Mediterranean I could get excited. Even some far-off tropical island would work for me. In these places I'd probably be so used to eating locally grown food that I wouldn't have to label it. But I live in Canada. Practically-but-not-quite Midwestern Canada. Even tho' we lean to the East, we're smack dab in the middle. The only coast is Lake. And it's a long cold winter. Eating locally grown food at the beginning of April is a challenge. Big time. Especially when said locally grown food seems to be too meat-y (only root veggies here!), adventurous (tongue, brains, innards) and silly (granola foam?!)...

Challenging.

Another challenge is trying to get a table on a busy Saturday night. On Ossington, Toronto's latest It street. We were four hungry souls, out of the prowl, looking for dinner. We were wingin' it old sckool....No bookings, no rezzies, no clue...

We split off and tried the olde walk-in approach. Without much luck....

Until we hit Union. Like it's neighbours, it too was filled to the gills but they agreed to let us loiter at the bar until the small window table/bench/bar was free. I'd read about it the place. I'd studied the very small menu. Union prides itself on having sowed, hoed, and growed their food. It's on the website (www.union72.ca) It wasn't for me. And yet...here we were. Blood sugar lowered, getting desperate, and cranky, it was Go Union or Go Home.

So we Unionized.

And it was, in a word, awesome.

Being forced to order something you wouldn't normally go for was a locavoric eye opener! Nervously, we perused the menu. Pasta special was ravioli with cheese, beurre blanc and....rabbit. Next, the fish special: grilled Spotted Lake Trout, or Splake. Geddit? Splake = SPotted LAKE trout. May as well have called it Splat. Pass. Luckily, there were no face parts on this menu (one of our group got suckered into veal cheeks the week before. We were over facial food before we sat down).

We looked for stuff we could share while standing. Started with a plate of Elk Sliders. Insanely good. Tempted-to-order-another-round (not to share) kind of good. Then we tucked into a tiny cheese plate. Laughably small. And yet....packed quite a punch. We could've used more than a sliver of bread each but we got past it.

And then we sat down at the bar. Somewhat uncomfortable with a persnickity waitress/bartender, the odds continued to be stacked again this place. But the Union salad, with it's fat slabs of bacon, creamy goat's cheese and mini rosti was a winner, ditto the sticky ribs. Polenta - yeah, two of us actually ordered polenta! I know - crazy!!) was crispy and cheesy with a side of braised greens that went down a treat. Didn't leave a drop! Apparently the real winner was the Plat du Jour: the Union Steak Frites that our pal swore was the best he'd had. Ev-ah. The piece de resistance? The massive side of smashed potatoes that came with the mains. A total surprise, they were laced with some kind of sour cream 'n chive-ish concoction and set alongside a slew of fries. With mayo. Yep, the steak frites came with frites AND a side of fries! Who knew? It definitely made up for the puny cheese platter.

We finished off with a communal molten chocolate cake. There was some debate over dessert. My man wanted the apple parfait but claimed he was full, and I secretly hoped the bread pudding would be ordered by someone...ok me...but the chocolate cake won out. Like the rest of the meal, it was damn fine.

And it wasn't even that pricey! Which just goes to show you...erm.... you can't judge a restaurant by its menu. Sheesh....who knew? Proud Canadian hockey fan, and now, food patriot? Viva la Revolucion!