Even better than a bottle of Muscatel

So, where can one expect to find the best Chardonnay in the world? In Canada, of course. In a blind taste test, wine experts chose a wine produced right here in Ontario's Niagara region over bottles from France, California, Australia and New Zealand, using such flattering terms as "well-contained opulence" and "fine spicy finish."

"This proves you can do wonderful things in Canada" said French-born Don-Jean Léandri, who has been a sommelier for 30 years and participated in the taste test organized by Cellier magazine. He said the results should have French winemakers looking over their shoulders.

The Chardonnay judged to be the finest is the 2005 vintage of Claystone Terrace Chardonnay. It sells for $37.50 in Quebec, but unfortunately, is sold out in Ontario. The news item did not mention any other sources.

Celebrities' secret identities

Today's secret celebrity identity is one I've known about for some years. As I searched for photos that would best demonstrate the similarity of the (apparent) two identities, I came across a video, rendering the photo comparison a second rate demonstration. Without further ado, I give you Michael Keaton posing as Tim Hudak, an MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) of Ontario, Canada:

Celebrities' secret identities

Just when you thought it was safe to take a shower...



...the psycho goes from scaring thousands of theatre goers to scaring millions of Ontarions.



Top: Anthony Perkins in "Psycho".
Bottom: Dalton McGuinty - Premier of Ontario, Canada.

They didn't have robots like this when I was a kid

Here's a story right out of my own backyard. Trung Le of Brampton, Ontario, Canada has been building robots, he says, since he was four years old. He has sunk many thousands of dollars into his hobby and his latest invention is quite an amazing thing--a life-size female android. "Aiko" is a very talented girl with some interesting features such as smooth, life-like skin, breasts and even er, um, naughty bits. Trung is looking for funding that would enable him to "teach" Aiko enough skills to be a viable "employee" for home and or office.


You can read the story for yourself here:

You can watch Aiko in action here:

From the anals of time

At my age, pinpointing when something occurred, is sometimes tricky. My best guess is that the following occurred around the early 90's.

On a hot summers day, in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, young Gwen Jacobs was walking along the sidewalk of a busy downtown street. She suddenly decided right there and then that it was unfair for men to walk along topless while women had to be uncomfortably covered. She removed her top and nonchalantly continued her trek. In due course, as one might expect, the police arrived on the scene, "scene" being the operative word here, and promptly arrested her.

Gwen, the assertive and resourceful gal that she was, even at her tender 20ish age, secured herself a good lawyer. To make a short story shorter, the court was convinced that she was right in having equal rights to a man in regards to public (un)dress.

The effect of the case was immediate, if not widespread. In the following months, the occasional young, and even not so young, female could be seen exercising her new-found "freedom of expression", most often at beaches, parks or in one case, while watering the front lawn. Each incident that was spotted by a member of the hordes of press that were now scouring all venues they thought might yield another "Gwen", was immediately flashed across the television screens and had everyone wagging their tongues about it. Beach attendance figures broke all records that summer, attended by mostly adolescent boys (of all ages) hoping to get a head start on September's anatomy class.

Well, extremely conservative Canadians couldn't stand for such a public debacle. But what to do about it? When a "lady" of a certain age, in a small public pool, with even smaller children, insisted on exposing her ample bosom, thereby covering up her navel, enough was enough. The police arrested her and somehow managed to convict her of some sort of community standard statute. After that, one or two more incidents were reported to have occurred at the beach and that was the end of it. Canada was proud to revert back to the prude it has always been. And Gwen Jacobs was indelibly etched in Canadian history.