A World of Flavour

Chef Ibrahim Ghozlani serves up a cultural blend.

Experimentation is the name of the game at Bistro Narra.

The kitchen staff, led by Chef Ibrahim Ghozlani, is always eager to try new combinations to see what their clients enjoy, or what they might not.

“Mississauga can be a tough crowd, because it’s so diverse,” says Ghozlani, “but that doesn’t stop us from trying new things. Our annual tasting menu, which collects all our experiments throughout the year, allows us to be mad scientists, in a way. For example, we’ll do things like molecular gastronomy—nobody expects a restaurant in Mississauga to be doing that. It’s a lot of fun.”

Located in a plaza in the Churchill Meadows neighbourhood, the cozy yet upscale restaurant offers classic European fare, but with a twist, as Ghozlani brings with him several other culinary influences beyond the French cuisine he was trained in. After graduating from the Culinary Arts School of Ontario in 2004, he lived and worked in Toronto, Montreal, Dubai and Amman, Jordan (and had his own restaurant there), before moving to Mississauga. Somewhere in there, he also found the time to get married, spend three months on honeymoon in Italy, and subsequently fall in love with Italian food.

“I’m from Jordan, so I add some Mediterranean and Arabic influences in my cooking,” he says. “But I’ve lived in many different places, and each new country I’ve worked in has exposed me to different ingredients. I love combining all these influences in ways that are fun and modern. You can always find a new fruit or vegetable you haven’t seen before—you just have to travel!”

Ghozlani enjoys working with seasonal ingredients, and changes the menu accordingly; whiteboards listing the restaurant’s ever-changing daily specials help illustrate his desire to keep it interesting. His philosophy? “Respect the ingredients,” he says. “Every item on the plate needs to shine on its own, and the dish must be balanced.” We got to try one of his dishes during our visit—this philosophy is paying off.

So what’s next for him? “I’d like to have my own restaurant again,” he says, “but I’ve only just returned to Canada. I need to give it a few years to better understand the local palate—that’s why I keep changing the board. I want to get as much feedback from our clients as I can.

“And in the future, I see myself going back to and retiring in Italy… but that’s a long way off!”

RECIPE: SURF ’N’ TURF

“This is my take on surf ’n’ turf, with organic beef loin, roasted bone marrow and snow crab claws. It’s currently my favourite dish to cook at Bistro Narra.”
—Chef Ibrahim Ghozlani

INGREDIENTS

• 6 oz AAA strip loin steak
• 1 bone marrow, 6-inch, split lengthwise
• 2 snow crab claws
• 1 Yukon Gold potato
• 1 asparagus spear
• 1 slice prosciutto Parma
• 2 cups red wine
• 2 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• dollop of butter
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• salsa verde (see separate recipe below)

METHOD

For bone marrow

1. Soak marrow in cold water for 12 hours in refrigerator; change water after 6 hours.
2. Remove from water and roast in convection oven at 320°F for 20–30 minutes.

For crab claw

1. In a small sauce pot, add butter, fresh thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
2. Poach in butter for 7 minutes.

For strip loin steak

1. Season meat with salt and fresh-cracked black pepper.
2. Grill to desired doneness.

For prosciutto crisp

1. Place a slice of prosciutto between two sheets of parchment paper on a baking tray and bake at 400°F until crisp; about 5–7 minutes.

For potato fondant

1. Using a paring knife, shape potato into a 1.5-inch cylinder and place in a small sauce pan; cover with chicken stock or water.
2. Add a dollop of butter and a sprig of rosemary; bring to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer until all water has evaporated and potato starts to brown from the bottom.

For red wine glaze

1. On low heat, reduce 2 cups of good quality red wine to 3 tbsp (should be the consistency of syrup); about 20–30 minutes, but keep an eye on it after it reduces by three-quarters.

For asparagus

1. Drizzle asparagus with olive oil and season with salt and pepper; grill (though you can substitute for any veggie you like).

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SALSA VERDE

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp capers
• 3 gherkins
• 1 fillet anchovies
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1 bunch basil
• 1 bunch mint
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 cup olive oil

METHOD

1. Add all ingredients to food processor and blitz for 2 minutes on high.

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PLATING

1. Place bone marrow in the centre of the plate; prevent bone from rolling by anchoring it to the plate with red pepper salsa or whatever you like.
2. Place potato fondant on one end of the bone and crab claws on the other; arrange slices of meat in the centre. Place asparagus on top of potato.
3. Top the sliced meat with salsa verde.
4. Place prosciutto crisp at an angle for height.
5. Drizzle plate with red wine glaze in a circular motion.

 

Bistro Narra
3030 Thomas St., Unit A404
905-567-8555

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca; recipe originally posted on urbaneats.ca. The print version originally appeared in Mississauga Life, issue 30, 2015; the PDF of that is available here.)

Decked Out

How marina residents got blazing-fast Internet.

There are 37 slips on the F dock at the Port Credit Harbour Marina, and for a long time these residents used Wi-Fi to gain access to the online world. Since April 2014, some of them have found a better solution through the good people at Fidalia Networks: fibre-optics.

“The trouble with Wi-Fi,” says Shaun Rossi, manager at Fidalia, “is that it’s difficult to get proper blanket coverage. It’s only as strong as its weakest link and there can be interference and distance issues. Much of the old Bell Canada copper infrastructure at the marina has decayed, and there’s no co-axial infrastructure so Rogers isn’t an option, either. We came up with something better.”

Fibre-optics is the best technology available today when it comes to high-speed connectivity. It’s immune to interference, it’s generally not sensitive to distance, and it’s seldom affected by weather. The trade-off is that it’s a wired medium; you still have to plug it in. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing—many among the technologically adept, including Rossi, will tell you that wired is the way to go.

“Basically, if you want the fastest Internet in Mississauga, live on a boat,” he says.

How it Works
Inside the boat is an optical network connection—think of it as a fibre router—with an Ethernet switch and Wi-Fi. A fibre cable runs from the boat to the dock (don’t worry, it’s not dangerous; fibre optics works by transmitting light, not electricity), and plugs into a pedestal at the dock which then goes back to the network aggregation equipment in the building. “Everyone gets their own IP address,” says Rossi. “We’ve set it up so that there’s one fibre connection per subscriber, sort of like a newer string of Christmas lights—if one goes down for whatever reason, it won’t drag along the rest. That also makes it easier for us to troubleshoot problems.”

How Fast Is Fast?
This new set-up at F dock can clock speeds of up to 1 GB/second. Let me put that into perspective for you. If you test your Internet connection speed at home and get, say, 20 MB/second, that’s solid. You could download the average half-hour TV sitcom in under a minute, if your speed is consistent.

This is 50 times faster.

“That’s well over anything the average user would ever currently need in day-to-day use,” says Rossi, “but running optical would give you, for example, perfect Netflix sessions or trouble-free telecommuting or videoconferencing. Distance and latencies can, however, affect speed, so you might not get 1 GB/second all the time, but you’ll still be much faster than most anyone else.”

So… can I switch my house over to fibre, then? “If you wanted to pay $100,000 for it, you could,” says Rossi. “That’s the quote I recently got from Bell. I’d have to place 2.4 kilometres of cable to bring it to my house. Replacing an old copper network with optical would involve construction, municipal consent, a great deal of organization, and customers. You’d have to lay down an entirely new infrastructure. It’s not a trivial feat.”

Fidalia is part of the commercial community at the marina, and has been in business since 2000. They started off by setting up small workgroup solutions and servers for offices and the like, and in 2007 Internet services became a major part of their business. They also offer wide-area networking, cloud services, disaster recovery, IT network management, tech support and telephony.

That said, Fidalia focuses on broadband and network solutions for business. They don’t really do residential, largely because at the moment third-party ISPs like Fidalia can’t access residential-grade optical from private networks like Bell and Rogers. Where they excel is in providing enterprise-class optical networking for medium to large sized businesses, which is available to them through Bell and Rogers.

“It’s a dream of ours to be involved in some sort of neighbourhood-deployed fibre project,” says Rossi. “We’ve got the experience and we deliver Internet services across Canada to lots of different enterprises and business. We know our stuff.”

The F dock project was conceived by Wayne Petryk, controller of Centre City Capital Limited (operator of the Port Credit Harbour Marina for over 36 years). “Centre City has been at the forefront of innovation in the marina business,” says Petryk, “and we wanted to enhance the boating experience for our residents by delivering fibre-optics right to their boats. It was a complex undertaking, but the expertise of Fidalia made it a reality.”

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca. The print version originally appeared in Spirit of the City/Mississauga Life, issue 29, 2015; the PDF of that is available here.)

Simple Is Best

Two new chefs are shaking things up at Saucy.

Change isn’t necessarily about fixing something bad; sometimes it’s about improving on what’s already good.

Saucy Restaurant, a Streetsville staple for 14 years and counting, is embracing change in the form of new head chef Alex Aboui and sous-chef Devon Clark. These friendly and enthusiastic young chefs are taking an innovative approach to cooking through experimentation and blended cuisines.

“I don’t have a favourite cuisine,” says Clark. “I like fusion, so I guess I like everything. Every culture has its own unique flavours; I’m really interested in that aspect of cooking so I want to learn everything I can about it.”

“I love picking up ingredients that I know nothing about, figuring them out and creating something cool with them,” adds Aboui. “We have fresh specials every day, where we get to play around and do whatever we want.”

Some examples of those somewhat random-sounding specials include crisp pork belly on a roasted honey-glazed pineapple slice with a balsamic reduction, and a roasted red pepper and asparagus slaw. Or a white fish rolled up and stuffed with cream cheese, lobster and spinach, poached with lemon water and herbs, with a lemon beurre blanc.

This creative and adventurous philosophy is reflected in Saucy’s menu, which includes key lime prawn salad, and fried chicken and waffles, to name a few. “We have a little bit of everything,” says Aboui. “Our restaurant is like something you’d find in downtown Toronto, only it’s close to home. That said, we’re going to have a menu change soon. It’ll be a blend of the old and new.”

Both Aboui and Clark became interested in cuisine at a young age; 18 and 15, respectively. Aboui doesn’t have any formal training; she started as a dishwasher at Saucy and worked her way up. “I don’t know what I’d be doing if I didn’t luck out and get that dish pit job,” she says. “I’d probably still be making burnt toast and runny mac ’n’ cheese!”

For Clark, cooking was a way to get through high school. “I was one of those kids who skipped class, partied, did all the fun stuff,” he says. “One day, one of the chefs from my school talked to our class about his job, and something clicked for me. I asked if he could teach me, and did a co-op there. From there I went to George Brown, worked in a couple of restaurants and now I’m here.”

The chefs share a similar philosophy and style: simple is better. “Over-thinking things just makes it more difficult for yourself, especially when you’re serving 60 or 70 people,” says Clark. “We keep it simple, clean and fresh.”

What’s next for them?

Clark is staying put and learning all he can. “I’d like to open my own place one day. Something with a simple menu, that’s welcoming to everyone. The door’s open, come on in.”

Aboui is interested in teaching; she’s currently helping a friend with a cooking class. “But Saucy is my focus right now,” she says. “Eventually, I’d like to have my own restaurant, too—a tapas place, though not necessarily Spanish tapas—but that’s off in the future.”

“And if that doesn’t work,” she adds with a laugh, “then gourmet toast!”

RECIPE: Potato-Crusted Pickerel with Lobster Pernod Cream Sauce

Elegantly different and delicious!

Ingredients (to serve 1)

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup crushed potato chips (regular)
• 1 fillet (6–8 oz) pickerel
• ½ tbsp garlic butter
• pinch (or as desired) green onions
• pinch (or as desired) basil
• ½ cup cream
• lobster, as desired
• ½ oz Pernod
• 1 tbsp Parmesan
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. On stovetop, heat vegetable oil over medium heat; just enough to cover the pan.
3. Crust pickerel on one side with potato chips, season with salt and pepper, and sear in pan; about 1 minute.
4. Put pickerel in oven and cook until golden brown, flip; about 5 minutes.
5. While pickerel is cooking, prepare sauce: over medium heat add garlic butter, lobster, herbs and seasoning. (For some extra flavour, add some cooked bacon as well.) Add Pernod to deglaze and then add cream right after. Reduce to one-third; about 2 minutes. Stir Parmesan in. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Spoon sauce over pickerel and serve with steamed vegetables or whichever side you prefer.

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca; recipe originally posted on urbaneats.ca. The print version originally appeared in Spirit of the City/Mississauga Life, issue 29, 2015; the PDF of that is available here.)

The 5 Worst Christmas Movies Ever

Take a bite out of these Christmas turkeys.

In this season of selflessness, I decided to subject myself to the horrors of some truly terrible Tinseltown tales so you don’t have to. I do this out of respect for your time, dear reader. Either that or barely repressed masochism.

A shovel to the back of the head would be a mercy after seeing this film.

5. Surviving Christmas
Ben Affleck plays a hotshot executive with a big empty life. His girlfriend dumps him for Christmas/family reasons, so he returns to his childhood home to burn a list of grievances as a form of therapy. He then hires the current occupants to be his family for Christmas. In his eagerness, Affleck appears unhinged, but at least the family is being paid to put up with him—too bad audiences weren’t. But as bad as Surviving Christmas is, it’s Oscar bait compared to the rest of the list.

Now Vince, in this scene I need you to be an annoying jackass. Oh great, you already know your part.

4. Fred Claus
Oh look, Vince Vaughn is playing Vince Vaughn again. What a stretch for this talented and versatile actor. Double-V plays Fred, the brother of Nicholas Claus. Fred, in an oh-so clever twist, is a repo dude who resents his brother. What follows is a plot, I guess, about an efficiency expert threatening to shut down Santa’s operation and move everything to the South Pole. Fred and Nick fight, Fred saves Christmas, the family reconciles and blah blah, yadda yadda. Running at 110 minutes, it’s about 109 minutes too long.

There aren’t enough movies featuring Hulk Hogan doing crane kicks.

3. Santa with Muscles
Hulk Hogan stars as a wealthy jerk who, while fleeing the cops after a little mischief, hits his head and… sigh… gets amnesia. Someone half-convinces him that he’s Santa Claus, so Hogan decides to save a struggling orphanage. But wait—an evil scientist wants to buy the land said orphanage sits on, because beneath it are rare exploding crystals. Seriously. No amount of training, prayers or vitamins will get this movie past its many, many flaws. And don’t get me started on the Brutus Beefcake cameo.

Apparently Martians have figured out interplanetary travel, but not parenting.

2. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
This celluloid disaster was almost number one on the list. Something is wrong with the children of Mars, you see—they’ve forgotten how to be children and have fun. Since they’ve been watching Earth broadcasts about Santa Claus, the Martians decide to abduct him to build toys for their kids. The acting is one-dimensional at best, and the sets appear to be lit by a single overhead light bulb. And wait ’til you see the dude in the polar bear sui—I mean, the polar bear. Where’s Plan 9 from Outer Space when you really need it?

The only time I wished I lived on Alderaan.

1. The Star Wars Holiday Special
I’ve loved Star Wars since I was a kid, and I never thought I would see anything that would sully that trilogy any more than the prequels already have. I was wrong. This is an incomprehensible mess. We meet Chewbacca’s family—Malla, Itchy and Lumpy—who are celebrating “Life Day,” and Chewie is late coming home. The first 20 minutes mostly contain Wookiee growls, a few bad puns and then I don’t know what happens because I couldn’t bear to watch it any further. It’s not just that it’s bad—it’s ruining Star Wars. Worst. Christmas. Movie. Ever.

Not enough, you say? You want more? Well, treat yourselves to some VIDEO:

Surviving Christmas (clip)

Fred Claus (clip)

Santa with Muscles (full movie)

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (full movie)

The Star Wars Holiday Special (full movie)

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca. The print version originally appeared in Spirit of the City/Mississauga Life, issue 16, 2012; the PDF of that is available here.)

Christmas Comes Early

Photography by Ulysses Pabuna

The night of December 3 was one full of surprises, the first of which was that I made it to downtown Toronto in record time: 40 minutes. That’s in rush hour, avoiding the Gardiner. Lakeshore was my friend.

The second surprise was dinner at Chipotle—that is, I’m surprised I didn’t spill more of my tacos on my sweater. They’re messy, but good.

The third and by far the biggest surprise was how much I enjoyed the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO). I walked into the ACC that night barely knowing anything about them, only that “they’re awesome,” according to my friend Tom. He’s the fan, he scored the tickets, and he promised me it would be a great time.

He was right.

Now I love me a good concert, and, if you’ve read any of my other reviews, I tend to like my music loud and boisterous, to put it euphemistically. TSO can bring the volume, but there were also many quiet, delicate moments—not that that’s a bad thing. As far as I can tell, TSO tends to tour in winter, or at least they always seem to end up in Toronto in December, so there’s a lot in the way of winter themes both visually and musically. Their albums are often concept albums or rock operas. And they really, really love Christmas. They have three albums that form their “Christmas trilogy”: Christmas Eve and Other Stories, The Christmas Attic, and The Lost Christmas Eve.

This show was, in essence, a Christmas show. In the first half of the concert, they played through The Christmas Attic—this tour represents the first time that they’ve played that album live. Its story, in a nutshell, is this: a little girl explores the attic of her home on Christmas Eve, finds an old chest full of letters including those of a long-lost couple, reads said letters and ultimately reunites said long-lost couple. Aww.

It broke down like this: a huge chest was placed in the centre of the stage, and it opened up to reveal most of the band within it. Then, one vocalist would do spoken-word pieces between the songs, talking about the letters the little girl was reading, and then the band would launch into a song that illustrated the letter in question.

Step one: place chest on stage.

Step two: slowly open chest…

…to reveal band.

Step three: add spoken word.

Step four: fire.

There’s more to the story of The Christmas Attic, and there are strong Christian overtones to it, too. If you want to read the whole thing, it’s here. To be honest, I could’ve done without the religious stuff, as I find it irksome (to put it politely), but I ignored that and enjoyed the show nonetheless.

TSO is a progressive rock band with parts of an orchestra: there are two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, an electric violinist, two keyboardists, a string section and about 10 vocalists, either singing lead or as part of a choir. And that string section—they’re from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. So TSO was playing with TSO. We all had a chuckle at that when they mentioned it.

As the show progressed, I noticed quite a bit of ’80s-style guitar wankery, which made me wonder what these musicians had done before TSO. Turns out some of them were in Savatage, a prog-metal/power-metal band that was prominent in the ’80s and early ’90s. I’ve heard of Savatage, but can’t say that I’ve listened to them. But, wankery aside, I do love hearing call-and-response between singer and guitarist and I love guitar harmonies, and at one point they did both simultaneously. That was pretty cool.

The second half of the show was comprised of TSO’s classics. There was still a Christmas theme happening, but it wasn’t too strong. At times, the guitarists and violinist ran out into the crowd, going up the stairs on the 100 level and interacting with fans. There were a few points during the show where they would strap themselves into some raised platforms that would go out high above the crowd and rotate.

One set of raised, rotating platforms.

Lasers!

They also did some pieces of classical music (e.g., Beethoven, Liszt; some of that took the form of a keyboardist duel) and other carols, or really, their heavier versions of carols, e.g., “Carol of the Bells”—they ended the show with that one.

The show was full of video and smoke and fire and sparkles and lights and lasers, plus they did a brief cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” and they topped it all off with fireworks at the end! For two and a half hours, it was pure rock-and-roll spectacle.

And now, a sample of TSO’s music. If you were on the Internet in 2005, you’ve probably seen this video. This is “Wizards in Winter”:

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca.)

Face Value

Is the Apple Watch worth it?

The tech world is buzzing about smartwatches. If you want to wear your tech, you can already choose from the Samsung Gear Neo 2, the Pebble and the Sony Smartwatch, to name a few. But everyone’s waiting for Apple’s version.

The Apple Watch is due for release in early 2015. Beyond the base model, it will also come as a durable model (Apple Watch Sport) and a luxury model (Apple Watch Edition) made with 18-karat gold. No word on official price just yet, but the base model is speculated to cost $350.

What Does it Do?
It’s loaded with apps, such as messaging, weather, Siri, music, email, Apple Maps, calendar, Facebook, health and fitness, an extension of your iPhone camera shutter, an extension of your iPhone call function (via mic and speaker), retail applications through Passbook and Apple Pay, and more to come. Oh yeah, and it’s also a watch.

The Apple Watch also employs haptic feedback technology. App notifications are delivered via gentle vibration, and if you wanted to, you can subtly get a fellow Apple Watch wearer’s attention by tapping on your watch, which will then vibrate silently on theirs; could be handy.

The downside to many of these apps is that you’ll need to tether the watch to your iPhone to get the most out of them.

Aesthetics
If there’s one thing Apple is good at, it’s turning tech into eye candy. This device is a beauty. I’m a fan of the customizable watch face; why be stuck with one design or set of data when you can change it on the fly?

Some people are complaining about the rectangular design, but I quite like it. It has the classic look of your dad’s watch of yesteryear, which belies the impressive and sophisticated technology within. To further customize the look, you can easily change the wristband. Every additional touch of customization will help Apple sell more of them.

Interface
There’s a touchscreen, of course, but a lot of the interaction with the device happens through what Apple calls a “digital crown,” which is a fancy term for the winding knob on the side. You’ll navigate through the apps with this—the device is just too small to make the traditional pinch-and-zoom interface practical. It’s also the home button, and there’s another button beneath it, which is used for conversations with other Apple Watch users.

So What?
The larger question here is: do we even need smartwatches? They might be convenient, but I haven’t worn a watch in years—once I started carrying a smartphone, the need to wear a watch just vanished. I’m a little torn on this: on the one hand; it’s new tech and I can’t help but squeal in delight; on the other, my smartphone is sitting right there. Is it really that much of an “inconvenience” to take this frankly marvellous piece of technology out of my pocket?

Something else to consider is that you have to charge the watch. It may be called a watch, but make no mistake, this is a tiny computer and it needs the juice. It likely won’t last more than a day without charging it. I can see that being somewhat annoying; as if we don’t have enough devices to charge already.

Verdict
I don’t think the Apple Watch will make the same impact on our lives the iPhone did, as much as Apple wants it to. It’s a fun gadget, but I don’t see much practicality in it yet, especially because of its overreliance on pairing with an iPhone for functionality. The smartwatch market is still emerging and needs to justify its existence; maybe the Apple Watch will do that. If anything, I think it will find a home among some technophiles, some early adopters, and certainly among the Apple faithful.

But it sure is pretty.

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca. The print version originally appeared in Spirit of the City/Mississauga Life, issue 28, 2014; the PDF of that is available here.)

Constantine

I watched the first episode of Constantine, and here’s what I’ve got to say about it.

I love comics, and one of my old favourites is Hellblazer, published by Vertigo, the mature readers’ imprint of DC Comics. Three weeks ago, DC launched a new TV show, Constantine, based on the series. You won’t find new issues of Hellblazer in your local comics shop at the moment, though; DC ended the series with #300 and re-launched it under the title Constantine, presumably to match the show title and make it easier for TV viewers to find the books, if they’re interested. For the record, Hellblazer is a way better title.

Now some of you may be thinking, “Constantine? Isn’t that that wretched film they made with Keanu Reeves nine years back?” Yes. Yes, it is. That film was something of an abomination. You are to ignore it. Instead, if you like occult horror, have a look at Constantine; it’s a far better rendition. Matt Ryan plays the titular character, John Constantine, an arrogant, chain-smoking, hard-drinking occultist/exorcist/magic-user-guy who knows how to handle a demon or two, and is tormented over the fate of the souls he couldn’t save—including his own.

People who get close to him tend to die horribly, you see.

Ryan does a good job of portraying Constantine. He’s got the right swagger, he’s British (which is important to the character—y’hear that, Keanu? (although to be fair, if you heard Reeves’ English “accent” in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, perhaps we were all done a service when they made him play Constantine as an American)); he feels right. That might be more important to Hellblazer fans than non-fans, but as long as he stays true to the spirit of the character, I’m good.

It’s at the 10:00 time slot, so the show can get away with being a little more horrific and such. Yet the chain-smoking is mysteriously absent. Apparently blood, guts and demons are OK, but a cigarette? Perish forbid! Think of the children!

A face only a grandmother could AAAAAGHHH!!

That may sound like something of a comic-fan-only rant, but Constantine’s smoking actually plays a large role in the books: if you’re damned to hell, you don’t want terminal lung cancer. I hear that you sort of see hints of it in later episodes (stubbing it out on his shoe, a cloud of smoke over him; you just don’t see him actually smoking), so maybe this isn’t that big a deal.

There are some genuine scares in the show—at least I thought so. Admittedly, I don’t do that well with horror; maybe I jumped at something that horror aficionados would sleep through, I don’t know. But it’s got some creepy moments for sure.

“Dead by dawn! Dead by d–” Oh wait, wrong story.

I’ve only watched the first episode so far, and that was last night, so it’s possible my opinion is still somewhat laced with fanboy enthusiasm—because, I have to admit, it’s pretty awesome to see John Constantine on screen—and maybe viewings of subsequent episodes will change my mind. But for now, it looks good. I’ll keep watching. I’m cautiously optimistic.

p.s. Nerd moment: they showed the Helmet of Fate!

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca.)

What Makes Us Click

If you could cast your ballot from home, would you?

With a municipal election around the corner, we sometimes hear the familiar refrain of “I’m too busy to vote,” or “My polling station is too far. I can’t be bothered,” or “Why can’t I just vote from home?” Let’s think about that for a sec. Why can’t we vote from home? We live in a pretty spectacular technological age—how are we not voting online yet?

In some places, people are casting their votes online. In an attempt to modernize their voting systems, the cities of Markham, Peterborough, and Halifax have all recently experimented with Internet voting. Why? To increase accessibility and encourage voter turnout, especially among youth.

A comprehensive report published in 2010 by Elections Canada assesses the results and success of electronic/Internet voting in those three Canadian cities and in three European countries. Markham, Peterborough and Halifax Markham introduced Internet voting in advance polls in 2003, and since then has seen an increase in voter turnout to the tune of 35 percent. Online voters were happy with the process and said they would vote online again.

Peterborough implemented a similar system for advance polls in 2006, and enjoyed similar results. Unlike Markham, it did not see an increase in overall voter turnout, but it produced an interesting demographic note: voters aged 55 to 64 used the online system the most, indicating that online voting is not solely the dominion of youth.

The Halifax system gave voters flexibility in how to vote (via multiple devices) and when. It also allowed voters to spoil their ballot or decline to vote. Despite strong public support for Internet voting, voter turnout in Halifax decreased between 2004 and 2008, but turnout in advance polls increased by over 50 percent. Estonia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom Estonia’s use of Internet voting yielded an almost 4 percent increase in turnout in the country’s parliamentary elections between 2003 and 2007, and an increase of slightly over 17 percent in European parliamentary elections between 2004 and 2009.

The Swiss model is considered successful—and in fact is one of the most refined systems in the world—because of public acceptance and use, which seems to have positively affected turnout. From Switzerland’s online initiative, there was a 12 to 27 percent increase in voters who previously called themselves abstainers, especially those aged 18 to 39.

The UK, on the other hand, has a different story. It implemented several methods of electronic/Internet voting across multiple devices and operating systems, and did not allow sufficient time for development. There were only moderate increases in turnout, and the initiative was abandoned.

Security
The elephant in the room is, of course, concern over security and privacy. Each jurisdiction dealt with these issues in its own way, including methods such as pre-registration, unique security questions, unique PINs or other identifiers, CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) challenges, and date of birth. Outside firms were sometimes hired to test security by simulating hacking attacks. Another way to ensure privacy was through the “double-envelope” method—essentially a process through which the voter’s online identity and electronic ballot are kept separate.

Further Applications
All three Canadian municipalities continue to use and improve their online voting systems today. From these examples, it would appear that Internet voting can work and prompt some increase in turnout. Markham also employed educational initiatives including a comprehensive advance marketing campaign, information-rich websites and social media development.

Can it work in Mississauga?
In 2010, MIRANET (Mississauga Residents Association Network) proposed numerous electoral reforms to City Council, including Internet voting, but there was no time to implement them, and it doesn’t look like we’ll have the option this October. If you think Internet voting is a good idea, talk to your councillor and candidates.

More research is needed, but if the result is a more engaged electorate, then Internet voting is worth pursuing.

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca. The print version originally appeared in Spirit of the City/Mississauga Life, issue 27, 2014; the PDF of that is available here.)

My Fan Expo Experience

Every year, I find it’s my nerdly duty to attend Fan Expo. I say “duty” lightly, though—despite any of the headaches that might accompany the event, it’s always a joy to attend it and indulge in all my geeky loves.

By and large, I’m there for the comics. I’m an old-school collector (24 years and counting); while many other readers have switched to only collecting graphic novels/trade paperback collections (“trades”) or digital downloads, I still love single issues. They take up more room and are a pain in the ass to lug around (I have about 26 long-boxes’ worth of singles—that’s close to 7,000 books (and trades)), but there’s something about cracking open a 30-year-old comic and smelling the newsprint as you read about Spider-Man getting his butt kicked by Juggernaut that I just love.

Spider-Man comic book in question pictured here.

Some of it is the collector mentality, to have the actual first printed appearance of a character (technically, trades are considered reprints) wrapped in a bag and board. Some of it is escapism or nostalgia… but most of it is just about loving stories. And don’t let that Spider-Man reference fool you; he may be my favourite superhero, but my favourite comics are much darker, weirder and grown-up than that.

Right. I’ve defended myself enough. Back to nerding out.

I spent much of this year’s Fan Expo thumbing through back-issue bins, looking for comics to fill the gaps in my collection. Normally I go to see artists, but there weren’t many this year that I wanted to see; either that, or I’d already gotten books signed by them… OR, even more truthfully, their sketch/commission prices were just too expensive.

Artists’ Alley had many cool and interesting offerings. This is where all the comic-book talent gathers. They each have tables where they sign books, draw sketches, sell prints, and chat with their fans. There are also lots of local artists selling various items (plush figures, things made from beads, other crafts, games). For the comic-book lover, this is the best place to be… next to the vendors’ area.

The highlight of Artists’ Alley for me was meeting Bernie Wrightson, a legendary comic artist known for his horror work. He was humble—fan after fan came up to him gushing about his art, and he took it all in stride, thanking them politely. It never seemed as though he felt entitled, and that’s a problem you sometimes run into. Some artists/writers get all puffed-up in their own importance, and treat their fans like walking wallets. Wrightson wasn’t one of them. I asked him to sign Batman: The Cult #1–4 and I grabbed a print of Swamp Thing from him.

Batman: The Cult

Swamp Thing by Bernie Wrightson

Andrus Tamm, from Teuton, by Adam Gorham

But no visit to the alley would be complete without seeing Big Sexy Comics—you may remember an interview with them earlier this year by yours truly. Writer “Fearless” Fred Kennedy has a new book out, The Fourth Planet, and artist Adam Gorham has his hands in many projects, including inking Kill Shakespeare and pencilling the upcoming issue #12 of Zero by Image Comics. Adam was also kind enough to grace the pages of my sketchbook with a headshot of Andrus Tamm, the protagonist of Teuton, his book with Fred.

The rest of the convention was about looking at the many costumes on display, and then: the celebrity photo-ops. This is something I’ve been doing a little more in the last few years. It’s a fast process, which is unfortunate, but necessary. Fan Expo had an estimated 120,000 attendees (last I heard), and as much as I would like to talk to the celebrities a little more, well… so would everyone else. And then no one would ever get out of there. And if I’m being really honest—I’d likely get tongue-tied anyway. It happened when we met Matt Smith (a.k.a. The Doctor from Doctor Who). My friends and I thought we’d be cool, and we totally weren’t. You get star-struck; it can’t be helped. We went in there, said our hellos, fist-bumped Smith, took the photo, said our goodbyes and that was pretty much it.

L–R: Adam (not the artist), me, Matt Smith, my cousin Rob.

I also got a photo with Bruce Campbell, of Evil Dead and Army of Darkness fame. He was wearing the loudest jacket this side of Don Cherry, and he was guiding people on how to pose. Some would point at the camera with him, some would just hug; for me, he said, “Back-to-back, like we’re in a movie poster!” As seen here:

It was awesome.

Another highlight was the Doctor Who Q&A with Matt Smith and Arthur Darvill (he played Rory Williams on the show). This was a separate ticketed event, and there were a lot of people there, and a lot of kids, too. Best moment: a kid who probably wasn’t in the double-digits in age asked Matt and Arthur to sing “Happy Birthday” to him—and they did, getting the rest of the room to join in. Pretty great.

This crowd.

I wish I’d taken more photos. Moving around on the convention floor on Saturday in particular proved difficult; much worse than usual. I didn’t have the time to stop and snap pics, and the traffic was such that you couldn’t interrupt the flow, even if you wanted to. Still, my friends took a lot this time around, so with their permission, I’ve swiped a bunch to use here. Enjoy!

Arthur Darvill. Photo by Adam Samec.

Matt Smith. Photo by Adam Samec.

LeeAnna Vamp as Boba Fett, pictured with Damien. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Princess Leia. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Lord Business. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Prowl. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Rocket Raccoon. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Shaun from Shaun of the Dead. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Shredder vs. SHE-redder. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Spidey and Black Cat. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Tank Girl. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Two members of The Cybertronic Spree. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Velma. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Cosplayer Vera Baby as Mary Jane. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Wolfman make-up. Photo by Damien Barnier.

Kato and Bruce Lee. Photo by Donovan Nembhard.

Deadpools. Photo by Donovan Nembhard.

Donovan and son Shogun in the Batmobile. Photo by Donovan Nembhard.

Felicia from Darkstalkers. Photo by Donovan Nembhard.

Green and Pink Power Rangers. Photo by Donovan Nembhard.

Star Lord, Captain America, and Groot. Photo by Donovan Nembhard.

Sansa Stark, Joffery Baratheon and the head of Ned Stark. Photo by Donovan Nembhard.

Spock. Photo by Donovan Nembhard.

Princess Leia. Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

Hawaiian Star Wars. Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

Lego Batman. Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

Judge Dredd. Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

Darth Vader. Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

Jason. Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

Walter White. Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

Daft Punk (I think). Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

Predator. Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

Titans from Attack on Titan. Photo by Mike Kasaboski.

More of my con swag: Jules and Vincent from Pulp Fiction.

More of my con swag: Stan Lee (Fan Expo exclusive)

And to cap off the con experience: beer.

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca.)

A Matter of Fairness

Has the Conservatives’ Fair Election Act been amended enough?

On February 4, 2014, Pierre Poilievre, the Minister of State for Democratic Reform, tabled Bill C-23, the Fair Elections Act. For almost three months, the furor over the provisions of the bill hasn’t died down. Opponents of the bill claim that several of its clauses are unwarranted and are designed to favour the federal Conservatives. The government said, at first, that the changes are common sense and don’t see what the fuss is about. But on April 25 they announced major revisions to the bill, addressing many of its most contentious parts. Are these amendments enough or does more need to be done?

The Facts in the Act
The Fair Elections Act is a 247-page omnibus bill. Some of the proposed changes include introducing new offences (e.g., impersonating a political agent or an election official, obstructing an investigation), stiffening existing penalties, toughening identification requirements, and improvements in monitoring mass calling. The government believes that these changes, among many others, are necessary because the laws need updating and because they are concerned about voter fraud.

Points of Contention
After a backlash from hundreds of political experts and journalists across the country, the proposals regarding vouching, restricting the communicative function of the Chief Electoral Officer of Elections Canada, the appointment of poll clerks and supervisors, and changes to the rules regarding campaign financing will be amended.

But the revised bill does not resolve concerns about limiting the investigative powers of the Commissioner of Elections and restricting Elections Canada from promoting voter turnout. Vouching and the Use of Voter Information Cards Vouching has been one of the most contentious issues surrounding this bill. Clauses 48(4), 53(1) and 56(1) of the act were to eliminate it, and clause 48(3) eliminates the use of Voter Information Cards (VIC). Under the current rules, if you can’t prove who you are and where you live at the polling station, you can have someone vouch for your identity and residency (a neighbour who knows you, for example); you both swear an oath in the process.

The problem mostly lies with proof of residency. Critics have cited that certain segments of the population can’t provide address information easily, such as homeless people, some seniors, or students who move frequently. In 2011, 120,000 voters didn’t have ID and 400,000 people relied on VICs. That’s a lot of people who could lose their right to vote.

The government claims that errors were rampant in the last two elections—but those errors didn’t come from people abusing the system, they came from elections officials recording information incorrectly. That is, they were clerical errors. Beyond that, the problem isn’t widespread: there were only 18 complaints of voter fraud among the millions of votes in 2011.

The government’s new amendments will allow voters to sign an oath of residence, with another qualified voter co-signing, to verify their address. You must, however, have photo ID with you; the government isn’t budging on that. Essentially, it’s a compromise, and it seems reasonable—most Canadians agree that ID should be required to vote. VICs will still be eliminated. The problem of disenfranchisement is reduced, but still there.

The Chief Electoral Officer
Elections Canada is the non-partisan, independent office that monitors elections, and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) is the head of the agency. Clause 7 of the Fair Elections Act would have restricted what the CEO can communicate to the public and to the Commissioner of Elections; that has since been lifted. The CEO can speak about anything he wants.

However, restrictions are still in place regarding the agency’s efforts to increase voter turnout; specifically, these restrictions limit Elections Canada’s advertising to speaking only about how to vote. (This does not affect the CEO’s ability to communicate.) Elections Canada runs outreach programs, to encourage people—young people, especially—to become more civic-minded and politically active. According to the government, voter turnout is terribly low (38.8 percent among youth 18–24 in 2011), which proves that these outreach campaigns don’t work.

While it’s good that the muzzle has been removed from the CEO, limiting the reach of these campaigns still presents a problem. Some critics say that a higher voter turnout among young people poses a threat to the Conservatives, because chances are they wouldn’t be voting for them. A well-informed public young or old feels much more ownership in Canada. Shouldn’t the educational role of Elections Canada be strengthened rather than reduced?

The Commissioner of Elections
The Commissioner of Elections is the elections watchdog. This is an independent, non-partisan job within Elections Canada that exists to ensure fairness and investigate wrongdoing, and the Commissioner reports to Parliament, not the ruling government.

Clause 108 of the Fair Elections Act makes the Commissioner an appointee of the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which reports to the government. The clause also restricts what the Commissioner is allowed to say to the public about an investigation; this includes good or reassuring news.

Of potentially greater concern is what isn’t included in the bill: the power to compel testimony (with a court order). This is something the Commissioner has long sought. Poilievre counters this by saying that the Commissioner has “all the same powers that a police investigator has…and they [police] manage to [solve cases] just fine without this extraordinary power he’s seeking.”

However, this lack of power to compel testimony is precisely the problem. “[I]t’s not uncommon for individuals who are not directly concerned with the investigation but who may possess important information to refuse to cooperate,” according to Yves Côté, the current Commissioner. “This can cause significant delays or even compromise an investigation.” This effect was seen on April 24, when Côté terminated the investigation into the robocalls scandal of 2011, citing a lack of evidence as the main reason. People simply refused to talk. It should be noted that if this power were granted, Elections Canada would ensure protections against self-incrimination.

What the Opposition Is Saying
Opposition leaders have spoken against this bill. Green Party leader Elizabeth May welcomed the changes, saying that they “address much of what was so terribly wrong with this bill, but we need to go farther.” NDP leader Thomas Mulcair agrees that more work needs to be done. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has not as yet responded to the amendments; earlier he pledged to repeal the bill in its entirety if elected prime minister. Even some Conservatives have raised doubts.

We should keep in mind that the overriding goal of any change to an elections act should be to improve the electoral process. We need more engagement from citizens, not less.

Our elections have to be above reproach. To their credit, the Conservatives have listened to the critics and made some amendments that are a big step in the right direction, but there are still areas that need improvement.

Whether you approve or disapprove of the new Fair Elections Act, tell your MP. And keep an eye on this bill—it’s not law yet.

See the full text of the Fair Elections Act here. 

Your Mississauga Members of Parliament:

• Eve.Adams.C1@parl.gc.ca
• Stella.Ambler.C1@parl.gc.ca
• Brad.Butt.C1@parl.gc.ca
• Bob.Dechert@parl.gc.ca
• Wladyslaw.Lizon@parl.gc.ca

(Originally posted on mississaugalife.ca. The print version originally appeared in Spirit of the City/Mississauga Life, issue 25, 2014; the PDF of that is available here.)