Taste of Lawrence

I went to the "Taste of Lawrence Festival" last Sat.
It was located on Lawrence Ave. from East from Crockford Blvd to west of Warden Ave.
According to the news, it had a 60 meters long salad made with Ontario grown vegetables. That's basically the reason why I wanted to go and see. Unfortunately, that event was over when I went there in the afternoon.

The marketing of this event was done very poorly. The www.tasteoflawrence.com web site never mentioned anything about the salad event, which was supposed to be a big event. Other web sites (e.g. toronto.com) also didn't mention anything about the salad. The only information I found was a Toronto Star article, but that newspaper article didn't mention the time.

If the marketing was done better, I am sure that lots more people will attend this event. Almost all of the people I know weren't even aware of this event. Whoever organized this event should definitely improve their marketing next year!!

Toronto Ribfest

I went to the Toronto Ribfest today...


Toronto Ribfest is the largest Canada Day celebration, which held over the long weekend at Centennial Park in Etobicoke. It has live music, BBQ ribs, beer tents, and carnival rides for Children, etc.

Since it is the "Rib" festival, there are 12 Ribbers selling ribs. Their booths line up side-by-side in the park. This is the first time that I see so many rib booths!! The smell of BBQ ribs spreads across the whole park...




And of course, all ribbers have placed their awards in front of their booth to show off...


Since this is my first time going to Ribfest, I don't know which ribber is good. So, I've decided to follow the crowd. Out of all those ribbers, I notice that 2 ribbers have the longest line-up:
Turtle Jack's and Crabby's BBQ

In the end, Turtle Jack's was picked...
Turtle Jack's rib was good but a little bit dry...
Since this was a mass production, I guess I can't expect too much...




Other than ribs, there are other booths selling ice-creams, funnel cake, corns, lemonade, etc.
How can I miss the funnel cake?
I haven't had a funnel cake for a long time since I haven't been to Wonderland for a long time...


Since there were many people at the festival, every booth had a long line-up.
I noticed something interesting while waiting in the lines.

One booth had a few licence plates with short-form writings on it.
Can you guess what they are in long form?


Well... Here are my guesses:
DNT B SY CM TRI => Don't be shy! Come try!
GR8 CKN => Good Chicken? (I am not really sure about this one.)
C MILE UR N CMRA => Smile! You're on camera!

Also, there was a ribber called "Bad Wolf".


"Bad Wolf" is an interesting name since this gives a new ending to the "Three Little Pigs" fairy tale:

Once upon a time there was a mother pig who had three little pigs. Mother Pig sent her three little piglets out into the world to live on their own.

The first little pig built a house of straw, but a wolf blew it down and turned the pig into ribs.

The second pig built a house of wood, but the wolf also blew it down and turned the pig into ribs.

The third pig built a house of brick. The wolf somehow entered the house and turned the pig into ribs as well.

The end.

Do you like the new Three Little Pigs story??

5th Annual Taste of Asia Festival

I wasn't planning to go to the Taste of Asia Street Festival, because I am still coughing a lot.
It just happened that the Taste of Asia Street Festival was very close to my doctor's office. My family doctor is inside Market Village and the Street Festival is at the corner of Kennedy Road & Steeles Ave. East, just outside of Market Village. So, I went to the Festival after seeing my doctor.


There were lots of people at the Festival.




There were many food booths selling Korean BBQ, Xinjiang Grilled Lamb, Kashmiri BBQ, Smelly Tofu, Japanese Squid Ball, Roasted Corns, Roasted Yams, Fresh Oysters, etc. I noticed that the busiest booths are:

1. Smelly Tofu
2. Japanese Squid Ball
3. Fresh Oysters

I did try the Xinjiang Grilled Lamb. It was very good... very yummy...
I also tried the Roasted Corn. It is ok... just like corns in BBQ...
Since I am sick, I cannot try other fried or "hot air" food.









Can you guess who I saw at the Festival? Someone who should be working...
It's Tom! He was taking a lunch break!



I saw the Mounties as well... I wasn't sure whether they were actually on duty or they were just taking a break... I also saw a person wearing costume... not sure what he was trying to be...




There were some non-food booths and events as well.
Different car dealerships (Audi, Acura, Porche, etc) were there.



The Markham Fire Department was there too...



In addition, there were basketball games going on...



I brought key chains from the Name On Rice booth.
They wrote people's name on a rice and turned that into key chains or neckless. It's amazing because a rice is so small!


The Festival was fun!! I would definitely go back next year as well!!

五月初五端午節

端午節 (Dragon Boat Festival) is basically the remembrance day of 屈原.

　　屈原是戰國時代的楚國人，二十二歲時，就已官居左徒、三闆大夫，輔助楚懷王。其時楚懷王受到奸臣的進讒，沒有接受屈原關於聯齊抗秦的主張，被說客張儀騙到秦國軟禁起來，逼他割地獻城，後因憂慮成疾，不久便死於秦國。

　　屈原知道後悲憤欲絕，上書請求頃襄王為懷王報仇。但頃襄王窕寵信奸佞，不思振復，將屈原削職放逐江南，其後楚國被秦國攻陷，亡在旦夕。屈原救國的願望破滅了，在極度憂憤悲慟的心境下，於公元前 278 年 (屈原六十二歲時) 農曆五月五日縱路投入波濤洶湧的汨羅江。

　　當時楚國的老百姓聽到消息以後，十分悲痛，紛紛把煮熟的米飯裝入竹筒或葉子包起來，做成粽子投入江中，希望魚蝦吃飽粽子之後，就不會再去吃屈原的屍體了，使屈原能保全屍。


Everyone know about this historic story. However, I found some interesting articles that say 屈原 is gay... He committed suicide partly because 楚國被秦國攻陷 and partly because of his love for 楚懷王.


　　《少司命》詩中的少司命似暗指屈原所愛戀的楚懷王（328-299 B.C.在位）。1944年，古典文學專家孫次舟發表文章《屈原是文學弄臣的發疑》，指出屈原是同性戀者，在文壇引起譁然。孫次舟又撰文《屈原討論的最後申辯》。朱自清同情孫次舟的觀點，並請出楚辭專家聞一多主持公道。聞一多次年在《中原》雜誌發表《屈原問題》，說：“孫次舟以屈原爲弄臣，是完全正確地指出了一樁歷史事實……”他認爲，在戰國時代，文學家沒有獨立的社會地位和生存條件，他們只有依附于國君與貴族才能生存。當時盛行男風，人們並不以此爲慚。

　　屈原的《離騷》、《九歌》、《九思》、《遠遊》、《卜居》、《漁父》等詩，都可看作他與楚懷王的愛情由親密到疏遠過程的藝術記錄。

(節錄自潘光旦：中國上古文獻中的同性戀事例〉


Well... In 屈原's poems (such as 〈離騷經〉,〈湘夫人〉,〈思美人〉, etc), he used 「香草」to represent himself and used 「美人」to represent 楚懷王. This does sound kind of weird! No wonder some people think that he is gay!!

I prefer the interpretation of some other people. They think 屈原用「香草」比喻品格，用「美人」比喻身為人臣的身份.

I guess this will remain a mystery... unless 屈原 comes back from his grave...



Source:
揭開屈原自溺于汨羅江之謎
屈原是否同性戀
屈原原是同性戀