Marty

I have a friend. Well, actually I have a few friends but this particularly one is American. And he's black. Very nice guy. He told me a short anecdote. He grew up black in America and through the course of his upbringing became a black militant. He "knew" that when white people spoke to him they saw mainly the color of his skin and he felt everything that he said was filtered through that. It didn't make for a pleasant life.

Several years ago he came to Canada for a company he worked for. Shock may be a bit strong of a word but very quickly he realized that when people in Canada spoke to him they did not see the colour of his skin. They were just speaking to him. They did not have any bias or already formed opinions about the type of person he was. It changed him.

He is no longer a militant and even being back in the US of A he finds because he has experienced more tolerance that he can be more tolerant.

Yea Canada!

When you get a moment look up Spencer Jones on the Internet Movie DataBase - he's up there for one movie and should be for a second in the next month or two. Cool.

OK - this post isn't for everyone. But if you have ever even thought about rebuilding a car, this is the blog to keep an eye on. My friend Grant likes to race cars. His passion goes to rebuilding race cars and he has recently begun the project of rebuilding a 1st Generation Mazda RX-7. Well actually the engine at this point is the object of his passion. If you have any interest at all cars and what goes into a project like this, check out his blog here: Grant Boshoff's blog. If you ever dreamed of committing to a project of this detail, check the site often and you may learn something.

• Martin

Gareth played at the Orpheum in Tampa again Sunday night. He was somewhat nervous. The first time he played there a few weeks ago, he played to a very small crowd as it was a Wednesday night. This time, Sunday evening there were a few hundred people there - well, at least a couple of hundred. Anyway, he played nine songs - this time I really wish I had a video camera to record the event - I will next time. By the sixth or seventh song the whole place was clapping along to the beat of the song. Huge cheering for every one. He played seven original songs and two covers. (A cover is simply playing a song written by someone else.)

The difference from the first show a few weeks ago to this one was amazing. He completely filled the room with his music - his own music is catchy and full of life and feeling. He was completely confident and exuded competence - if this is starting to sound like a parent doting or bragging - well, too bad.

South Beach Diet Pancakes: These Rock!

I don't really call South Beach Diet a diet - I see it as just eating properly - anyway, here's the recipe from the book with some of my 'additives':

1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
(I don't eat anything low fat - tastes terrible and I'm not convinced)
4 Egg whites (I use two whole eggs)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

I double the recipe as what's here won't give you much. They are pretty big pancakes and they are thick as well - so if you prefer thinner pancakes, add a bit more cottage cheese or eggs. And of course you can vary the spices to taste. Filling too.

Throw it all in a blender and you are good to go.

- martin