Toronto the Grimy!

Probably one of the funniest articles I've ever read about Toronto.

"Yes, Toronto has lots of people from lots of different places who don't always understand or like each other. Some of us find the confusion entertaining, a live screwball comedy with a multiracial cast. Another benefit is the happy truth that a great number of Torontonians, coming from elsewhere, are, blessedly, folks who have never heard of Nickelback, sung that god-awful Barrett's Privateers song in a fake Irish pub, found curling anything but weird, or revered the stale stylings of Michael Bublé. They bring their own bad art to town, and are happy to share."

Read more here.

New Favourite Resto?

Ah... how could I forget to mention this? So it seems I may have a new favourite restaurant as of a couple of weeks. The Code Gal and I went off to La Palette and had what I can only describe as a spectacular experience. Beyond the fact that the food was sensational (more in a second) the service and atmosphere were also top notch.

I opened the meal with walnut-crusted camembert with cranberry coulis and pear slaw. The combination of warm and cold, crunchy and soft, savoury and sweet were remarkable. The dish was so well conceived I found myself reflecting about each bite.

Next up was a plate of wild game. Although there were many to choose from I went with lamb, wild boar, bison, and horse. Once again, the focus on simplicity was the key to this dish. The meat was grilled to a perfect rare and bedded on mashed garlic potatoes with a veal stock and wine reduction. Nothing over the top but all perfectly done.

What really made this place however was how it just felt like you had found a local jewel when you sat down. A place that isn't on every tourist's list of restaurants. Maybe even a little foodie haven... :)

Moving to MOSS 2007

Recently my company has undertaken a project with an aim of accomplishing 3 different objectives:

1. Redesign our corporate intranet.
2. Improve office collaboration, document management, and workflow.
3. Implement a new framework for application delivery.

The project began several months ago in an informal way but has recently built up steam and turned into a "real" project. Through a series of events which are beyond the scope of what I'm writing here we've ending up heading down the path to MOSS2007 (or Microsoft Office SharePoint Services for the uninitiated).

What amazes me about the product is the sheer size of it. The documentation alone is jaw dropping. I'm looking at an architecture and planning guide that weighs in at over 600 pages! And that's only part 1 of 2! It's incredible that you can spend years working in and with technology only to be infantilized once again with the latest release of big blob X from company Y every couple of years. Progress... you gotta love it.

Nevertheless, I will say that I do believe in the portal concept. The idea that we have to go to too many places to get the information that we need. The idea that when we go to all these places we often end up being bombarded by far more information than we can process. I'd like to change this, in my small way, by making this project succeed.

So it's off to MOSS we go, where this will stop, nobody knows!

Finally Back!

Well, after an unfortunately long hiatus, CasaVianna is back! I finally got the LAMP photo gallery up and running. Sure, it would have been cool to write it myself in Ruby but I just haven't had the time. Maybe V2. Until then, enjoy here.