Shore Leave - Montreal

Montreal, c'est tres belle et a beacoup de la nourriture formidable!

Shore Leave - Ian's Pizza on the Hill, Rock Box, Hellbent Brewing Company

As our tens of readers may know, City Boy was deployed back to The Shit a few months ago.  From time to time, he gets a break from staying frosty and keeping his head on a swivel with some well deserved shore leave.  A recent trip back to the Emerald City took him and his favorite girl to a couple new places and an old favorite. 

Ian's Pizza on the Hill is a relatively new pizza by the slice locale that offers a range of interesting pies and a spacious, if a bit sterile, atmosphere.  Both our slices were tasty though the beer offerings left something to be desired.  The space is plenty roomy with an open kitchen along side the counter.  There's a handful of tables along with bar style seating along a wall and the front windows.  While wide open, it didn't offer much in way of atmosphere.  Though for a pizza by the slice place, eh, who cares?  As I said, the pie was plenty alright. 

Following our slices, the dynamic duo took it to the Rock Box to meet some wonderful friends and do some box rocking.  It was boat loads of fun. 

A few days later, we met a dear old friend of City Boy's who he hadn't seen in some time at a north end brew-pub, Hellbent Brewing Company.  Hellbent has an impressive tap list, as one would expect for a brewpub.  More surprisingly, they have a fantastic space, including a spacious patio area with picnic tables and couches as well.  Even better, some sort of animal charity fundraiser was ongoing the day we were there and several people brought their four legged friends with them.  Pints were murdered, laughs were had and yes, a few of pics were taken.  All in all, a smashing affair. 

Victoria, B.C.

Our third trip to Victoria was just as lovely as prior visits.  While the food was largely a let down this time, great weather during most of our visit and the always fantastic hospitality of the place more than made up for it.  This trip solidified our desire to make it at least an annual affair.

Oh yay, more pics!

Puerto Vallarta, Sayulita

Tacos, sunshine, cervezas, ocean front beaches, more tacos and more cervezas.  Oh, and margaritas.  Yeah, Mexico worked out.

Bamboo Village - Green Lake

A while back, I was lucky enough to have dim sum at my fav dim sum spot with my fav girl.  Great start to another memorable Big Day!

Hi Ma! Nope, haven't lost any weight recently.  No, really.

No Age - Neumos

Two piece noise rock outfit from sunny LA, No Age came to Neumos recently.  I was fortunate enough to catch their set and even more fortunate that Country Girl joined me.  

While excited about the show as soon as I heard about it, concern showed up when I saw there were four opening acts likely meaning an awfully late night.  Concern grew into something stronger when we showed up, saw the set times and noted the 11 pm scheduled start for the headliner.  Nothing to do at that point other than buckle in and ride it out.  Luckily, it worked out very well. 

The last opener, The Wimps, is a local punk three piece with an eclectic lineup.  They tore it up and set the stage nicely for No Age who brought down the house.  Noise rock with a capital "N" was the order of the evening and it was ZOMG loud.  Even at the high volume, sound was remarkably clear so props to the sound folks as well.