Exhibit One Gets Engaged!

Those of you have been following this blog for awhile know that I have two children. I refer to them as Exhibit One and Exhibit Two. [1]

(The kiddie-winkers!)

This past Friday afternoon while I was driving through Crystal Beach, minding my own business, I received a surprise call on my cell phone from Exhibit One in Israel.

“Hi! I have some news!”

My first reaction was, “Uh oh! Good news or bad news!?”

(Mazal tov! The couple in Jerusalem)

My lovely daughter announced that she was engaged.

I practically drove off the road and into a ditch with excitement.

(Fiancée and fiancé in Jerusalem)

I showered her with mazal tovs. I even got a chance to wish her fiancé a hearty mazal tov!

It was about this time that I noticed a police cruiser following me. I had to quickly end the call. Her Majesty’s government frowns on the use of handheld communication devices while driving.

(Fiancé and fiancée in Yaffo [aka Jaffa])

Exhibit One engaged. Wow!

Luckily for me, I highly approve of the fiancé. As a general rule, I dislike Israeli men. Bunch of blow-hard macho know-it-alls, if you ask me. This young man, however, is a refreshing exception to the stereotype. I like him a lot! Charming, witty, intelligent, kind, soft-spoken. A real mensch.

The wedding will be held in Israel. Not sure yet exactly when and where.

Details to follow in due course!

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[1] To those new to this blog, a brief history: When I was a young rōnin, I was for several years in a relationship and living with an even younger partner. While I did not fully appreciate it at the time, we were in a common-law marriage. That person is, therefore, my ‘first spouse’ ['SA'], as opposed to the person I legally married (then legally divorced) many years later ['WHN']. My children, Exhibits One and Two, were tendered into evidence during the second marriage.

Details: Exhibit One (23 year old girl), lives in Ramat Gan (east Tel Aviv), Israel. Exhibit Two (21 year old boy) just graduated from McMaster University in Canada and is also presently in Israel.

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Ever Have One of Those Mornings?

Ever have one of those mornings?

Yeah, me too.

Momma said there’ll be days like this.

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My 300th Kosher Samurai post!

According to the benevolent overlords at WordPress, this is my 300th posting.

Hard as it may be to believe, folks, 300 Kosher Samurai articles and counting!

I’m having a blast posting on this blog and I hope that you are enjoying yourselves.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for your kind comments and encouragement.

More to come!

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2nd Year Anniversary!!

Two years ago today, May 18, 2011, I wrote my first article for this blog, the Kosher Samurai.

Here it is!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I prefer to spell it bl*g or bl*gging.

I have some strange aversion to the way the word is usually spelled. Not sure why. I just do.

I’m sure that, in time, I will succumb and use the full un-asterixed version. But for now, this is my bl*g.

I’ve been inspired (or provoked, depending on one’s point of view) to start up this site by a dear friend of mine.

Shameless plug for dear friend of mine:  XUP

Her writing is quite good. If you haven’t done so already, check it out. Quality stuff, I assure you.

A few details about yours truly…

I’m Jewish and I have a fondness for Japan, Japanese food and Japanese culture.

(Hence the name for this site:  Kosher Samurai)

I am a criminal defence lawyer. Divorced

Two kids:

Exhibit One: 21 yr old daughter

Exhibit Two: 19 yr old son.

That’s all for now, I think. I’m new to this so I need to get past my “green as Gumby” stage and start writing.

Bye for now

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I never thought that two years later, I would still enjoy providing you little geeks and nerdlings out there with my own two cents on life.

I enjoy writing articles for this blog, mixed with some recipes and, of course, lots of stories on movies, science, bugs and bats.

Thanks for reading.

Here’s to another year. And yes, that is a threat.

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The Great Dead North – First Anniversary

One year ago today, April 25, 2012, I started writing The Great Dead North.

It is a post apocalyptic journal entry novel on Twitter.

When I blogged about it last year, I called it My Twitter Experiment.

Each entry is no more than 140 characters… the maximum allowed per tweet.

I post daily journal entries from the second year in aftermath of the Zombie Apocalypse.

Only a relative handful of people have survived the first year. Food, vehicles, gasoline, medicine and supplies were relatively abundant during the first year. By the second year, gasoline (a highly refined product) has ‘gone bad’ and vehicles no longer run on it. Most of the ‘easy picking’ supplies have been exhausted. Specialized ‘city folk’ are now forced to exist in a hostile environment. Our world, at best, has been plunged back into the Dark Ages. For some survivors, they have been thrown back to the Stone Age.

Please check it out on Twitter and Follow it, if  you like it.

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Fencing Chart

I’m a bit of a sword nut.

So is my son, really.

My apartment has been described as ‘bristling with weaponry!’

Judge my delight, then, when I ran across this little chart.

Love it. Had to share it!

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Bacon – The Never-Ending Story

Yes, boys and girls, geeks and nerdlings, it’s time for yet another installment in our continuing series…

What’s With The Bacon??

As I have commented many times…

It’s not so much my interest in bacon, per se…

It’s my fascination with people’s obsession with bacon.

From classic bacon usage…

(Swizzle sticks)

To the unusual…

(Fred Flintstone would approve)

To the far-fetched…

To the truly bizarre…

There always seems to be more and more room for bacon appreciation.

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people are devoted to bacon…

(Gift wrapping paper)

Especially in the area of merchandising.

(I mean really!!)

Let’s face it…

Bacon provides a fertile ground for expression…

Political commentary, satire…

(Occupy bacon!)

Art, music, civil disobedience…

(Early bacon)

Or just some plain old good-natured ribbing (pun intended).

No matter how you slice it (pun definitely intended)…

Bacon is the next best thing to a religion.

It feeds the hungry…

Comforts those in need…

(Tell me this wasn’t created in The South!)

And gives solace to the destitute.

And gives life meaning and purpose in a chaotic world.

Or something like that.

I’m just glad someone’s making a buck off of all this passion.

I hate to see all this fervour go to waste.

So until next time, I will leave bacon where it best belongs…

On a plate, waiting to kill you.

___________________________________________________________

Thanks once again to my many friends and readers who send me more bacon-related photos than I can shake a bacon swizzlestick at!

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Gone for Passover!

Hi, guys…

Passover begins tonight (Monday March 25, 2013) at sunset.

(Baking handmade shmura matza for Passover)

I will be in Toronto for a little over a week.

Have a happy, kosher and joyful Passover.

(The Passover seder table)

I’ll should be back Wednesday April 3.

See you then!

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Mamilla Court (Jerusalem)

There is a cute shopping area behind the Mamilla Hotel, not far from the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem.

It is a nice mix of old and modern architecture.

There are a lot of posh, trendy shops there.

(Rolex and Crocs)

(My daughter and Tomer Aharon in front of Abercrombie & Fitch)

There are also more than a few restaurants and cafés.

(Aroma Espresso Bar)

(Roladin Bakery & Café)

What you see as you stroll through the area are a lot of sculptures.

(Ben Gurion standing on his head. Apparently, something he liked to do)

They’re everywhere!

And they are all for sale!

You’ll love them.

Some of the buildings have been reconstructed, stone by stone, all numbered so they could be put back in the same order.

Amazing.

If you want a really fun time…

(It’s a stone’s throw from the Tower of David)

And you’re ever in Jerusalem and have an hour or so to spend…

visit Mamilla court…

(Relax! It’s only a sculpture!)

Have a limonana…

(Lemonade with fresh mint leaves)

Maybe some shakshuka…

(Shakshuka – poached or fried egg with tomato sauce, served with tehina)

You’ll be amazed!

(in a good way)!

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I Lost My Office… AGAIN!!

As followers of this blog know, I have a long and tortured past when it comes to my ‘office’… a certain spot at a certain address which has gone through various incarnations over the last few years.

Originally, I set up shop there when it was The Café on Main.

(Cafe on Main – my office, as it then was)

Then, when it was the Ambrosia Café, I re-inserted myself at the same spot and declared that my office was open once more!

(Ambrosia – my office, right side, farthest table back)

In its present incarnation, the Bridgewater Café has provided me my office space once more. I felt I was, once again, firmly ensconced.

(Bridgewater – my office, in front of the counter near the pillar)

That is, until I walked into the Bridgewater last Tuesday!

Judge my chagrin when my office was replaced with a couch, coffee table and some armchairs!

The pain. The loss. The sense of betrayal.

The lovely Shannon gave some lame excuse about the City finding that there were too many seats/tables for the number of bathrooms available and forced them to reduce the seating space.

(Here’s a shot of the lovely Shannon NOT coming to my rescue!)

Be that as it may, I would have hoped that the staff would have blocked any such attempt to eliminate my office.

Shannon should have put up a fight. I suppose she felt that you can’t fight City Hall. Or at least you can try but you will most likely be charged with assault.

(The fair Ashley – she would have stopped it)

I know for a fact that the fair Ashley, given the opportunity, would have stormed over to City Hall (kitty corner to the Bridgewater) like an angry, torch-wielding villager in a Universal Studios horror movie.

Alas, the damage had been done.

(There it is… GONE!)

This is what has become of my precious office space.

I don’t know which is worse… not having an office… or going to the café, sitting at another table and looking longingly at where my office used to be.

I am NOT happy.

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