Owner: The Cosmopolitan Blog URL:http://www.astralmarketing.com/blog/ Join Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 00:37:24 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Discussing all things cosmopolitan, from restaurant reviews to general food discussions, from worldly political opinions to personal observations. Written by CosmoChick, a cosmopolitan chick-ita, citizen of the world, who believes in Cosmopolitanism (amon Site statistics:Click here
Do Montrealers know how lucky they are? 2007-07-08 15:12:54 My mom is french, so French is my mother tongue. But I grew up in London, so by the age of 4, i knew both languages, my parents had made sure of it. For many years after that, I was told how lucky
I was to fluently speak 2 languages, and how it’s an advantage because it helps in a child’s development and in her abiliity to learn more languages more quickly later on in life. So do Montrealers know how lucky they are? By its very history and location, Montreal is a fully bilingual city.
For those of you who don’t know, Canada has 2 official languages, English and French. English is predominent in most of the provinces in the West, all the way to East to Ontario. Quebec province is mainly french, but, Montreal, even though it’s in Quebec, is also a few kms away from Ontario, so both languages are common.
Sure, the city has a french side and an english side, but you can speak either language in either side and you will be understood. What’s amazing (my friends
Challenging my pacifism 2007-07-07 17:29:29 My closest and dearest friends are those that challenge me and challenge my beliefs… I find that by having to justify with people who are in the know and who can play devil’s advocate, is actually the best way to find out what you truly believe in.
I don’t even know how we got on the topic, but a friend of mine, this morning, challenged my pacifism… It was a great discussion… I’m a pragmatic pacifist, that means I don’t believe in violence, i don’t think it will ever be the answer… but, and yes, there’s a but, there are situations where you can’t avoid it… so is being a pragmatic pacifist, a cop-out? no, it’s just realistic.
I believe that war is never the answer, EVER! but i also believe that once a war has started, you have the right to defend yourself and stop those who, otherwise, would continue to do harm. Concrete example, I believe that the only way to deal with Hitler was to kill him and I believ
Stay fabulous and stay green… 2007-07-07 16:41:59 shallow moment no1: i have to say this… Madonna RAWKS! She just performed at Wembley Stadium for the Live Earth concert… the woman is insanely hot, seriously! :) She is sooo fit, and she danced and sang better and with more energy than the young teenagers out there, i mean this lady is 50 years old and she is sooo healthy, you know, it’s not the skinny type, but just the cardio-fit, toned type…
ok, i’ll stop commenting on women’s bodies now before i freak myself out, but seriously, Madonna? THAT’S HOT!
Shallow is good… 2007-07-07 16:36:00 ok, so I’m a pretty deep emotional person… but sometimes, i can be completely and utterly shallow… I think shallow is good for the soul sometimes. I love gossip, fashion mags and celeb news, and this blog wouldn’t be true it it didn’t reflect all aspects of who i was… so here’s me, shallow…
i’m thinking the posts in this category will probably be relatively short ;-)
Open Source, Ajax and Mahatma Gandhi 2007-07-07 14:44:14 …Story found on digg.com…
The “old power” is in for a rough ride in these days, just like when MahatmaGandhi
started with non-cooperation and peaceful resistance some 60 years ago. I believe that if Mahatma Gandhi
was alive today he’d be running a small startup focusing on Open Source
Ajax and he’d be going WORLD WIDE!
read more | digg story
Canadians! Congrats 2007-07-07 14:33:04 I’ve lived in many places in my life, as I will surely discuss as I develop this blog… But I was so impressed when I arrived in Canada. On the global awareness scale, Canada is way up there. They recycle like it’s 2nd nature…
I haven’t lived in london in a looong time, but I was in New York until 2004, and I can tell you, neither of these cities came close.
At work, you should see the kitchen. We have all the different recycling containers, and there’s a rotation as to who takes them to be recycled. Yes, it’s true, even the high-powered execs of my office can be seen, in turn, leaving the office with trash bags filled with stuff for recycling and they take it to the nearest center. Everyone prints double-sided like there’s no other way to do it, people don’t waste water, take their own mugs down to the coffee shop to avoid being served in styrofoam cups, all our computer monitors are LCD with automatic switch-off…
Whether i Read more:Canadians
Green… 2007-07-07 14:24:50 “Be the change you wish to see in this world”
- Mahatma Gandhi (who?)
Today is the LiveEarth concert. And I was doubtful what benefits could really come out of it… So I started watching, and was pleasantly surprised to see what was being done, even at the concerts themselves: all drinking cups were made from corn (not sure the name of these), the stage was decorated with only recycled materials (tires in NY, barrels in London) and a lot more… And then the commercials, 90% of which (at least here in Canada) were related to global warming, including easy to do useful tips…
At the beginning, I was annoyed by the fact that each singer / celeb would keep repeating “every little thing helps”, because, well, I felt like it was just empty worlds. So I went to liveearth.msn.com and read up and was amazed by how easy it was to make a difference. I mean, yes, I knew of most of the tips (you know, don’t run the dishwasher until it’s full, s Read more:Green
understanding the concept of trackbacks 2007-07-06 13:32:53 ok, so i’m usually really good at understanding the latest technology concepts, why is is that i don’t get the concept of a trackback in a blog???? so here’s me testing this live.
STEP 1: I’m surfing around, and I find something really interesting on someone’s website, and I want to write about it in my own blog.
STEP 2: I go to my own blog right here and write something like I’m doing now:
“hey! you guys should read this great post called “Numbers Declining” on my friend’s blog: http://www.derekandsonja.ca/blog/?p=32“.
Note: The URL I’m giving here is the post’s unique link, also known as a permalink.
STEP 3: Before I submit this post (I leave the window open), in a separate window, I go back to my friend’s site, find that post, and click on the “Trackback” link that resides right under each individual post. The Trackback URL is different from the post’s permalink URL listed above, ge Read more:trackbacks
Remembering Diana… 2007-07-06 01:46:24 Nearly 10 years ago, Princess Diana
passed away. I was in London then, and I remember it like it was yesterday. I’ve gotten a little teary-eyes in the past couple of days, remembering the feeling of living in a nation of mourning (hyped by sensationalist journalism, I give you that), and as I mentioned this to a friend of mine (yes, I have friends), he replied “who give’s a crap?”
Aaah, and to think I just wrote a post called “Seeing it through their eyes“… hehehe… I realize that, 10 years ago, I had been living in a bubble of national mourning, but apparently, the rest of the world didn’t stop and cry with us… And who can blame them? Diana was many things to many people, and, in retrospect, she is often remembered as someone who cleverly used the media to her own advantage, to highlight the victim and do-gooder (is that a word?) she was.
Unless you took a specific interest in following what she did, you would probably be Read more:Remembering
The Meaning of Life 2007-07-06 01:25:59 How great is this? I’m actually writing a post called the meaning of life. Here it is folks! I have all the answers…
Actually, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have YOUR answers, I have MY answers. And for me, I know what the meaning of life is… What makes me get up in the morning. My purpose in this world. The standard by which I choose to live.
Is it groundbreaking? No. It’s it original, different, unique? No. But it’s mine. It’s the statement that I would be willing to sign, the oath I would be willing to take. It’s not complicated, in fact, it seems so obvious now. The next step, I guess, is to establish concrete goals in specific aspects of my life, but for now, here is my 2-fold mission in life:
1. Consciously, constantly, everyday, be the best person I can be at any given moment: each and every time I have a choice, I chose the option that makes the most number of people happy and contributes to a more peaceful worl Read more:Meaning
Alpenhaus Restaurant Review 2007-07-12 00:27:57 i guess u have to have been to Switzerland to appreciate Swiss food (yes, there’s more to it than fondue!), but for those in the know, this is the best type of comfort food there is!! On the other hand, if you’re someone that thinks vegetables are an essential part of an everyday diet, then you might want to give this one a miss…
Swiss food is mainly about the cheese (well, DUH!), and yes, generally, it’s melted, whether it’s in a pot for fondue, or in a puddle on a plate for raclette (see my post on the Raclette War).
So i went to Alpenhaus, on the corner of Ste Catherine and St Marc. From the outside, there is a feeble attempt at having the side of the building look like a Swiss chalet, but seeing that they’re right next to a scruffy-looking depaneur, there’s not much of hope of that being successful. Having said that, back in 1967, when the restaurant opened, this was probably a lot more noticeable.
But then, you walk in, and all thoughts o
Swiss Vs. Canadian… raclette 2007-07-11 23:33:44 I’ve lived in Switzerland for many years, and I truly believe that if there is a heaven, that’s what it looks like (ok, minus the city of Zurich, there’s nothing heavenly about it), but the rest, the mountains, the lakes, the snow, the quaint little villages and chalets, the trains, the chocolates, the watches (actually, i don’t think there’s watches in heaven…)
Two of the most famous dishes in Switzerland are Fondue and Raclette, the first is the most popular, but i’ve always preferred the latter.
So now here i am in Montreal, a city with some of the most amazing restaurants, and i am pleasantly surprised to find that there are a lot of restaurants that serve Fondue, and they’re pretty close to those found in Switzerland, there’s the cheese ones, the Chinese one where you cook your own meat, the chocolate ones… So, after a few years of innocently enjoying swiss fondues in montreal in a couple of great restaurants, one day, Read more:Swiss
, Canadian
A Taste of India Restaurant Review 2007-08-09 10:05:21 Hello girls and boyz! Yes, i’m still alive… went under the radar for a while as a restaurant superspy which is why i’ve been so silent (ok, fine, that’s a lie, i was just lazy!!)…
so i’m back with a couple quick reviews, first, this restaurant, A Taste of India
, was recommended to me by at least 2 people.
So, let’s be structured here, first, the positives (absolutely outweight the negatives, BTW):
- Very nice decor, not over the top, but still, there’s a design feel, which is more than I can say for many restaurants in this price range, nice size, quiet and intimate, but bright for summer, with a nice patio on a wide sidewalk.
- I went on a Wednesday night, so I will concede that this was probably not their busiest night, but still, we were greated immediately, with a smile, given a table for 4 even though we were 2, we got our water and little munchies right away, and the menus
- Munchies were poppadums and a little onion relish, very
Show me the money… 2007-08-17 11:32:47 Does no one write a blog these days, just for the sheer fun of it? It seems everyone is trying to make money from it. Case in point: me :) I would love to tell you that i started this blog in the hope of making the world a better place. After all, i preach all this stuff about pacifism and going green, right? Surely that means that i’m a vegetarian, i take in strays, i don’t wear leather, i go on hunger strikes… ok, ok, fine, i’ll stop, i won’t give in to clichés :)
Here’s the sad truth: I started this blog with an ulterior motive…. or 2… First, well, i was given the task of starting a corporate blog at my workplace, and so, i wanted a testing ground and started this blog as a marketing experiment. I figured, well, how difficult could it be, right? I’m opinionated, passionate, i watch a lot of movies, read a lot and go out for dinner a lot, so surely, that’s enough content for a blog.
Then, shortly after, someone pointed m
Finally! My thoughts on “Sicko” 2007-08-16 14:42:22 Well, i saw Michael Moore’s movie “Sicko
” about 2 months ago, and i had so much to say that the post became a beast of a post in my head, and i never actually poured it out….
Until now, where i just read the best critical review of the movie, and so, i’ll just let you go read it after i say my peace. You’ve all probably either already seen the movie or heard about it, so i won’t detail it up. Here’s the way i see it… Michael Moore is SO biased, that the parts of the movie that are ACTUALLY worth learning from, are lost on me because he doesn’t try to paint a fair picture…
I haven’t had much experience with the US healthcare system in the 5 years i lived there, but I’m so happy that he chose to speak of England, France and Canada, because i’ve lived in England 22 years, I spend 4 months a year in France every year for 18 years, I’ve lived over 3 years in Canada and my sister has lived in Canada Read more:Finally
, thoughts
Montreal is the 12th most liveable city! 2007-08-15 09:24:53 I’ve been searching for other “cosmopolitan” related blogs, and so far, i hadn’t had much success, i found the twist on cosmopolitanism a little disturbing on so many blogs, very “agenda-pushing”. But Juan at Global Culture takes his globalization efforts very seriously, and they are extremely commendable. I’ve subscribed to his feed and will report back when i get a chance to read more about his blog.
In the meantime, he reports here on the top 10 most liveable cities, with criteria such as infrastructure, airport, crime, education and health. Munich in Germany is no1, which, having been there for a few days, makes a lot of sense (but I wasn’t there long enough to be able to critically comment on this).
The good news is that Montreal
is no12. At first, i was surprised that it wasn’t in the top 10, but now that i think about the criteria, which seems very fair to me, i realize that there is a lot that we can do to improve… ye
A Taste of India Restaurant Review 2007-08-09 10:05:21 Hello girls and boyz! Yes, i’m still alive… went under the radar for a while as a restaurant superspy which is why i’ve been so silent (ok, fine, that’s a lie, i was just lazy!!)…
so i’m back with a couple quick reviews, first, this restaurant, A Taste of India
, was recommended to me by at least 2 people.
So, let’s be structured here, first, the positives (absolutely outweight the negatives, BTW):
- Very nice decor, not over the top, but still, there’s a design feel, which is more than I can say for many restaurants in this price range, nice size, quiet and intimate, but bright for summer, with a nice patio on a wide sidewalk.
- I went on a Wednesday night, so I will concede that this was probably not their busiest night, but still, we were greated immediately, with a smile, given a table for 4 even though we were 2, we got our water and little munchies right away, and the menus
- Munchies were poppadums and a little onion relish, very
Alpenhaus Restaurant Review 2007-07-12 00:27:57 i guess u have to have been to Switzerland to appreciate Swiss food (yes, there’s more to it than fondue!), but for those in the know, this is the best type of comfort food there is!! On the other hand, if you’re someone that thinks vegetables are an essential part of an everyday diet, then you might want to give this one a miss…
Swiss food is mainly about the cheese (well, DUH!), and yes, generally, it’s melted, whether it’s in a pot for fondue, or in a puddle on a plate for raclette (see my post on the Raclette War).
So i went to Alpenhaus, on the corner of Ste Catherine and St Marc. From the outside, there is a feeble attempt at having the side of the building look like a Swiss chalet, but seeing that they’re right next to a scruffy-looking depaneur, there’s not much of hope of that being successful. Having said that, back in 1967, when the restaurant opened, this was probably a lot more noticeable.
But then, you walk in, and all thoughts o
Swiss Vs. Canadian… raclette 2007-07-11 23:33:44 I’ve lived in Switzerland for many years, and I truly believe that if there is a heaven, that’s what it looks like (ok, minus the city of Zurich, there’s nothing heavenly about it), but the rest, the mountains, the lakes, the snow, the quaint little villages and chalets, the trains, the chocolates, the watches (actually, i don’t think there’s watches in heaven…)
Two of the most famous dishes in Switzerland are Fondue and Raclette, the first is the most popular, but i’ve always preferred the latter.
So now here i am in Montreal, a city with some of the most amazing restaurants, and i am pleasantly surprised to find that there are a lot of restaurants that serve Fondue, and they’re pretty close to those found in Switzerland, there’s the cheese ones, the Chinese one where you cook your own meat, the chocolate ones… So, after a few years of innocently enjoying swiss fondues in montreal in a couple of great restaurants, one day, Read more:Swiss
, Canadian
Do Montrealers know how lucky they are? 2007-07-08 15:12:54 My mom is french, so French is my mother tongue. But I grew up in London, so by the age of 4, i knew both languages, my parents had made sure of it. For many years after that, I was told how lucky
I was to fluently speak 2 languages, and how it’s an advantage because it helps in a child’s development and in her abiliity to learn more languages more quickly later on in life. So do Montrealers know how lucky they are? By its very history and location, Montreal is a fully bilingual city.
For those of you who don’t know, Canada has 2 official languages, English and French. English is predominent in most of the provinces in the West, all the way to East to Ontario. Quebec province is mainly french, but, Montreal, even though it’s in Quebec, is also a few kms away from Ontario, so both languages are common.
Sure, the city has a french side and an english side, but you can speak either language in either side and you will be understood. What’s amazing (my friends
Challenging my pacifism 2007-07-07 17:29:29 My closest and dearest friends are those that challenge me and challenge my beliefs… I find that by having to justify with people who are in the know and who can play devil’s advocate, is actually the best way to find out what you truly believe in.
I don’t even know how we got on the topic, but a friend of mine, this morning, challenged my pacifism… It was a great discussion… I’m a pragmatic pacifist, that means I don’t believe in violence, i don’t think it will ever be the answer… but, and yes, there’s a but, there are situations where you can’t avoid it… so is being a pragmatic pacifist, a cop-out? no, it’s just realistic.
I believe that war is never the answer, EVER! but i also believe that once a war has started, you have the right to defend yourself and stop those who, otherwise, would continue to do harm. Concrete example, I believe that the only way to deal with Hitler was to kill him and I believ
Stay fabulous and stay green… 2007-07-07 16:41:59 shallow moment no1: i have to say this… Madonna RAWKS! She just performed at Wembley Stadium for the Live Earth concert… the woman is insanely hot, seriously! :) She is sooo fit, and she danced and sang better and with more energy than the young teenagers out there, i mean this lady is 50 years old and she is sooo healthy, you know, it’s not the skinny type, but just the cardio-fit, toned type…
ok, i’ll stop commenting on women’s bodies now before i freak myself out, but seriously, Madonna? THAT’S HOT!
Shallow is good… 2007-07-07 16:36:00 ok, so I’m a pretty deep emotional person… but sometimes, i can be completely and utterly shallow… I think shallow is good for the soul sometimes. I love gossip, fashion mags and celeb news, and this blog wouldn’t be true it it didn’t reflect all aspects of who i was… so here’s me, shallow…
i’m thinking the posts in this category will probably be relatively short ;-)
Polls now open! 2007-08-23 19:39:04 So in my continued quest to keep you coming back to my blog, i’ve decided to add polls, you should see them in the left column, and i think i will change them once a week, or sooner, depending on the number of answers…
Since today’s post was about religious views, it’s only fitting to have a poll on religion. So i look forward to seeing the votes add up!
…oh, and, on a side note, for those of you really paying attention, i’ve reworded the categories (same categories, less words).
ENJOY! Read more:Polls
The difference between neutrality and objectivism… 2007-08-22 23:20:45 It’s strange, as women, when we hear of other successful women, we feel an extra desire to cheer them on… I’m pretty sure men don’t do this, I mean they don’t cheer other men on just ‘cuz they’re men, I guess we’ve just come that much further…
So i feel the need to acknowledge 2 woman that i greatly admire: Oprah and Christiane Amanpour, the CNN Chief International Correspondent… which, in itself, is funny, because Oprah called Christiane one of her personal heroes when CA appeared on O’s show.
*warning, tangent ahead*
Don’t get me wrong, there are many women i admire, i admire women everyday, my sister for representing the modern multitasker: 2.5 kids, 2 jobs, a spotless house, a successful marriage and an active social life. My best friend for having grown from a reckless teenager to a responsible, independent, profoundly well balanced and happy individual. My aunt for having made a name for herself in a funda Read more:difference
My thoughts on one of the greatest men of this century 2007-08-29 09:40:23 One of the things you need to know about me is that I am addicted to the Biography Channel. In fact, biographies are one of my favorite types of books too. And since I can be just as shallow as I can be “deep and meaningful”, I’ll take as much pleasure in watching a biography on Charlie Sheen as I do on Nelson Mandela (granted, i would probably not take the time to read Charlie’s bio…).
But since this post is not in the shallow “That’s Hot” category, my post is about Nelson Mandela. This man is definitely one of the great people of this century, a hero to his country, we all know how he spent 27+ years in jail for a cause he believed in, how the people of his country remembered him and continued fighting in his name, how he came out of jail and ended apartheid, became the country’s official leader and held the first free multi-racial democratic elections in the country.
What I found particularly striking and I find reflects on the Read more:thoughts
New Poll on Connectivity 2007-10-17 15:14:51 There’s a new poll on connectivity on up on the left, remember to vote! http://astralmarketing.com/blog/ thx to all those who voted in the previous one! Read more:Connectivity
Someone please explain Twitter to me 2007-10-17 13:15:33 ok, so what’s the deal with Twitter
? I mean, so, you set up an account, and then all you do is keep updating your status? That’s it? and then you get to post a widget (see right hand side column “what i’m doing”) that gives a live feed of what you’re doing, as long as you keep updating it.
The good news is you can update by IM (not sure why you would want to) or by cell phone SMS (that is handy, this morning, as i was running for the bus, i SMS’ed “I’m running for the bus” and hey presto! my blog readers knew i was running for the bus)… so, short of knowing when i went to the bathroom, you guys know everything i did today… but, um, what’s the point? we all know i’ll be bored with this, this time friday…
ok, so you can follow other peole, and, technically, the widget on the right could have the updates of all these other people. Right now, i’m following Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple has time to Read more:explain
Holder Restaurant 2007-10-17 10:50:50 Located on trendy McGill Avenue, just on the edge of Old Montreal, an area I really don’t know that well, but really want to discover, it really has the latest and hottest places to wine and dine.
So Holder
is trendy without over doing it. It’s a french brasserie style place, high ceilings, lots of wood, noisy, lots of activity, cute waiters offering efficient service with an accent and wearing the typical french towel/apron over their black pants, fancy dishes and beautiful plating… I went on a Tuesday and it was bustling. They have a bar, and what i liked about it was that the bar wasn’t to one side, it was right there, in the middle of the hubbub… I recommend their Kamikazes, super lemony, not very french but oh so yummy. :)
So we had a couple drinks, and then moved on to our table. Great thing about this place is that it’s really, really busy, and yet, they didn’t seem to have problems seating us, once we were ready to go to our table, th
Miss me? 2007-10-16 12:34:50 It’s been 2 months since i’ve posted, and if i still have anyone reading this blog, then i’m extremely lucky!!
Dear readers (all 2 of you, one of which is probably my mom!!), yes, i’m still here. The past few months have been filled with family visits, trips overseas, religious festivities, a couple migraines, and the highlight of it all, the acquisition of my very own PDA, finally! Yes, i know, once a geek always a geek…
So this is my resurfacing post… Worth noting, in an effort to stay as present as i can on my blog, i’ve added the twitter plugin (see right column under “about CosmoChick”), so you’ll always know what i’m up to… I’m new to twitter, and apparently, no one i know is on there, so i you want to add me as your friend, i’d be eternally grateful… lol, needy much?
Next, i’ll post a review, i guess i owe you all at least that!
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