Blue Jays Win 7th in a Row with an 8-3 Victory Over The Rockies!

Tonight the Toronto Blue Jays extended their winning streak to seven games with an 8-3 win over the Colorado Rockies.

The Jays hit three home runs in the game on their way to a convincing victory. The picture above is Edwin Encarnacion launching the first home run of the night into the left field seats in the 5th inning.

Before the game as I walked to the ball park, I noticed the moon hanging above the stadium in the blue sky. I hoped it was a good omen and it was.

Getting stretched out before the game.

Yes, I had a little lens envy when I saw this guy

The first pitch of the night from Esmil Rogers.

Toronto started the game off scoring four runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Esmil Rogers was phenomenal. Why is the picture below so significant? It's because Rogers pitched a no hitter for 5 innings!

 

Rogers gave up a single with one out in the sixth to lose the no hitter and left in the seventh inning to a well deserved standing ovation as he headed to the dugout.

Bautista went hitless tonight but here is one mighty swing that missed

Adam Lind continued hitting well with an RBI single. Here he is fouling off a pitch.

My seat was in the second deck of left field. Here is the view.

 

In the fourth inning I moved over to the Toronto Brew House in centre field. It's always fun there, plus a great place to get some shots. I caught the ball leaving  Jeff Francis hand and the ball in flight from Rogers to Arencibia.

As the sun went down, the CN Tower took on an orangy colour.

In the eighth inning Munenori Kawasaki came out as a defensive replacement to a huge ovation. He is a fan favorite. I tried but missed getting a shot of him bowing to the outfielders.

Darren Oliver throws the final strike of the night, a swing and a miss by Nolan Arenado.

It was a fun night as always when the Jays win. This was my third game of the year and my third victory. I can hardly wait till the next game!

Beer of the Week - San Miguel Beer

I know the title on this post says San Miguel Beer, and the picture screams Carib but no, I did not post the wrong picture here.

This booth at the Toronto Wine and Spirits Festival was serving up three different beers and a mango drink. I never did have the Carib and instead tried the San Miguel Beer from the Phillipines.

San Miguel Beer is brewed, naturally, by San Miguel Brewery. The Philippines, as I understand, is a country consisting of many closely located islands in the South China Sea so San Miguel Brewery located five of its breweries on the three main islands of the Philippines, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, for easier product distribution.

The brewery opened in 1890 as La Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel and in 1963, became San Miguel Corporation with the brewery operating under the corporate umbrella. San Miguel Beer, known as San Miguel Pale Pilsner in the Philippines, was the first product produced by the brewery and is its number one seller. The brewery does quite well as in 2008 it held 95% of the beer market in the Philippines.

Time to find out why!

The beer pours a light golden colour. Despite being in a new, un-rinsed plastic glass, there was a small head on the beer. I sensed a little hops in the aroma. When I sipped it, the beer had a little watery mouth feel with a slight sense of hops. The hop bitterness increased into a very pleasant bite in the finish. This is the type of pilsner I like!

I would definitely buy this for my beer fridge but it is not available at the LCBOs in our area. It looks like I'll have to go down to the big LCBO on Queens Quay to get some.

Hmm, might be time to head down to the Quay for a shopping trip!

Beer of the Week Stats Beers 
Profiled 207 
Breweries 189 
Countries 40

Canadian Bottle at the Festival

Philippine bottle

The Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival at Sugar Beach

Toronto has so many things going on in the summer. At the same time it is great ... and not. How to choose?

When Teena and I got up this morning, we were going to go to the Beaches BBQ and Brews. We were there last year and it was great ... but the Toronto Wine and Spirit Festival was also on at Sugar Beach by the Corus building. What to do? What to do?

As you see above, the festival at Sugar Beach won out!

We got there when it opened and there wasn't very many people there.Perfect! No line ups for us!

 

We had a chance to hit a few booths without crowds. Here is my first drink of the day, a San Miguel Pilsner from the Philippines. Interestingly it was sold at the Carib booth! It was good and I would buy it again.

Teena's first drink was a new Smirnoff Cooler. She said it was OK but not much of a difference from their regular cooler but they offered the stingiest pour of the day!

As there were few crowds when the show opened at three, the people manning the booths had time to mug for the camera! I am an Amsterdam fan and enjoyed their Orange Weisse.

After an hour or so, the place started to fill up.

The entertainment was really good. Stacey R. Maroske had such a great voice and Jessica Bundy was very entertaining.

Drinks were also poured on the fly!

I had a platter from Spring Rolls for supper. It was fabulous. I even went back for more dumplings. Teena had a pulled pork sandwich which was so good, she went for another!

Although there was a cigar stand, this festival should be smoke-free. Not only do non-smokers have to smell it, but smokers feel the world is there ashtray. There were butts in the sand and on the walkways.

 

This dog was enjoying a great day on the lake.

Limbo lower now!

Teena took part in a toss game and won a granola bar.

I liked the free cheese samples and went back more than once!

There was a huge lineup for the Smirnoff Sorbet Light. Teena found it too sweet. I did too!

It was a great day. It seems that this show and the Beaches BBQs and Brews always run on the same weekend. Both are great. I guess we'll have to alternate years on these two events!

"Waiting for Godot", Stratford Festival

I have heard many things about the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot and have always wanted to see it but never have had the opportunity.

When I heard that it was going to be playing at the Stratford Festival this summer, I knew I now had my chance.

Teena did not want to come. She read what it was about and said that it was not her type of play so I went alone. The Stratford Festival now has a bus that leaves from downtown Toronto, gets you to the theater two hours before the show, and then picks you up to come back a half hour after the show is over plus it only costs $20!

Now I had an easy, cheap way to get down and back!

“What are we doing here, that is the question,” says Vladimir as he and Estragon await their rendezvous with the mysterious Godot. The question takes on a cosmic significance as the two hapless tramps struggle to make sense of their predicament, abandoned in a universe of comic absurdity shot through with moments of nameless terror.

ESTRAGON:  Let's go. 
VLADIMIR: We can't. 
ESTRAGON: Why not? 
VLADIMIR: We're waiting for Godot

It took part of the first act to get me into the play but after that I enjoyed it. Brian Dennehy shows what kind of actor he is by taking a supporting role in the play rather than a lead role. The role of Pozzo seemed tailor made for Dennehy who was fabulous as the traveler who with his slave, Lucky, come across Estragon  and Vladimir as they wait for Godot. His performance was great.

The play would not be a success unless the conflict, companionship and the quest of meeting with Godot between Estrogen and Vladimer were performed to perfection, which they were by Stephen Ouimette and Tom Rooney. The bulk of the play were on them and they were great in their roles.

I learned after that when the play was first performed in 1953, the most famous line in the review was that this was a play in where "nothing happens, twice!" Correct assessment but it's the way nothing happens twice.

Waiting for Godot was originally written in French by Beckett but I was very glad to hear that Beckett, originally born in Ireland and taught English in Paris, did the translation himself so nothing now can lost in translation and the words are still those of the playwright.

The Stratford production at the Tom Patterson Theatre is excellent and well worth seeing.

Baby Swan Pictures

While I was wandering around Stratford, I went down to Lake Victoria where there are always ducks, geese and swans.

Teena and I have seen baby ducks and geese there but I don't think I have ever seen baby swans until today. One parent swam and fed with them while the other stayed a yard or two away on the water keeping watch. Here are some pictures.

The ducks were more in a napping mood.