Wild Thing Espresso and Gelato Bar

Little place on Harbord near Central Tech. The place took over a dive burger joint that used to be frequented by the thugs from Central Tech.

The name is quite unfortunate. I once saw these two guys give each other a high 5 and say wild thing when they saw the sign on the place.

The place is on the first floor of a Victorian house, but most of the original details are long gone. Its got the restoration hardware lighting, exposed brick on one wall. The guys who run this place have no taste in music. I've heard this techo lounge stuff playing in the place, and then on other days its kind of like classic rock (led zeppelin, beatles) mixed in with stuff like diana kral or something like that. Having no music would be a definite improvement in the atmosphere. They also have pretty shitty magazines in the place, elle and similar titles.

To me the crowd looks like a lot of University students and the occasional local. They don't have a lot seating so usually there's something like a half dozen customers or so in the place.

I haven't tried the gelato, not sure if they make it on site. They also do grilled panino's, but not sure how that works out. In terms of the coffee, there are at least 2 guys who work the machine. One is pretty decent, the other is much less so. So if you get the better one you can get a decent americano or espresso. He's got pretty good technique and does all the little things. The other guy is no where near as competent. The second stringers they have at Manic Coffee are better than him. Also if you want to put milk or cream in your coffee or americano then you have to ask for it because they don't have a little place where you can add your own like other coffee places. I'm not sure if they're trying to save a little money or something but its kind of annoying because they don't actually tell you that they don't have any milk available. They also nickel and dime you on the serving sizes. For example, like Manic and Ella's Uncle they serve an iced latte. The price of the iced latte is a little more, but the serving size looks to be a lot smaller. I've been checking the place out for a while and the prices of the americano have also increased from the early part of the summer, but the size of the cup (to stay) is also smaller.

Overall, with Manic Coffee in the neighbourhood not sure this is worth it. If you get the skilled guys at Manic its going to be better than here. If you get the less skilled guys at Manic its still better than here. The atmosphere is also better at Manic.

Rating: 0 Bunnies

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Movie Posters

I was checking out some blaxploitation soundtracks -- which are a bit of a passion for me -- and was really surprised at the movie posters and how interesting they were. I don't really see that in more contemporary posters, but I guess that does along with general decline in quality in most things.

The Foxy Brown poster has a lot of details and the catch phrase. Nice soundtrack too, by Willie Hutch.


Black Mama White Mama is a little more out of control. I like the ".. where they come from this is fun." Never seen the movie, it looks like the same sort of idea as that movie with Sydney Poitier and Tony Curtis when they escape from prison, but this one looks like it might be a lot raunchier.



Savage, which has a really nice soundtrack, also takes the poster to a comparable level.



He's more than a man he's a death machine. Pretty much lays it out pretty clearly. But what really takes this to the next level is catch phrase at the bottom: "Men call him Savage, Women call him all the time".

Now how about this for suggestive:



This should've gotten an Oscar, since they give them for almost everything. "Watch the landlord get his". I can just see it, "I'm sorry I don't have the money this month. Is there something else I could do?" Then you cue the porno music.

Big Bunny's Girl of the Month: Mylene Jampanoi

Even though she's a French actress, Mylene has a bit of an American Apparel look to her. Maybe she spent some time in Montreal?

Le Corbusier

This is style incarnate. Smoking jacket with peaked lapels; bow tie; pocket square; and, horn rim glasses.

Anyone who works in a smoking jacket is a hardcore as far as I'm concerned

Landscape Design and Patios

This caught my eye the other day (these are high resolution images, so just click to get the supersized version):



It's a giant bronzed lion!!! Imagine that in a city. Some of you might be wondering who would have a bronzed lion. Well as you can see in the followup photo, it's on the patio of an Italian cafe.


I wonder who the designer was that came up with this idea. Could it be Tarzan? Perhaps. But most likely it was someone with a name like Guido Tartaglia or something like that. He probably wanted to claim part of the imperial glory of the Roman Empire, which he perceives to be his ancestry and heritage -- even though he probably has more in common with the moors than the Romans. If he was going for the Roman thing he should have gone all out, and put in like a temple and fountains and maybe dress the staff in togas.

This place -- besides having the bronze lion -- also has some interesting quirks. For example, when you order lunch, apparently you write down your order on paper and pass it to the staff. They also put a tip on your bill for both large and small parties, before you get served. The next step in this service philosophy would be to let you go into the kitchen and make your own lunch after you pay.

Erotic Art vs Pornography: Part II

Most of the pictures from the last post disappeared, so I decided to use websites instead.

I don't think that there's any doubt that a site call chicksnbreasts -- hot girls, sexy pictures and videos -- would lean to the porn side of things. They basically search Flickr and post pics that they find there. Most of these are like the snapshots no one is supposed to see, but somehow get posted to the internet.

The line gets much more blurred with debauchette and beautiful and depraved. I think this are run by women and it seems to have a more highbrow leaning. There's little stories and commentary. Lots of black and white photographs, but then there's the hardcore stuff. Most of the time, its on the erotic art side of things, but then it crosses over in straight porn.

FIFTYROOMS is pretty firmly on the erotic art side of things. It lists the name of the photographers who are participating -- after you go through a warning message. You click on the name of the photographer and it takes you to their contribution. All the images are Polaroids. The only contributor that I recognized was Merlin Bronques from lastnightsparty. If you're familiar with his urban pinups -- if you're not you should be -- that's sort of stuff you'd see here, although everyone does it differently.

Black Tuesday

A few changes to some past ratings.

Bar Italia:

This used to be a 1 Bunny place. Why does it lose its bunny? First, what they serve and call a risotto should probably be called a soup. If it was a little clumpy it would be a bad risotto, but what they serve is horrible. Second, when they say they use buffalo mozzarella in their caprese they are only using the term and not the real thing. Third, some of the staff have no idea what campari is. The difference between something like Bar Italia and Terroni, is like the difference between Listerine and a good single malt scotch (like a Glenlivet or Highland Park 10 or 12 year old). They might want to think about getting rid of the kitchen and putting in some extra seating and just be a bar.

Rating: 0 Bunnies

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

Manic Coffee:

This used to a 2 Bunny place. it used to be that you could walk into the place and not worry who the Barrista was. Not so anymore. They've got a new crew working the place. I suppose you might expect a certain amount of turnover, but the replacements right now, except for a slim girl with tattoos, aren't that great. The go-to-guy is still Steve. He's got one of those thin mustaches and is pretty mellow. I think he works mornings and early afternoon (1:00 or so).

Rating: 1 Bunny

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool