I wrote this a month and a half ago and never published it. Since Yellowknife seems to be getting its last bit of Summer I thought I would throw this out there.
I have become obsessed with sitting out on patios and decks around town to enjoy the wonderful Yellowknife weather, when it is nice of course. That is why I love grabbing a quick-lunch at Le Stock Pot. Although I would recommend taking a late lunch if you plan to eat on their patio, it can get full, quick.
The building itself, was, I’m sure at one time a residential home, and then transformed to house a small business. A hair salon once occupied the space before Le Stock Pot took over. The patio, which is to the left in the photo below, has just enough room to fit 8 or so tables, which makes it feel comfortable, and not crowded.
The Chicken Club Panini, which quickly became my favorite meal item, is pre-made with a thick chicken breast, bacon, tomato and delicious sauce, which I can’t pin point. As it is pre-made all that needs to be done is a quick grill and you are good to go. If you don’t want a Panini there is the option to build your own sandwich. There are many breads, meats, cheeses and toppings to choose from and the staff always seems happy to help you build your master piece.
I have to admit, the first time I got the Chicken Club Panini, I did it purely because I felt rushed in line, but I am glad I did. In my opinion I felt I was getting more than what I paid for, then again my Money to Food ratio might be off. Either way the Panini was a good size for me and if need be, a good choice for on the go.
If you are looking to change-up your lunch menu a bit, or are craving a good fresh sandwich or Panini, I would check out Le Stock Pot. Then when you do leave a comment about your experience, what is the best to get?
Don’t think this is a Joke, there is indeed a new iPhone out. The best smart-phone, according to Consumer Report, which also suggested you not buy it, was released one week ago in Canada. This maybe a confusing to some as it was only last November that Yellowknife first got the iPhone, but it has actually been about a year since the old iPhone was released (one a year, since 2007). You probably remember when Bell made the switch to its new “beefier” network, which of course supports the iPhone. This post is my, very basic, review of the iPhone 4. To you Blackberry Addicts and “open” Android Lover out there, I’m sorry. Although if anyone wants to send in their review of the new Blackberry, by all means.
To start off, when I bought the phone I got a nice surprise from Bell. I thought I was going to have to buy the phone out right, which was a whopping $650.00, but thanks to some hardware and data upgrades I was able to walk out of there only paying $150.00. Needless to say I was happy. I was also happy right away about how well the new Retinal Display looked on the new phone. When compared side-by-side to my old 3GS you could see how much clearer the screen was. I still notice its clarity a week later and it is a feature that makes the phone feel high quality.
The next thing I have to address is, of course, the antenna issues that were widely spread throughout the USA. That being said, it was reported that all those antenna issues only amounted to 2% of the iPhones that were sold. I, myself, have not experienced any of these issues. I have even tried to get the phone to drop bars but nothing happens. I did notice, though, that since Apple pushed out the iOS 4.0.1 (iPhone Operating System) update the bars on my phone now go up and down more often. I work in a concrete basement, so now I see a drop of one bar, while down there. I do not and have not dropped any calls, anywhere, nor have I heard a loss of quality in the call. It was recently brought up in conversation that, there had not been many, if any, reports of antenna issues outside of the USA. This has led many question AT&T as to their service. If by chance you are noticing antenna issue, though, the best solution is to just put a case on the phone. I recommend this anyway, I certainly use one.
Another noticeable highlight about the most recent of iPhones is the battery life. Having had the iPhone for one week now, I have only charged it ONCE since walking out of the store with it. It has spent minimal time connected to the computer and is only charged when completely dead. That being said, I am not a big talker, but do use the phone on a fairly regular basis for Twitter, Facebook, Video and many other applications. I’m sure if you use a feature like FaceTime it would get used up more. FaceTime is another feature I think I underestimated, but have yet to actually try it. I liked the idea of a front facing camera, but didn’t think many people would actually use it during calls. I think I was wrong, so far I have heard nothing but good reviews about this feature. I have, although, heard grumbling as well, especially about the fact it has to be used over wifi and you can only call others who actually have an iPhone.
Now were going from the front camera to the back camera. This is where I got excited. I am someone who creates a lot of online video, vlogs if you will, and having a camera with 720p HD capabilities built into my phone makes creating a lot easier. Before I use to carry around another pocket camera, but since that one broke, I have started to use the iPhone, which does just as good, if not better when recording. The camera now takes 5 megapixel still images and produces pretty awesome photos. With the built-in Flash/Light it can now be used anywhere.
I, personally, love the iPhones because of the ease of use, thousands of apps, and overall performance of the device. I do recommend it, yes, but realize it may not be for everyone. Adroid lovers, I know you like your open platform, and Blackberry Addicts, I get your obsession with that tiny keyboard that can get you through a bunch of emails while your on the can. I get it because it is how I am with the iPhone
You if have any question, please let me know in the Comments below.
This review was originally posted on WithMedia.ca. WithMedia.ca the business behind YkOnline.ca and is also a New Media/Online Content Creating website and blog. It offers a content about everything from New Media, to the WordPress Blogging Platform, to how to properly leverage Social Media. If you are interested in talking to Kyle about any of that give him a call at 444-0901
Okay, this is meant to be a lite hearted post about this video I just found. It is titled “Discovering Great Towns – Yellowknife, NT”. I thought it would be neat to see a fun promotional video about Yellowknife. What I got wrong was the Yellowknife part, this video should more accurately be title “Discovering Great Restaurants – Wildcat Cafe” because there isn’t much about Yellowknife in it.
The video was obviously produced over three years ago, as it was before Chef Pierre had the contract for the historic restaurant. I also didn’t realize Sarah Palin came to Yellowknife before trying to run for Vice President, no I’m kidding, but doesn’t the host remind you of Ms. Palin. Oh, and is that Jon Gosselin at the end of the video?
In all seriousness, the video is something for Yellowknife to be proud of. It actually makes me hungry and eager for summer to finally come. I would be interested to know if Chef Pierre has ever had live music and what his plans are for the cafe this year.
Before I sat down to write my thoughts on the play Annie, I tried coming up with a good title. I thought of “Annie, the Adopted Girl”, “Spectacular Annie”, “Annie the play”, but none of them seemed right, so I’m going to go with “Simply Annie”. Why “Simply Annie”, because the version Ptarmigan Ptheatrics is putting on is Simply Amazing.
Going into the show I had an open mind, because I thought it must be tough for all those kids to memorize so many lines and songs. Boy! Was I ever wrong. It seemed like second nature for those kids to get up on stage in front of a full audience and perform. Other than being genuinely cute and talented, these kids were hilarious. You can tell when a performer is just spouting out lines and when they actually mean them, these kids and all the actors and actresses, for that matter, truly were in the zone and were spectacular.
We all know the story of Annie, I’m sure most of us have seen the movie as well. Little orphan girl is optimistic that she will one day find her real parents and live happily ever after, one Christmas is brought into the home of a wealthy millionaire billionaire, who takes a liking to her. He wants to adopt her, but she wants to find her parents, so they search and find some unfortunate news. Then finally both Mr. Warbucks and Annie have a happy ever after. Simple enough, but ever to captivating.
Words can not describe the talent this town possesses, probably because I’ve written them already, but I digress. Something that I still can’t get over is how well, young, Jessica Blake does as Annie. It is unbelievable to think of all the lines she has had to memorize and then have the ability to recreate a character with such joy and dazzle. Watching her sing reminded me of Miley Cyrus, I know weird but stick with me for a second. When you hear Jessica’s voice and associate it with a slower Miley Cyrus song, you will start to hear the similarities. Then when you see Jessica you will notice that this up and coming star also has big bright eyes and wide grinning smile, very similar to Miley. Please take this as a compliment, Miley is a very talented person, regardless of what anyone else thinks. I have a feeling this is only the begin for Jessica.
Part of what makes a local play, like this one, all that more wonderful, is the fact you are guaranteed to know some of the cast. Whether it is a past Middle School teacher who is acting like a swindler, a high school student who was prancing in short shorts on the same stage only a month earlier to the Choral Societies rendition of It’s Rainin Men, or a City Councilor who is being told to sing, you’re always bound to see someone you know and that is what makes it that much more enjoyable.
I could go one about how great it was to feel as though you were right in the story with Annie, and how Roy Williams does it again and directs a great play, and how by the end of the play all I wanted to do was get up and sing with them, but I am far to tired and need to get up early.
Everyone from the performers to the backstage crew to the tech crew to the ticket takers did a magnificent show. If you did not have plans to see the play already, I’m telling you need to make them. There might still be time to catch a show.
You may have seen it while wondering through the Book Cellar, a book simply entitled, Yellowknife. I know I have, I have even picked it up and flipped through the pages on occasion, but never gone any further than that. That just maybe because I never seem to find time to read or I just rather read content online, either way I maybe going to get it now.
Blogger and Novel Reviewer, Tricia, of My Novel Reviews has had the opportunity to read this book and has graciously written a review of it. In the first half of her post she explains what the book is about, the storyline, what is involved and what to expect. Into the second half she begins her review, talking about a character, a drifter if you will and the quirky mysteries of the north.
This quirky novel begins with Danny crossing the border into Yellowknife. He is a drifter, and when he enters Yellowknife, the reader drifts with him into a land populated by eccentric characters, where anything goes.
More than the fact I haven’t found time to read the book, I think I have been hesitant. I am afraid it may squre my view of Yellowknife, although Tricia does mention that our very own Yellowknife Blogger, John Mutford, will defend the book. If that is the case, I guess I will have to go pick myself up a copy. If you are still unsure about the book, you can read more about it on BookCrossing.com. If you have read the book, please share you thoughts with us below.
UPDATE: When I read that John, defended the book I look for his article on the topic but couldn’t find anything. Apparently I didn’t look will enough. As you can see in the comments, he posted the link the National Post article he wrote on the book. I thought I would also point out the first paragraph, because it is something I too believe is the case:
There’s Yellowknife and there’s Yellowknife. One’s a northern city most Canadians haven’t visited, the others a novel most Canadians haven’t read. You should do both.
Whether you’re reading this on New Year’s Eve or in the New Year, I want to wish you a happy New Year. I look forward to all the good things to come in 2010 and I hope to grow with you. Like I have been mentioning there are some new things coming to YkOnline, that I am very excited about, so stay tuned for those.
2009 was a great year, for starters it was the year YkOnline started, Yay! But other than that it was a lot of fun. There are many things to look back on in Yellowknife this past year. Some not so good, but I mainly covered the good things. Here are some of those “Good” posts to look back on from 2009.
There you have it, some of the better post of 2009 from YkOnline. Starting May all the way to Last weeks Christmas Lights post. I hope everyone has a Safe and happy New Year. If you have a favorite post from 2009 that isn’t mentioned above, link to it in the comments.
PLEASE NOTE* YkOnline.ca will be going into maintenance mode starting about 12pm January 1, 2010 – January 2, 2010. We will be setting up the NEW SITE DESIGN. We hope it is better, faster and an altogether nicer user experience.
But being a money coach in my past life, I’m always interested in following the money (and those of you who have watched the Best.Series.Ever, The Wire, will have had that emblazoned on your brain too). And when I followed the money on this, here’s what I found at the end of the document:
Funding of the Centre
This Centre will be funded by a variety of organizations from the private and public sectors. We are asking each investor to commit for a five-year period.
There are three levels of investment:
Champion investor ($100,000 annually)
Champion investors will be deeply involved with Conference Board staff in the drawing up of the Centre’s research plan and meeting agendas. These investors will be part of the Centre’s Steering Committee and will play a leadership role in Centre meetings.
Lead investor ($50,000 annually)
Lead investors will help the Conference Board and Champion investors develop the research plan and review the research in progress. They will also suggest meeting topics and be invited to participate in Centre meetings.
Participant investor ($25,000 annually)
Participant investors will be invited to attend Centre meetings and will have access to the detailed research findings. They will also provide input on the choice of research and meeting topics.
So. People willing to cough up between $25K = $100K every year get to
set the agenda
choose which questions get asked and which don’t
and have access to the research findings.
Anyone else find it hard to believe that the Conference Board of Canada will live up to their stated commitment of being:
“The foremost independent, not-for-profit, applied research organization in Canada.”
“Objective and non-partisan. We do not lobby for specific interests.”
I call bullshit. But I’m guessing the final document and research findings will be presented with little mention of who actually drove the whole project.
I dunno. I guess I thought we voted in MLAs every few years to, you know, set the agenda and direction for the north. Clearly I am mistaken.
On a Sunday, different people do different things. Some go to church, others sleep in, I on the other hand eat. I had the opportunity to try out Coyotes Sunday Brunch. Coyotes Bar & Grill might be Yellowknife’s only self titled Steak and Seafood joint, but that doesn’t stop them from offering one of the best breakfast/lunch/totally awesome buffets around. Then again I am probably being bias because I have not yet tried another one, but nonetheless it was good.
From the look of the outside of the building some may be surprised when walking through the doors. Many may not know but this restaurant, and bar, moved into this building after a Dairy Queen closed down years ago. Once we entered we were greeted right away, seated and asked out drink selection. The seating area is dived into 3 spaces, which is nice and gives you a little more sense of privacy.
The buffet area was packed, not with people, but with food. They had everything, and that is only half an exaggeration. Offering something that will satisfy everyone is pretty hard, but I think Coyotes does it well. They had your basic breakfast items, pancakes, sausages, bacon, eggs and my personal favorite Eggs Benedict.
I haven’t encountered many places that offer Shrimp for lunch let alone breakfast, but people were eating it. To go along with the shrimp there was a wide selection of pastas and salads with all the toppings.
In this corner of the buffet area there was two things going on. To the right they had 4 main dishes, perogies and sausage, chicken, lasagna and crab legs. Yes indeed I did say crab legs, although I did not try any. To the right is where the owner, Ed But, would make you up eggs, however you would like with what ever fixings you would like. When an owner of a business is right there working with the customers it means a lot to me. It shows they are willing to do the work and make sure you are enjoying yourself. I must also recognize the waitresses who were constantly going around to make sure everyone had everything they needed.
Of course I had to go up 2 or 3.. okay maybe 4 times, but it is not often I am able to get out to a buffet this good.
One thing that shocked me about the buffet was the selection of desserts, I could not believe they had an entire table full. I had to contain myself and only take a slice of Triple Chocolate Cake.
In all I was very pleased with the buffet and restaurant over all. The only thing going in that worried me was the price to food quality ratio. Once I saw the amount, selection and quality of food that worry went away. The price per person for the buffet was $23 and although this is a little much for me, I can understand why. I will definitely be returning, just maybe not as frequently as I want.
Have you ever tried the Sunday Brunch Buffet? Let everyone know how your experience went below in the comments.
On a very snowy Saturday afternoon, my brother and I, ventured to the Vietnamese Noodle House on Franklin Ave. The Noodle House is the one of the older and more rustic restaurants in Yellowknife. At first glance you could almost say the building is closed down, but you’d be wrong. To a guest of Yellowknife this restaurant wouldn’t be the first choice, but to the folks like myself, who have been around for a while, it is one of my preferred places.
When we entered the restaurant at lunch time on Saturday we were the only ones in the place, but don’t be fooled. From Monday to Friday this restaurant is packed full at lunch times, so my best advice would be to call ahead or show up early.
One of the unique things about this restaurant is the ordering process. All items on the menu, which includes extensive Vietnamese foods and many Western foods, have numbers. So instead of ordering by name, you order by number.
My favorite is #77, but I’m not going to tell you what it is. Your task, if you choose to except is to find out what it is. Another notable feature about the Noodle House is the speed. Your order, no matter how busy, is almost guaranteed to be served within 10 minutes, which for those in a hurry at lunch is a magnificent feature.
When it come to pricing, it is very comparable. For an average lunch meal you will be looking at around $13, which is decent. The food is unique, the atmosphere is unique and the place is definitely worth checking out. At least once.
Have you been there? Let everyone know what you thought?
Well I suppose this is past due as I have been going on about this website now for almost two weeks. So this is my semi-official review of the site, filled with my opinions, suggestions and comparisons. I introduced YkClassifieds.com back in our Online Classified War post and now I want to go over some things with the site so lets begin.
I want to start with the Domain Name and the Site Name, as they are what everyone will know and refer to them as. YkClassifieds.com is a pretty much bang on name; it won’t confuse, mislead, or deceive you. You would assume that the “yk” is an abbreviation of Yellowknife, which it is. Most of the Yellowknifers I know refer to the city by that name, then the word classifieds, which can’t really be mistaken for anything else either. What I have noticed that has nothing to do with YkClassifieds itself, is that a lot of Yellowknife websites have taken up using “yk” in their names, mine included. We have YkCity.ca, YkTrader.com, YkOnline.ca, YkOffroad, and than there are clubs and sports teams using it as well. I’m just wondering if it is getting over used, what do you think?
What I can’t fully understand with the site name is why it is called YkClassifieds but yet is advertised as a Northern Classified site. I just went over that the name is good for a Yellowknife Classified site as it clearly was directed to that market. So why if intended for all of the North or NWT still use YkClassifieds.com, why not change the domain? I have registered enough domains in my day to know that they are only around $10.00 a name and easy to get. If this site is marketed outside of Yellowknife, I think it wouldn’t take to well as people would see the name and automatically consider it just another website for Yellowknife.
Once in the site you will see a very Craigslist or Kijiji kind of look. You see all the categories and all the sub-categories right in front of you. Personally I don’t like this look, my eyes go crazy trying to read everything, and I would much prefer a drop menu or how eBay does it. You choose the category, sub-category, and so on until you are where you want to browse threw ads. I don’t think this can be changed as that is probably how the script is set up, but I feel like I am constantly trying to get back to a none existent home page, then again I could just be to use to the way YkTrader works.
With the navigation of the site fresh in your mind I want to continue talking about it. I am assuming that the site wide navigation bar is the one in the left sidebar but I feel it is lacking and needs some serious reconsideration. First we have the HOME tab, which is fine and only makes sense to have. But then we have Post Ad, Post Event, and Post Image for the next 3, which I don’t like. I don’t think we a need the 3 of them always showing. What I think would make more sense is to have a general “Post” tab and when the mouse rolls over said tab a pop out menu slides out with more options. Yes, this is similar to how YkTrader does it but I think it works and gives a cleaner, sleeker look. Before I move on to the next tab I have to wonder what exactly is the “Post Image” for, there is no explanation as to why you should post a picture. You don’t know where it is going or what it will be used for. Huh.
On to the next tab Help/FAQ, which is essential to any site like this. So having it in the navigation bar is a good thing but what is currently on that page is another story. There are only 6 questions or how-tos on the page so far, all with very brief explanations. I don’t think someone who has no idea of what they are doing would be able to figure it out. The key to any FAQ site is to explain how to do something in the utmost detail so that even the most Internet illiterate person can figure it out.
The Events Photo tab, which is next down the list, is probably the one tab I shouldn’t talk about right now, as it goes nowhere. You click it that tab, see where it takes you. You end up on the creator’s photo site at a gallery that the public is locked out of. Now I am all for self-promotion and new features but really, a dead link? Wait until everything is working properly before adding it to an active site, even if you add the tab and just have it loop back to the homepage would be fine with me but don’t send people on a wide goose chase for nothing.
The Contest tab is the last tab I am going to talk about, as the My Account seems pretty self-explanatory and needed. The Contest tab is a good idea if the site is going to be holding contests frequently but that doesn’t appear to be the case at the moment. The tab is linked to a PDF and I’m sorry but I can’t stay when PDF’s are used for stupid things like this. Don’t get me wrong, I like PDF’s but you should only use them when needed. For forms, e-books, newsletters, etc. not something like brief contest details. The details should be right on the site as that is where the contest is being held.
Well it seems I have lagged this Review on for longer than I anticipated, so I am going to stop it here and make this a 2 part series. This being Part 1. I would like to encourage all my readers to comment below on YkClassifieds, do you agree with me? Don’t you? What would you suggest?
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