George Papayiannis » Toronto

Why I’m Against Faith-Based Education Funding

George A. Papayiannis — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:47:44 +0000

Isn’t racism and hate already a big problem in our society? Do we really want our children growing up in schools were all the kids around them are exactly the same race and religion? In a surprising and somewhat depressing statement, John Tory (the conservative MPP leader) has said if elected he would give public funding to faith based schools. The elections are October 10th 2007. I know many of you despise McGuinty, but the sad reality is that both leaders have no grasp on reality and only seek to satisfy their own personal agendas. Is it time to start looking at Hampton?

It’s interesting how Tory even believes that funding for faith based schools even exists. With all the cuts that are happening, wouldn’t the money be better severed improving our existing infrastructure? I guess I’m surprised that he didn’t see the backlash that would occur by taking this stance. On the other hand, I know that the Greek Patriarch of Canada is telling us to vote Conservative cause he wants to push his Greek Schools and I hear radio advertisements on 680 news supporting faith based schools by the Jewish Congress of Canada.

The argument of funding catholic schools is a good one, but I believe we first need to stabilize our existing structure before we can start rationing what little money we have already. Furthermore, I really feel raising the future generation of children in schools were everyone is the same race and religion can’t be positive, irrespective of what the catholic’s have.

Clio-maria has a good post on this topic.
I started a Facebook group about this.

Pictures: Jays vs Baltimore Aug 19 2007

George A. Papayiannis — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 04:28:00 +0000

Link to pictures

Belvedere, Snapple, bin Laden & Cadbury Schweppes

George A. Papayiannis — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:35:41 +0000

The last hour has been pretty interesting. I’m having some people over tonight and I thought to go buy a bottle of Vodka for our enjoyment. I settled on a bottle of Belvedere, which I purchased from the local LCBO. Belvedere means ‘Beautiful to See’ and named after the Royal Palace in Warsaw. I had heard great things about this Vodka and decided to jump the gun and pour myself a glass. My first impressions were good, the Vodka is smooth and lives up to the hype. I had heard that Snapple (particularly Banana) was a great mix with Belvedere. Unfortunately Banana Snapple isn’t sold in Canada, so I decided to experiment with Lemon and Peach. I don’t think this drink (Lemon Snapple + Belvedere) has a name, but it should. While I was enjoying my new found drink, I thought to lookup some info about Snapple. Like most big brands, Snapple has been plagued with a bunch of rumours surrounding the company, it’s founders and it’s products. One that I found particularly interesting was the claim that Osama bin Laden owns Snapple. Obviously this is a bogus claim, but I can definitely see how and why the rumour started. From here I thought to myself, who owns this amazing juice that goes so well with Belvedere? Cadbury Schweppes. The company trades in New York through an ADR and has been beaten down pretty hard the last couple months. They’ve been trying to sell-off the Snapple brand, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. The potential buyers appear to have trouble securing financing needed, because of the sub-prime meltdown and credit crunch. So there you go, an hour of randomness summed up with a glass of Lemon Snapple + Belvedere.

Houston Steaks & Ribs

George A. Papayiannis — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 03:39:45 +0000

Saturday night had me in downtown Toronto looking for good ribs. I could have gone to one of the usual suspects like Baton Rouge or The Keg, but instead settled on Houston Steaks and Ribs. The restaurant is typical of a steakhouse with dim lighting, large booths and a relaxed, casual atmosphere. As an appetizer we had the baked goat cheese and the main course was (of course) the ‘Houston Ribs’. I particularly enjoyed their desert menu, which was all 7 options on a platter brought straight to our table. Overall the entire experience was above average and I left satisfied having had good ribs. For 2 people (dinner, dessert, tax and tip) your looking to spend around $70 to $80.

Le Papillon Restaurant

George A. Papayiannis — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 03:25:22 +0000

I was downtown today after work with a good friend celebrating my 25th birthday that just passed a couple days ago. We didn’t have any particular restaurant in mind and just happened to stumble upon Le Papillon. The restaurant is tucked away on Church street, just south of Front with a warm Mediterranean atmosphere and inspiring menu. As an appetizer we started with a unique blend of chicken liver, spices and cognac eloquently called Pâté Michelle. As my main course I had the Filet de Saumon à l’Aneth – Atlantic salmon with rice and fresh vegetables covered in a ‘white wine, lemon-dill butter sauce’. I would highly recommend anyone looking for authentic French cuisine to make their way down. For 2 people (dinner, wine, tax and tip) your looking to spend around $80 to $90.

Tabla Indian Restaurant & Wine Bar

George A. Papayiannis — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:56:07 +0000

Last Saturday I went to one of the better Indian restaurants Toronto has to offer. It was the first weekend back since Greece and we weren’t thinking Indian food at all. We initially planned on going to this French/Italian bistro in the area (Young and Lawrence) and just happened to stumble upon Tabla. We had a fantastic ‘dinner for 2′ option which covered all types of authentic Indian dishes including curry lamb, butter chicken, amazing samosas and more. For desert be sure to have the strawberry rice pudding. For 2 people, your looking to spend around $60 to $70 including taxes and tip.

Life.. one micro-blog post at a time

George A. Papayiannis — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 03:31:11 +0000

I’ve been really bad about posting updates to this blog, but fear not.. my life (like yours) has kept rolling along. I’m headed to Greece June 22nd for 3 weeks. I’ll be spending 15 days in the islands and 6 days back at my home town. The 15 day island tour will take me to Santorini, Ios, Mykonos, Naxos and Paros… I spend 3 days per islands which gives me enough time to rent and enjoy a Vespa on each!

Since my last golf course post I’ve played Humber Valley, Markham Green, Bantys Roost and Remington Parkview.. I really wanted to post about each course I went to this year, but it looks like they are going to be delayed.

I went shopping in Buffalo last weekend at the Walden Galleria.. with the great exchange rate (I got 1.08 at the bank), you can’t go wrong. The only thing you have to look out for, is getting back over the border without paying any taxes on your goods. Here’s what I did: I crossed over at the Peace Bridge and told the border rent-a-cop we were meeting friends in Buffalo and driving to the American Falls. After shopping, we stuffed everything in my golf bag and took the 20 minute drive to the American Falls.. which by the way are amazing. After spending some time at the Falls, we crossed over at the Niagara border. When the person at the crossing asked what we were doing in America, I just said we went to look at the American Falls… he replied “really? I’ve never done that”.

In a strange turn of events, which started with the Facebook application, I have created a Twitter account.. I actually (kind-of) enjoy it and will probably be updating it while I’m in Greece.

follow papayiya at http://twitter.com

Royal Woodbine Golf Club

George A. Papayiannis — Sat, 12 May 2007 00:55:31 +0000

Last Saturday I played Royal Woodbine Golf Club, a beautiful course tucked away in area surrounding the 409, 401 and 427 highways. The course is tough – narrow, long, water in play on every hole and a total of 75 sand traps. The course took forever to finish (about 6 hours) mostly because they had a strict no cart on grass policy. I didn’t have a great round: the slick greens, carefully placed hazards and narrow fairways had me scrambling all day. I need to go back and get some revenge. Here is the layout of the course:

2007 Ontario Golf Book

George A. Papayiannis — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 02:54:55 +0000

I just picked up the Ontario Golf Book for 2007 from 3600 today at lunch. The book is 372 pages and features:

Over 950 Green Fee Coupons at 172 Golf Courses
Over 400 2 for 1 Green Free Coupons
Weekend Play at 143 Golf Courses

Each course is given 2 pages, complete with map directions, prices, contact info, policies and course details.
2 for 1, 4 for 2, 4 for 3… the book is littered with discounts.
If anyones up for a round, let me know.

Chris Gardner @ Indigo (Bay/Bloor)

George A. Papayiannis — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 03:49:50 +0000

Earlier today I decided to head down to the Indigo at Bay/Bloor after work to see an interview with Chris Gardner. In 2006 Chris published a book on his memoirs titled The Pursuit of Happyness — as many of you probably know, that book was also turned into a movie. The interview lasted from 7pm to 8pm and was conducted by the founder and Chief Indigo Book Lover Heather Reisman.

I got there exactly at 7pm and had to stand for the interview. I couldn’t take a clear picture from that far back, so near the end I tried to make my way to the front, along the sides. I couldn’t really get a good shot, but here are a couple: