Hooray for you, Mari Sasano.

I’ve been pals with Trevor for the longest time. Since I’ve known him, he’s been an aloof Drama major, a bookstore clerk, a playwright, director, drummer, and now, filmmaker. He’s succeeded at everything he does! Die Nasty, the improvised soap opera, is an Edmonton tradition. His bands, Vertical Struts and The Wet Secrets, have both received national and international attention and toured across Canada. And now his budding film career is taking off.

His most recent film, The Island, draws on his gift for personal essay, visual wit, and a drummer’s rhythm for editing. Through voiceover, Trevor tells us about a hateful e-mail he received from someone who apparently didn’t appreciate his other work– Rugburn, about an awkward gay breakup; and Rock Pockets, a fantasy about being able to walk through a midway with his hand in a boyfriend’s pocket. His detractor pulled out the old “Put ‘em on an island” rhetoric, which Trevor takes up.

We see the filmmaker walking through a barren, snowy landscape– transforming into “Faggot Island,” an imagined paradise of gay free love. And I agree, a space to explore identity is really valuable for any minority group. But where Trevor really is great is his recognition of the need for coalition, and that it’s not just gay people who benefit from it but everyone.

It’s what I’m always trying to say. But better. The Island will be showing at festivals, as well as a screening November 20 at Metro (2Bits, in celebration of FAVA’s 25th anniversary), so go see it when you can.

That I’ve cooked, not eaten. I’ve eaten a lot!

But this year my mom was too busy to organize Thanksgiving, so Paul and I offered to host it this year. This meant cooking a turkey, which I’ve never done. Chickens, yes. Ducks, yes. But never a turkey.

My usual duck lady, Mary Ellen from Greens Eggs and Ham, had Golden Breasted turkeys this year. These are a heritage variety, a cross of a domestic and wild birds. She told me that they are have a drier meat, but a flavour that is much better than a normal turkey.

With this in mind, I looked for recipes that guarantee a moist turkey. Epicurious has a nice once that they recommended for beginners. It calls for a four hour roast, basted every 45 minutes, on a rack with two cups of turkey stock in the pan. The bird is massaged with butter and seasoned. Instead of stuffing, I put a bag of chopped carrots, onion, celery and herbs for flavour and to add more moisture. And I put a carapace of foil over the breast so that it cooked slower. To go with it, I made an apple-sausage stuffing, which I cooked separately in a casserole. C’mon, it’s my first time! I didn’t want to poison my family.

The results? Incredible. Not only was the meat both fully cooked AND moist, the flavour was better than most turkeys I’ve had. And the gravy from the drippings pushed the experience over the top. My mom was impressed! And Henry kept running back to the carcass and barking at it. He’s never wanted leftovers more.