I don't regard cheese (or cow's milk) as real food for human beings, although I do like certain cheeses sometimes. If I eat very much of it though, I regret it, since the aftereffects are rather akin to having swallowed slow-setting cement...not good!

Canadian restaurants and their customers are utterly obsessed with cheese. They put it on almost everything. It's gross. I have said before, and I will say again...the people in this town would happily eat dog shit if it had melted cheese poured all over it in copious quantities, with a little parmesan sprinkled on top for good measure. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but you get the general idea.

I tend to stay away from dairy altogether if I can. I know this is probably disturbing to anyone who makes a living by selling such products, but I have my health to consider, and I have observed the effects of consuming dairy food quite carefully. In my case, not so good. In a dear friend's case, darn near fatal. Sorry, dairy farmers, but that's how it is with us...I'm sure there are people who love your stuff, so don't take this too personally.

So, we are constantly having to ask the local restaurant to serve us this meal, that meal and the other meal...with NO DAIRY PLEASE!

For milk I drink rice dream or soya milk. Another friend, Mike Latter, who is a fine singer-songwriter kids me by referring to it as "rice nightmare". Poor soul, he doesn't know what he's missing. It's so much better than milk that it's like comparing Green Day to Mozart (the milk being Green Day).

Here's to Rice Dream!!! Yeah!