FRANKIE’S FAVOURITE EATERIES 

Have you been to Lithuania? I'm thinking probably not. We recently had a chance to meet a partner there and the hospitality was lovely. As with most Eastern European countries, the initial face is a little stern but quickly turns lovely once some commonality is found. Here goes 24 hours in Villnuis. We land and drop our luggage at a great new hotel, PACAI, in the heart of the city. A touch pricey but so so great and greeted with a nice tea/kambucha/sparkling drink (apparently very Lithuanian). The architecture was wow 🤯, I highly recommend this hotel and has awesome spa/sauna facilities all included. 

Off to lunch. 

We enter this newish resto. The whole city and vibe/architecture I would say feels more Scandinavian modern than traditionally Eastern European with an old town that was never destroyed through war and has the UNESCO heritage designation.  The food would be similar to what is loved by Eastern Euros - potatoes, pork, butter and in Lithuania’s case, beef. 

This first restaurant Donkey (Burro) felt open clean and let me tell you super delicious. Now while I generally like to eat very local style in this case our friends wanted to host us in the cool restaurants so we indulged. We shared bone marrow with a jammy on top, the BEST BEST french fries I've ever had, an incredible steak, like I'm talking wow! Apparently beef is really really important here and this steak was clearly an old cow 🤦‍♀️ I was told. We had a peppery cooked beef dish that hit my pallet with so much joy and the bread and butter ;) the bread and butter ;) the bread! And butter!!!!!!. 

Back for a long walk, a longish meeting, and off to one of 3 Michelin star restaurants in Vilnius "Dziaugsmas" (Joy) was the one we ended up at. OMG OMG OMG. Firstly, and again the bread and butter but in this case, they had the lard spread which is similar to Polish Schmaletz, I loved it. Our host knew the chef who apparently was never professionally trained and just tried and practiced dishes on his friends from the time he was young. From what were told, all the best restaurants in Vilnius have him as their inspiration. Little crispy fried balls filled with smoked eel; tiny potato pancakes topped with tartare and cheesy meat filled bites were our appetizers. 

For the mains a delicious rib steak of pork comes out, perfectly charred and glazed, to be honest I don't remember any more after that. We drank too much, we ate too much, we laughed too much and we definitely indulged. I have a feeling this will be a partnership that will require another trip to Lithuania, let's hope :) 

We head to a great supper club for the party only and hop around a few bars in the area, it's all very walkable. 

Let's put it this way, three days of veggies and salads are in order. 

TECH SPOTLIGHT

Meet the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft: the e-ink tablet that wants to be your inner overachiever’s best friend. It’s big (11 inches), light, easy on the eyes, and comes with a pen that never needs charging—so yes, it’s basically a very polite, very expensive digital notebook. At $630+, it’s firmly in “treat yourself” territory, but it’s also kind of charming: color highlights, paper-like writing feel, and battery life that lasts so long you’ll forget where you left the charger.

It’s not trying to replace your iPad or become your next art studio—think less “Netflix and gaming,” more “annotate PDFs, plan your life, and pretend you’re extremely organized.” The new AI features will even tidy up your handwriting, which is great news for anyone whose notes currently look like they were written during mild turbulence.

Is it a luxury? Absolutely. Is it a very pretty way to feel productive? Also absolutely. ✨

Check it out!

REAL ESTATE SPOTLIGHT

Some people may think I'm crazy but at 999k this one is a good buy. It needs a nice 300k reno and a family of 4 can live there. 

Check it out!

Presenting an exceptionally rare offering at 50 Buckingham Ave, available for the first time in over 50 years. This substantial 214 x 50 foot lot presents a wealth of possibilities for its new owners. Create one magnificent, custom-built home of exceptional proportions. Build a beautiful new custom home complemented by a secondary Coach House or Garden Suite, ideal for extended family, aging parents, adult children, or long-term guests. Imagine a compound featuring a 4-5 bay car garage with a large garden suite above, all within bucolic Lawrence Park. This is a very rare opportunity for severance to create two new custom homes. Accounting for adjusted setbacks, this would result in two side-by-side 90 x 50 foot lots, offering greater efficiencies and a more saleable product than an 8-10 million dollar new build.

Nestled on a quiet residential street, 50 Buckingham Ave delivers incredible convenience. The location is just 800 meters from Yonge & Lawrence subway access and the abundant shops and restaurants along Yonge Street. Elite educational institutions are also moments away, with Toronto French School just 600m away, and Crescent School, The Granite Club, and Havergal School mere minutes by car. An incredible lifestyle opportunity awaits.

Check it out!

On The Scene “Party of The Week”

Selected photos from the golden globes. Big time behind the scenes. Here first!

By George Pimentel

Take a sneak peek at this week’s event photos, your 🫵 backstage pass. 

WORD OF THE WEEK

Sartorial

What It Means

Sartorial broadly means “of or relating to clothes,” but it often more specifically means “of or relating to a tailor or tailored clothes.”

OTHER POSH THINGS

Leake Street Tunnel - one tunnel, endless art 

Leake Street Tunnel is loud, messy, colourful and completely addictive and if you’re anywhere near Waterloo and fancy a dose of wow, please duck into Leake Street Tunnel — London’s grungiest, most joyful open-air (well… underground) art space.

This 300-metre tunnel sits beneath the train tracks and is completely covered in graffiti. Walls, ceilings, corners — nothing is off limits. What makes it magic? It’s legal. Artists can paint here freely, so the artwork is constantly changing. Visit twice in the same week and it’ll feel like a different place.

The tunnel shot to fame in 2008 when Banksy hosted a street art festival here, and it’s been a living canvas ever since. You’ll see huge murals, tiny tags, political messages, playful characters — and often artists mid-spray.

It smells of paint, hums with creativity, and feels very London.

Best of all? It’s free, open 24/7, and gloriously imperfect.

Just beyond the tunnel you’ll find the Leake Street Arches — a cluster of independent eateries, bars and entertainment spaces that extend the vibe. Grab a bite or a drink, then head back underground for another round of colour and creativity.

By: N i r i t   S u m e r u k  A b b o u

UNTAMED PODCAST

LISTEN BELOW

FRANKIE’S SONG OF THE WEEK

VIP VIP! Who isn't into bad bunny now? He’s awesome - who knew? Such a fun performance at the SB. Let's go Bad bunny :) 

100 WEEKS OF POSITIVE MESSAGES

Frankie did 100 days of positive messages 3 years ago. He wanted to center them around mental health and positivity. We will post them each week for 100 weeks.

“One thing that was so important for me in my "getting better" journey was work.

Brianna watched me in bed for months and begged me daily to go out and become a barista.

She would say please just get out of bed and get a job, make coffee, do something!

She was right but when your head is not working right it is hard to understand that.

Even if you think something is beneath your capabilities, the simple act of going to do something is very important.

The key is to get out there and help in the process of moving things along, embrace being part of a team.

It is kind of like dating.

Had I known when I was younger that I should have just asked the girls for a date I would have had many many more opportunities.

Guys, get out there and ask!

So many great women I know are just dying to have a good old-fashioned date.

Forget the Tinda... go up and ask.

When it comes to mental health, if you are sitting at home hoping for a yoga retreat to feel better or feel that someone owes you a paycheck, instead I would recommend work.

Go to do something each day that involves "work" and accomplishing things instead of gossiping with bored friends or lying in bed commiserating about why it's not you.

This will do a lot.

Work will give you things to think about that make you forget your problems. It definitely helped me.

The hardest part is finding that energy to get up and go do something that may seem boring.

Find it!

Let's face it, life can be boring. Boredom is a real struggle for me, so you need to find pleasure in the simplest little things.

Bring your favourite mug from home to the office.

Find a great beef patty place near work and be excited about that.

Find someone you like chatting with or a little nook at work where you take a twenty-minute reprieve and read your book.

Look for pleasure in little things like replying to an email, lifting boxes or cold calling customers.

Find a way to do these things with a smile.

But please don't lie to yourself and say why haven't they called me?

That never happens.

Cheers to you lifting yourself off the couch and back to work.”

DO YOU LIKE TO PARTY?

April 2nd we will be hosting a little party for our friends from the golf tourney and getting the Easter festivities started early ;).  I will likely put a little invite into the newsletter but space will be limited so let know if you want to pop by. It will be held at THE WELL hosted by myself and the people at Tridel. 

🧠A Weekly Dose of Psychology You Didn’t Know You Needed 🧠

Hi everyone! I’m Maya, I hold an Honours Bachelor of Science in Forensic Science and Psychology (basically, I can analyze both a crime scene and your overly complicated coffee order). I’m also an incoming Master of Arts candidate in Counselling Psychology, which means I spend a lot of time thinking about how the human brain works, and why it sometimes does the exact opposite of what we want it to do.

Psych Fact #33: Your brain uses “mental shortcuts” so often that you usually don’t notice them.

Your brain is a bit of a speed-runner. To save energy, it relies on shortcuts called heuristics to make quick judgments. Most of the time, this is helpful. It lets you decide fast without analyzing every tiny detail.

But here’s the quirky part: these shortcuts can also explain why you sometimes overestimate how likely rare events are, or why the first piece of information you hear can stick in your mind more than it should.

For example, if you hear about a flight delay or a strange accident, your brain might quietly treat it as more common than it really is, just because it’s easy to remember. Your brain is basically saying, “If I can think of it quickly, it must happen a lot,” which isn’t always true.

So, when your brain jumps to conclusions a little too fast, it’s not being lazy. It’s being efficient. Sometimes a bit too efficient.

Until next time,
Maya 🧠✨

TRIVIA

Category: Random Facts!

CHRIS’ CORNER

Speed Skating is my Favourite Olympic Event

It’s NBA all-star weekend and the excitement is … underwhelming. When are leagues going to give up on these useless mid-season all-star events.

They aren’t competitive, not enough people still care about them, and the break unnecessarily extends the season. The fact that the season is too long to begin with is a topic for another column.

Back to the matter at hand, with the all-star weekend in full effect, it’s time to look back on what has been a tremendous first (a little more than) half of the season.

Here are five things I love about what’s taking place so far.

1. The Raptors are winning more than they’re losing. Okay, so I thought they were goin to go on a crazy run after the 4-1 West Coast trip in January. Didn’t happen. However, they’re still playing exciting basketball, Scottie Barnes is in the running for defensive player of the year, and the team is fifth in the east with a 32-23.

2. The old guys still got it. LeBron James (41 years old) is averaging 21.8 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 6.9 assists per game to go along with 1.1 steals per game; Steph Curry (37 years old) is averaging 27.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.8 apg and 1.1 spg; while Kevin Durant (37 years old) is averaging 25.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.4 apg, and 0.8 spg with 0.9 blocks per game. All three are future hall of famers who are in the twilight of their careers, but still getting it done. As I’m nearing my 49th birthday, I can’t help but cheer on the guys who are closest to me in age.

3. European Flavour. Between two and four of the top five players (Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Victor Wembanyama) in the league are from Europe. There are dozens of quality European players in the NBA now, including Toumani Camara, Ivica Zubac, Lauri Markkanen, Domantas Sabonis, Jonas Valančiūnas, and so many others (too long to list).

4. Canadian Content. The other top five player, who is either one or two depending on how you view, it is the reigning MVP from Canada (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander aka SGA). Meanwhile, Jamal Murry is making a case for being included in the Top 10, and Dillon Brooks and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have elevated their respective games to another level. Other notables include Andrew Nembhard, Shaedon Sharpe, Lugentz Dort, Zack Edey, the Raptors RJ Barrett, and several more! It’s a good time to be repping the red and white.

5. The Pistons mucking it up (again). It’s always them. This time it was a melee against the Charlotte Hornets that resulted in a near brawl and several suspensions.

Every few years, the Detroit Pistons remind us that when they’re at their best and in title contention, they’ve got a little bit of the 1986 to 1992 Bad Boys vibe to them. I love it! Give me more of that rugged, smack you to the ground, get out of my lane, 1980s and 1990s basketball. The kind where if you called foul, you got called a “*****” and had to eat that or fight over it. Beautiful. Makes me want to cheer for the Pistons.

On that note, forget the all-star weekend nonsense and focus on the Olympics until the hardcourt action returns to normal on Thursday. Oh yeah, and Happy Valentine’s Day/Happy Family Day weekend everyone!

That’s it for me! Ciao for Now!

P.S. The blog has moved … see link below.

By Chris Occhiuzzi

UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS

WEATHER THIS WEEK

TORONTO

MIAMI

PARIS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“You can achieve a lot of things by helping others achieve things...”

-SFD 

CONTRIBUTIONS

If you would like to contribute to the newsletter, please contact us. Our NL goes out to over 10k business owners, friends, and other professionals in my network. We would love to have people from different walks of life, and we won't judge your writing. If you would like us to keep your articles anonymous, we can do so as well. Also, if you enjoy the newsletter and want to contribute $, please donate to www.camh.ca anytime on our behalf AND please have your friends subscribe, it will mean the world to us. 

Thank you

- Frankie

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Super Frankie is lazy. He loves technology because it makes life simpler. Technology is spawned from ideas that make life easier. He is the founder of Busys.ca which is a company that sells/leases and services printers, laptops, document management software, copiers, IT services, and phone systems throughout North America and Europe.

LET’S CONNECT

*These articles, jokes, and stories are written by individuals handpicked by SFD for their unique way of thinking and writing. While SFD appreciates their styles, he does not necessarily endorse their opinions. This newsletter is designed to bring a smile to your face. If you prefer not to receive this weekly newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. You will be missed.