This is a special post. Today I’d like to write about the grandparents I never knew: my paternal grandparents, John and Christina Job, who both died before I was born. When they immigrated to Canada, they brought with them a rich heritage. My grandparents were some of the “Germans from Russia”. Prior to a unified Germany, countless Germans were demoralized by years of religious strife, political chaos and economic hardship.…
I recently found this 90s essay on my hard drive while browsing for inspiration and ideas for new blog posts. I’m not sure where the piece came from and it dates quite badly, but what the heck… here it is anyway. By a certain age, you should: Know the three meanings of the word “chicken”. Know something about Anita Bryant, Pierre Trudeau, Harvey Milk, and Svend Robinson. Have danced all night and shared a…
This is such a peaceful shot. I captured this sunrise image while travelling southbound along Highway 2 in Alberta, en route to the Calgary International Airport to catch my plane back to Toronto: I had an early flight out from Calgary that morning which meant, naturally, an early departure. Even though it was about 8:00AM when I took this shot, it still felt awfully early to me. The sun rises…
It was a rainy, wet, cold and generally miserable day yesterday. During my usual Saturday errand-running I took a few shots with my phone of the journey home via Yorkville and Avenue Road: … And, I saw these little guys in the window of Galerie de Bellefeuille. Very, very cute. I passed the Gardiner Museum near Queen’s Park as the sun was going down…
What is a desert island song? A desert island song is a special song. It makes me feel the sheer joy of living. It brings me to tears of joy or heartache within a minute of the start, sending goosebumps to my arms. A desert island song infuses me with a feeling of power, energy and well-being. It transports me intensely and succinctly back to a time and place in…
A shot from one of my many city wanderings this past summer:
Passing through my bedroom the other day (where SomaFM’s Underground 80s channel is frequently playing), I heard Icehouse’s Electric Blue. This caused me – inescapably – to think of Iva Davies. Iva Davies (born Ivor Arthur Davies) is an Australian singer, songwriter, composer, musician and record producer. Most importantly (in my world at least), Iva is known for his distinctive singing voice… Oh God – that voice, that incredible, beautiful,…
OK, so I was taking a photo walk across the Danforth this past summer and I came upon this interesting shop: I assume business must be booming?
This piece is soooooo early 90s, is stereotypical and dates badly, but is still kinda amusing:
Ah, the immortal Mr. Bowie…
I’ve always enjoyed Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky and have studied it a couple of times during my education. For me, it conjures up images of monsters and an inverted, slightly mad world, such as Alice finds when she passes through the looking glass: ’Twas brillig, and the slithy tovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe;All mimsy were the borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe. “Beware the Jabberwock, my son!The jaws that bite,…
Earlier this year I headed to the UK for a photo tour of Cornwall (which was amazing, but that’s another story for another time). I had a lot of time to kill prior to my flight’s departure at Toronto’s Pearson International, so I walked around the terminal a bit. I saw these cool lights which caught my eye due to their dramatic shapes:
Obviously this guy also had to deal with the a-holes at Presto this morning (long story I won’t go into here; I’ll save it for another rant posting)…
So, a couple of years ago, on December 31st, I was heading home along Carlton Street. As I passed St. Peter’s Anglican Church at the corner of Carlton and Bleecker, I read their display board out front, then doubled over with helpless laughter: If you’re going to creatively rearrange the letters on a church’s signage, you might as well go all the way.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that, the passing there Had worn them really…
Today is Remembrance Day, and I’d like to pay tribute to my uncle George Quartly (my mother’s brother), killed in World War II. I never knew my uncle George as he died many years before I was born, but I had heard a lot about him over the years. I understand he was quite young when he was sent overseas to fight in the war. George was in Princess Patricia’s…
During my walk today I had to fend off more than one idiot with a leaf blower. I suddenly realized how intensely I LOATHE these bloody things!!! I fail to see the point of them, quite frankly. Outside of producing excessive noise pollution what is the point of a leaf blower? All it does is relocate a mess from one place to another, polluting the air and environment along the…
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