The Weekend’s Here!
Hallelujah!!
A Danforth Photowalk
On August 18th of this year I took a photowalk along Danforth Avenue. I started at Broadview Ave. and finished at Greenwood Ave., at which point I crossed the street and returned to Broadview, snapping all the way. Here’s a few shots from that day:
Ulysses (excerpt)
This small excerpt is the last few lines of Tennyson’s Ulysses. It is significant to me because I included it in the eulogy I delivered at my Dad’s funeral. I feel this segment of the poem is all about looking back over a life of hard work and even though it’s now time to rest, we must keep going and keep seeking as the will remains strong. Tho’ much is taken, much abides;…
“Vicious”
By way of Matt Baume’s fascinating YouTube channel, where he takes a light-hearted look at issues affecting and involving the LGBT community, we recently discovered the British TV comedy series Vicious. The primary stars of Vicious are Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi. With a core cast like that, how can you lose? There’s not a lot of characters throughout the episodes; the regular cast never goes beyond six members. There are…
Rowley, Alberta
Rowley is a hamlet located in east-central Alberta, north of Drumheller. The official census lists the population of Rowley at 8! Rowley dates from the early 1910s, when the railway came through. After the trains ceased to run through Rowley it more or less became a ghost town as people began to move away. Sometime in the mid-1970s the remaining locals came up with an idea to lure tourist dollars…
Rick’s 65th Birthday Party
The Sunshine Boy turns 65!! Yes, it was Rick’s big day, and a number of people got together to throw him a party for the occasion. We had a lot of fun with the “photo booth”, in which people were photographed holding signs of some of Rick’s famous (and infamous) sayings. June 9, 2018 Schmoozing… Taking A Turn at The Photo Booth… The Food… It was a great party! 🙂
Do’s and Don’ts When Encountering Service Dogs
For a while now I’ve had it in mind to create a post talking about the “do’s and don’ts” when we see a service/working dog in our daily travels. I have a personal connection with this topic as my very good friend is visually impaired and has used service dogs for most of her life. A service dog is a lifeline to a blind or disabled person; I can attest to…
George FitzGerald’s “Half-Light (Day Version)”, feat. Tracey Thorn
A new artist I’ve just started to follow is George FitzGerald. At the moment I don’t know too much about Mr. FitzGerald other than he’s an English Dance/Electronic musician, producer and DJ. Initially he resided in Berlin, Germany to cut his teeth in the electronic music scene there but has since returned to England. Electronic music critics are heralding him as the up and coming one to watch. Apparently George has been active…
Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss and… Falco
In September 2015 we journeyed to Vienna, Austria. That city is simply too amazing to describe in this short space, but I’d like to share a few shots I took when we toured Der Wiener Zentralfriedhof (or, in English, The Vienna Central Cemetery). It might be somewhat crass to call this part of the cemetery the “famous dead composer” section, but… well, it is: BUT… The grave I really wanted…
Good Songs Covered By Extremely Inappropriate Artists
Culled from my own music collection, Spotify and Rolling Stone “worst of” lists, here is my compilation of songs that have been covered by a completely inappropriate artist or are simply a bad cover of the song. Some of these covers are funny, some are marginally bearable, some are nauseating and some are so abjectly, abysmally awful they make you lose your will to live. What were these people thinking??!!…
Two Fat Ladies
Score! This past weekend I was thrilled to find a used DVD box set of the entire Two Fat Ladies TV series in mint condition at the always-amazing Sonic Boom on Spadina Avenue. For years Vince and I have looked at all the various online and streaming sources for the Ladies but no one carries the entire series, at least not at a reasonable price, and it remains out of print as far as I…
My IT Career, Laid Bare
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.― Albert Einstein Frighteningly, these are not so very far removed from the cold reality of my daily life in IT and computer support:
“…The Serious Moonlight”
What a night… Without a doubt, the best live concert I’ve ever attended in my entire life was David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight, here in Toronto on a hot, humid September night waaaaaay back in 1983 at the good old CNE Stadium, (remember that place?). Although I also went to his Glass Spider tour in 1987, it didn’t quite have the electrical spark that Serious Moonlight did. There was just something…
Today Is World AIDS Day
Created in 1988, World AIDS Day takes place on December 1st of each year. The Day is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness. World AIDS Day is important because it reminds the public and government that HIV has not gone away – there is still…
Colours
I like this shot. There’s something interesting about the colours, shades and textures of the dresses in the picture. I captured this at the Cabbagetown Festival this past September:
My Grandparents
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.…
A Guide to the Finer Points of Every Gay Man’s Life
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…
Prairie Sunrise
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…