Thoughts for a Tuesday

I'm on the tube. I'm reading a subway ad for what at first glance seems to be a charity, called Children First. It's written in a childish crayon script (which set off all sorts of red flags and whistles).

Turns out it's run by the ultra-right-wing Fraser Institute. It covers up to half the tuition for private school education for "low income families".

With an average tuition of $3500 for the grant receivers, that means these "low income" families ponied up an average of $1750 of their own money for this.

What exactly do they mean by "low income"? Turns out that families with annual incomes as high as $66,000 may be eligible. It strikes me that this may be more of a "charity" for the middle class, or a way of funding private schools, than something to help the truly poor. How many impoverished families can find a couple of thousand of their own money to send their kid to private school?

Next:

I'm reading the free dailies, and notice a tiny story in Toronto Metro that matte is the new gloss in the auto industry. This is the auto show season, and several notable manufacturers, including Audi, Lamborghini and GM are featuring cars with very dull paintjobs. Interesting. My two year old Fondriest trackbike is matte. Matte or semi-gloss finishes have been around the cycling industry for years - not exactly abundant, but hardly rare either. Nice to see that the auto industry is finally catching on.

Next:

I was fortunate that I saw pretty much the whole Super Bowl on Sunday. In other words, I watched the last two and a half minutes. I was reading a column by Jodi Vance in the daily 24 Hours (owned by the Toronto Sun, so she probably writes for that rag as well). She called the game "one for the ages".

Geez, do sports reporters still use that hackneyed phrase? One for the Ages? In my recollection, that was first used in a sporting context by Howard Cosell some thirty years ago. It was overblown hyperbole back then, but that's what Howard did. He could get away with it. He pretty much invented that style of sports telejournalism; it's been mimicked by many over the years, some successfully some not.

But Jody Vance? Jody, I remember Howard Cosell, and you're no Howard Cosell. Cut the "For the Ages" crap...

Winter in Toronto

Got kinda whacked on Friday: Like around 6 inches of snow. Not a huge amount, but enough to make for some inconvenience getting around.

Saturday was just above freezing and extremely slushy and messy for walking about - huge and deep puddles abounded.

Today it's snowing and as the temp heads up just above freezing, it will turn to rain.

Tomorrow, a high of +9C and rain. Same (more or less) for Wednesday.

Cold doesn't bother me. Snow doesn't bother me. This constant up and down, snow and rain, snow then slush - it's wearing on me. Oh well, another month and we'll be through the worst of it.

As much as I'm bothered by the slop, I feel worse for the bike messengers who have to ply through this shit. They're warriors, and I hope that you'll send a kind and encouraging word if one pops into your office today...

St. Patrick Station in Monochrome

I showed a very similar one to this one in colour some time ago. (actually I thought it was the same one, until making the link just now - I kind of like this one better, with the lights of the train shining off the walls - they were taken seconds apart) I recently converted it to black and white, and I like it. Hope you do, too.

It's snowing like hell today (well, actually, I guess the heat of Hades tends to dictate against snow). Stay out of your cars and take transit to wherever you need to go.

Have a great weekend! I know I will...

Going Home

The subway trains get a bit crowded during the evening commute.

Yet another reason I prefer cyclo-commuting...

Outed

I am Grand Master Knarf. French gamesters grovel and kowtow; they lay prostate before me.

I am revered and respected.

But now I have been outed. This blog has merely been a front. Secret encoded messages have been sent from This Very Place to my loyal followers these past two years but now that's all over.

C'est dommage, n'est ce pas?

Au revoir a tous mes amis francais. A la prochaine!

(how weird is this, eh?)

An Auspicious Date

It was on this date, six years ago, that Gee Dubya coined the phrase "axis of evil", referring to those rogue states Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

You know what? I guess maybe those countries aren't very nice, maybe they're even "evil", I don't know. But a threat to the US? Intent on world dominance?

Six years later, and North Korea still hasn't dropped The Bomb. Whew!

That has to have been one of the silliest utterances ever made in public by a world leader. Who writes this guy's scripts, anyway?

"Axis of Evil."

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

What a maroon!

Saturday Sadness

I took today's photo on Saturday afternoon at Victoria Park subway station in Toronto. We were on our way back from visiting Oliver, a wonderful dog who was just diagnosed with (apparently) terminal cancer on Friday .

Please send positive thoughts Oliver's way; he and his family need comfort and strength.

Maybe today would be a good day to click on the animal rescue site (look to the right), in Oliver's honour...

Young Lady on a Bike Next to a Streetcar

It was a one-shot deal. She was sitting on her bike next to a streetcar at Queen and Victoria. I asked if I could take her photo, she smiled and said "yes", I shot. We chatted for a second, the light changed and off she went.

Unfortunately, the late-day sun put huge hot-spots on her face, and I've been trying to deal with them ever since. The seed of the photo is there, but it seems so technically flawed that it may be beyond rescue, which would be a real shame.

So here's my latest attempt, rendered in faux-infrared on the computer. It's the best one yet. The best, I'm afraid, of a sorry lot (it looks better bigger, so click on it to see it screen-size). In fact, the more I look at it, the less I like it. I still think there's a wonderful photo in there somewhere; I'll just have to keep working on it...

Anyway, you have a great weekend (as I know I will)!

The Roycroft

I've always liked art-deco apartment buildings, and the area of Toronto in which I live has many. This one is on Eglinton near Bathurst. Love the "font" of the sign...

Hell's Grannies

Every time I see a senior zipping by on one of these electric scooters, I think of the infamous Monty Python sketch. I know, Hell's Grannies had nothing to do with mobility devices (being as they weren't around back then), it's more the attitude of some of today's seniors on their "mobies" that reminds me of that title.

Screaming along at 10 km/h, horns constantly beeping, exhorting (not asking, mind you) people to get out of the way, they rule the sidewalks, striking fear into the hearts of mere pedestrians.

Okay, okay, I exaggerate for "literary" (hah! as if!) purposes. Most drivers of these carts are polite, courteous and patient; the noisey few change the way I look at the quiet majority. Still, there's a steelie look of determination in some of their eyes as they bear down on me that scares me just a bit. Years of pent-up frustration caused by impaired mobility must be suddenly released when the sit on their "ride", preparing to sally forth for the day.

Perhaps one day, I'll trade two wheels for four. Then you better look out for me!

Aggression

Why is it that the seem to go out of their way to make SUVs look aggressive and imposing?

Lollypops

These bicycle posts are ubiquitous around This Fine Burg.

Personally, I don't like them. Too easy to scratch bike frames on them, and depending on how it's secured, often only one bike will fit on each pole. That can be a real pain when these facilities are sparse as they are in front of some downtown buildings.

Certainly, there is plenty of room for lots of bikes in this bank of "lollipops" (as they're referred to locally) found along Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto. Most say "City of Toronto", but I guess U of T has so many, they got theirs "personalized".

Hope you have a great Monday, to start a great week!

What To Do

Sort of an ongoing reminder that if you're looking for something to do tonight in Toronto, Reposados on Ossington between Queen and Dundas features some amazing jazz.

The house band includes trumpeter Tim Hamel; club owner Sandy (left) usually sits in for a set or two. It's a cool, laid back, relatively mature sort of place.

We considered heading there tonight, but nocturnal feline activity this week (what's up with you, Patches?) leaves us overly fatigued - hopefully next Friday...

Whatever the case, I'm about to embark on what I know will be a very pleasant (and relaxing!) weekend. Here's hoping you have the same.

A Good Use for a Car

For all my anti-car rants, all the waste of fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources, all the pollution, all the deaths and injuries caused to pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers, for all of that, I'm glad that some people in Kensington Market found this lovely use for a car this past summer.

Beats clogging our landfill sites with more old wrecks...

Washboard Abs?

I rode my bike to work today. Yesterday, as it was snowy and wet, I took the subway (actually, it "took me" didn't it?). As much as I prefer riding my bike, one of the advantages of transit is that I get to read. Yesterday morning, I chose to read a newspaper.

I read that there's a big scandal in the world of R&B and HipHop.

"What sort of scandal?", you ask.

Lipsynching? Guns? Payola? Drugs?

Nope. Steroids!

"No, knarf, you're thinking of baseball, Roger Clemens, wrestling, American Gladiators (yes, it's back!), football..."

Actually, I am thinking about R&B. Have you watched music videos over the past decade or more? Have you noticed how many performers, both male and female, manage to show a ripped torso, those "six pack abs", that "washboard stomach"? So now, someone's blowing the whistle on Mary J. Blige, Timbaland, 50 Cent (apparently to be pronounced "fitty sen") and others, claiming they got their buff buns with chemical assistance.

Say it ain't so!

The kneejerk reaction would be to presume that this is all due to music videos, that they take away from the music, that they make appearance and image paramount over talent. Such a proposition would be facile. Turns out that Beethoven, Bach and Brahms (the infamous Three B's) had muscle fetishes, and for hundreds of years, classical performers have hidden rock-hard bodies under those conservative duds. You wouldn't know it to look at them, with their serene faces and severe concentration, but traditionally the only way they would be accepted into any high-profile orchestra was to show a bulging bicep, colossal quads or prodigious pecs.

It's classical music's "dirty little secret", and I hope today's blog doesn't blow this thing sky high, but hey, it's all about the kids, isn't it?

Filter Cover

Some of you may recall having seen this one before.

That's because you have. I prepared a photo for this morning, but I forgot to put the card in my backpack to bring to the office to upload.

Oh well.

See how lovely film is? As wonderful as digital is, there's just "something about film"...

Manno a Manno

Dad's talking, but I can't figure out what the little tyke is doing.

Is he listening intently?

Is he glazing over, nodding at (what he hopes are) appropriate intervals?

Is he looking for cute toddlers in expensive strollers to roll by?

The Payphone

I wonder how much longer we'll see these guys around?

I mean, who uses them? Who would want to touch one? I know I wouldn't, not until it's hosed down with a disinfectant cleaner.

They must be expensive as hell to operate and maintain; I can't imagine that Bell makes any money off these things. Pretty soon it'll be cheaper to give cellphones to the indigent - I'm sure Bell could lobby for government grants for that purpose, just like the $1Billion corporate welfare handout just announced by the pre-election Harper government here in Canada.

I give em five more years, max; after that, they'll be an ancient curiousity we tell our kids and grandchildren about, much like my father told me about horsedrawn deliverywagons in the 30s and 40s...

Oh well, another Friday is here. Have a good one, and enjoy your weekend - I know I will...

On The Bike Again

It was like a convergance of the stars.

For the first time in about a month it was sufficiently dry/snow-free/mild that I had the inclination to hop on the bike and ride to work. Due to my recent fender-bender (actually, it was a seatstay-bender) I only had the choice of one bike, but happily, that one bike was the Fondriest trackbike.

It was dark pretty much the whole way and at the freezing point, it was coolish (I do have layers to add if it gets colder but stays dry), but it was a hoot, none-the-less. Over the past month I've acquired a bit of a layer of fat (not much, but noticeable by me, anyway), and I noticed that a few of the smallish hills along the way are a teensy bit more arduous than usual, but both of those things will be remedied by a week or two back on the bike.

Sadly, snow tonight, tomorrow it rains and they're calling for snow each day next week, so Lord knows when I'll be doing a two-wheel commute again. I guess I'll just have to enjoy today.

Looking forward to the ride home!

Grounded

The 90 kilometer per hour winds made these birds decide to stay put for a while...

Into the Light

Actually, into the warmth would be more appropriate.

This time last week we were digging out from a snowfall. Yesterday we set a record high, and today's forecast is a high of 14C. Save for a few dirty grey and brown snowbank remnants we have no snow left.

Can you say "global warming"? I knew you could...

On the upside, Sunday I was running errands on the bike for the first time in about a month (woo hoo!). Rain yesterday and today made me decide against the cyclocommute, however it may actually be sunny tomorrow (I don't remember when we last saw sun!) so I'll likely be on the bike for at least a day or two, as Thursday will be sunny, too (albeit cooler).

I don't like these warm temps in January, but hell, if they're here I might as well take advantage of them...

Private Property

I'd not really considered it a prime loitering area (PLA), but thanks for the sign anyway...

Photo Essay: The Toboggan Train

The Way

As many of you know, I dispatch bike messengers. Tell them what to pick up, tell them when to go drop those things off.

This year, two from among my charges sent me little gifts. They were totally unexpected, and most appreciated. One was a bottle of Barley Wine from Mill Street, a local microbrewery. Kind of a cross between beer and a liqueur, it's a strong, tasty sipping potable. The gifter signed it, with appropriate holiday greetings and wishes.

The first day back to work after Christmas, another small package came to me from downtown, from the drop-box which the messengers use to shuttle various items to and from the head office in the 'burbs (where I toil). It was a simple bag wrapped with an elastic band; the most cursory of inspections indicated the bag surrounded a book. On the bag were the words, "To Frank, thanks for everything!" - but no signature. I assumed it to have been from a messenger.

Inside was the most gorgeous little book: Tales from the Tao - The Wisdom of the Taoist Masters. This exquisite volume features ancient Taoist stories illustrated with incredible landscape photographs from (it appears) China or The East.

As a former student of philosophy (okay, it was like 30 years ago, but still...) and as a photographer of sorts, it appeals to me on many levels. I've been reading it on the subway, and finished it this morning. I don't know much about Taoism, but reading this has had (and is having) a huge impact on me. Amazing stuff!

Now I have a problem. I'd love to thank the person who sent it to me. It's so weird: whoever sent it must know me very well, better than I'd have thought the messengers in my "brood" know me. I have the feeling that this gift was chosen with great care and after much consideration.

If that's the case, then I must conclude that the omission of the giver's name was quite deliberate.

Or was it? Perhaps it was just a serendipitous act, a book was randomly chosen and sent off to me. Perhaps the sender did indeed forget to sign their name to the gift.

Should I ask from among my couriers who sent it? Should I at least send a text message thanking that person but not asking for their identity? I'd like that person to know how much I appreciate their gesture.

Right now I'm thinking I should just accept the book with silent gratitude, and pass on the good wishes to someone else: "pay it forward" as it were. That might be the most appropriate course of action, especially given the little that I've able to learn from the gift itself.

Sliding into Another Year

We got snow as predicted on New Years Day. I don't think it was as much as the prognosticators predicted, but it was enough for kids (and their dads) to drag out the sleds and hit the slopes all over Toronto.

Mildish temps (around the freezing point) made for comfortable (if a bit damp) sliding.

Things took a rather nasty turn overnight, as we awoke to a brutishly cold morning of around -13C. Not that cold really, for this time of year, but it's been so mild of late that it came as a bit of a shock. By the weekend the temps should be back above freezing, and they're calling for a high of +13 (no, that's not a typo or a misprint: Plus Thirteen Degrees Celsius!) by next midweek. In January! In Canada!

Welcome to Toronto winter. ;-)

Anyway, hope you all had a relaxing and Happy New Year as I did.

Happy New Year

All the best to you and yours.

2007 was great, 2008 will be better!

The Sheppard Line

Toronto's largest recent sinkhole of transit funds is a subway line of five stations that cost billions at a time that the rest of the system is falling apart and ridership is down due to a combination of rising fares, diminishing service and increasingly unreliable vehicles and infrastructure.

Opened in 2002, it's the least used of Toronto's subway lines, so much so that they run shorter trains, and even those run pretty much empty most of the time.

It's sometimes referred to as the Ikea Line, since it's primary reason for being seems to have been to get more customers to the Ikea store at Leslie and Sheppard. Indeed, both times I've been on it, it's been to go to that very same Ikea.

I went there this past weekend to buy a few last-minute presents. My youngest daughter took several dozen photos, and I managed to take this one, which for some reason strikes me as kind of okay; if nothing else, it's another transit shot, to go along with the rest. I see a theme emerging...

;-)

Have a great weekend!

Cinza Guards the Presents

It's a minimalist tree. No ornaments, only small white lights (not really visible in this photo). I like it.

Simple.

Chaste.

Our tree.

And, under it, The Presents. Guarding the presents, Cinza.

Since Patches got to be in the last blog, today will be Cinza's turn. Patches helps with the wrapping; Cinza's job is to make certain no harm comes to those wrapped presents until we humans get to open them. She does an admirable job. And, they were worth guarding.

We had a lovely Christmas with my two younger daughters. Hope yours was wonderful as well!

Sadly, today's a back-to-work day for me. If you're lucky, you'll be relaxing with the whole week off work...

A Message From Patches

Do you still have presents to wrap? Dreading those last-minute Christmas chores? I'll come to your place and help you!

I'll sit on the articles you want to wrap, I'll sit on the wrapping paper, I'll sit on the scissors and tape.

If you place those objects in close proximity to one another, I'll sit on all of them at the same time.

No charge for these services. You need only cover my expenses, which are minimal: high-quality cat food and pine litter.

I'll make it a Christmas to remember!

And, from my human, the Author of This Very Blog, have a Very Merry Christmas!

Fanfare, Please

Let the bells ring and the banners fly!

(La Gatita Gringa will get the reference immediately)

So yesterday This Very Blog had its Twenty Thousandth view. That's twenty thousand views in just less than two years. I know there are likely some Big Time Blogs that get more than that number of views in one day, but all things considered, I'm humbled.

I'm humbled and grateful.

I know I have many "regulars" that pop in on something close to a daily basis, and it's always nice to see you and hear from you.

Thank you all. You've made this a fun thing, and I only hope that you've gotten something out of your visits here.

I suppose that with people travelling for the holidays, many of you may not be in front of a computer for some time after today, so let me also take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you Happy Holidays!

Music in The Chapel

Another one from Sunday's concert of the Classical Music Consort at Toronto's Trinity College Chapel.

The conductor Ashiq Aziz is only 25 years old and already has his Masters in Conducting, and has studied under (among others) Raffi Armenian. He was great fun to watch, and as you can see from this photo, the beautiful Gothic-inspired chapel was the perfect visual backdrop.

Bene's First Winter

The human told me what type of dog this is: An Italian Something-or-other. Whatever he is, he's ten weeks old, and cute as hell.

They were walking ahead of me, and when the dog heard me, he turned around to come towards me, dragging his person along. I couldn't resist taking a pic (having asked and received the consent of the vertical mammal).

Turns out he loves the snow, and is about the friendliest dog one could ever think of meeting. He put a smile on my face on a day I needed a smile real bad.

I Got Culture

And I don't mean like yogurt.

I alluded to it yesterday, but on Sunday night, my better half and I went to a concert at Trinity College Chapel in the University of Toronto.

Trinity Chapel is a beautiful building, both inside and out, and the acoustics are stunning; the perfect venue for a small chamber orchestra such as the Classical Consort. We heard a programme of Prokofiev, Beethoven and McAndrew.

McAndrew? Yes, Ian McAndrew, a close friend of The Partner, premiered Sinfonia for String Orchestra, Opus 25, (I wonder what happened to the first 24?) commissioned specifically for this evening by the conductor Ashik Aziz (a 25 year old wunderkind who I know will be a major force in the world of classical music).

The weekend snowstorm meant that about a third of the pews of the chapel were empty, but those who braved the elements were blessed with an evening of wonderful music.

I was fortunate enough to have access to the orchestra during the sound check (aka dress rehearsal) for photographic purposes, and this shot is an early fave of mine. Hopefully you'll like it, too.

Snow Shovelling 101

"When shovelling snow, choice of footwear is most important. Look for that combination of warmth, water resistance and traction."

Apparently this young lady didn't read the manual.

;-)

So, for those of you in foreign lands who haven't heard, we got snow here in North America. Pretty much the whole northeastern portion of the continent got slammed. I don't know how many inches we got here in Toronto, but they say it's the worst storm since 1999 - the infamous "Mayor Mel Calls in the Army" storm (which we'll never live down).

That being said, it wasn't that bad here in town. What, maybe 6 to 10 inches? I mean, it was a storm, but I've seen worse. Last night, we walked through the University of Toronto, it's old Ivy League buildings looking snug and warm under a blanket of snow, behind huge evergreens, their boughs bent under the weight of the white stuff. The lack of traffic combined with the fresh snow made for an eerily quiet evening.

Too bad it won't last. Within a day or two the roads will be cleared, the snow will start to turn grey, and they're calling for rain by the end of the week. Then it will be Toronto the Grey again.

Chinatown from the Hip

I know I showed the fellow lighting up the smoke whilst standing over a food bin (how savoury!), but for today, I thought I'd show a couple of more shots taken that same day in Toronto's Chinatown, all three of them taken "from the hip".

I know they're blurry and tilted, but so is Chinatown. ;-)

Hope your weekend is a good one - mine will be a trying one, but I hope to get through it to a better Monday...

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

I know, I know, you're thinking, "Hey, didn't knarf recently show this photo?"

Well, sort of. Back on the Fifth I posted a very similar photo, taken moments before this one. At the time I processed the previous photo, I thought it the best of the several I took. It's a bit sharper, and one can see the dog's face.

However, I later realized that my processing left much to be desired (very muddy rendition, no detail in the dark areas - coats and jackets for instance), so I went back to fiddle with a few things to improve its online presentation. While doing that, I noticed this image: dog looking the wrong way, not quite so sharp, but I noticed that the young lady's smile is much more vibrant, and the older lady's hand isn't "lost" in the other's boots.

Especially with the better contrast and brightness, this seems to me to be a much stronger photo.

But, really, today's post isn't about the photo (I just felt like rambling for a few minutes), it's about snow. Which we're going to get more of today. A couple more inches, it looks like. The streets are dry-ish this morning, so I actually considered taking the bike today (I've only ridden one-way to the office since my accident; took the subway home on Tuesday, as it was pissing cold rain), but the thought of riding to the subway in several inches of fresh snow/slush in the dark is most unappealing.

So we're tubing it both ways today. At least the day will look pretty: last snowfall is looking quite grey and dingy by now...

New Ink

Leah shows off her new sleeve, much to Haley's delight.

Chris 50; On the Bike Again

I'm still sifting through all of them (one of the joys of digital is that one tends to shoot a lot more than film), but so far, I think this is my favourite shot taken at the TOBMA Holiday Party.

This is Chris 50. I believe he has a last name, and 50 isn't it. 50 is his radio number at UML, one of the top courier companies in Toronto. He's been there forever. He's always had the same number, and 50 is it. And we've always called him Chris 50. Just Chris 50.

Enough about Chris.

So, today I road to the office for the first time since The Big Accident of 2007. Being off the bike for almost two weeks was hell! Last week it was snowy, wet and slick all week, none of which made me want to get back on a bike.

However, by this past weekend enough snow had melted that I was considering fixing the two flats on the Fondriest, exchanging pedals from injured roadbike to trackbike, and think of riding to work. I did all those things, but they were calling for snow yesterday, so I took transit again, regretting it every time I looked out the window to see dry roads. The snow never came.

Today they're calling for freezing rain and/or snow in the afternoon (what the local meteorologists like to call "mixed precipitation"). Still, since it was dry this morning, I decided to ride. If it does rain or snow, I can subway home, leaving the bike here to ride home tomorrow (as it's supposed to be sunny).

We'll see how it goes.

It was great to be back on the iron steed (actually, it's aluminium, but that just doesn't sound right: "aluminium steed"), but on the way to work doesn't some old man pull up to a stop sign, stop, and continue through the intersection, causing me to swerve and lock up? I yell at him that "I didn't have a stop sign!" and he did, and I had the right of way. He looked at me like I was from another planet - maybe even another universe - and drove off.

Sigh. Same old, same old...

Anyway, riding was a treat, even in the cold and the damp. Nothing like being on a bike to lift one's spirits!

Food, Drink, Smiles

That was the TOBMA Holiday Extravaganza (intending to cover Channukah, Christmas, Kwanza, Festivus [for the rest of us] and all other winter solstice type festivals).

See all the messengers having fun? Eating. Drinking. Smiling. What more could one ask from a party?

I've gotta say, the food was spectacular - complete with a vegan option for those of us who prefer that the food that we eat not have ever had feelings. The spinach lasagne was amazing!

As for myself, I'm tired (not that I partied late, but when I got home I absolutely had to look through the hundreds of photos I took - such is the siren-call of digital). I'll likely be inundating you with more photos over the next couple of days, so be prepared...

In other gnus, I got my trackbike all set up and ready to ride today (the road bike having been run over by an SUV), and within an hour of my putting new tubes in and greasing the chain, it started snowing. Snowed more overnight. It's supposed to snow more this week. It may be a while before we see dry pavement.

Sigh...

Winter Wonderland?

I love snow.

I don't so much love rain, not when the temp's hovering around zero.

But, as I've been told often, "bad weather makes good pictures".

I've not travelled much, and most of the wandering I've done has been in summer, so I have precious-few winter experiences in cities other than those in which I've lived, meaning basically Montreal, Toronto, and the world's biggest hick-town - er, I mean, a mid-sized city in Southern Ontario that shall remain nameless.

Montreal, whatever one might say about it the other three seasons, is a gorgeous city in the winter. Lots of snow, few thaws (at least when I lived there - may be different now, what with global warming and all), it was often covered in a beautiful blanket of white from early December to late February or March. It can be a bit grubby the other seasons, but the fluffy white camoflage makes Montreal a Winter City.

Toronto, on the other hand, is a grey, miserable place in winter. It can get cold, but it's rare for snow to last more than a couple of weeks before a thaw - usually it turns to slush in much less time than that. Consistent cycles of snow and rain, freeze and thaw, make it an uncomfortable place this time of year. It always seems that this city is much colder than the actual temperature would indicate - it's frigid on many levels.

I think this photo captures that...

On a happier note, it's Friday! The workweek is almost over, and we'll be off on another weekend in a few hours. Hopefully I'll see several of you at the TOBMA Holiday Extravaganza on Sunday!

Doctor, Doctor, Tell me the News

This is Givago. He probably doesn't know it, but here in the office we call him Doctor Givago. I'm sure he's heard it before.

In any event, you may be able to tell that he's a courier: Sitting at a bar, pumping up a tire, with a beer (looks like a Guinness - my fave!) on the go, what else could he be? Are those rolling papers peeking out from behind his beer? Nah, couldn't be: smoking that stuff's illegal!

Givago represents all Toronto Messengers (for the purposes of today's post). He and all others connected with the Toronto Messenger Community are invited to the TOBMA holiday party (notice the political correctness?), 25 Cecil Street at 6pm this coming Sunday. It should be fun.

Hope to see y'all there!

Saying Hello

Recently spotted in fresh snow on Yonge Street

Pouting in the Rain

One might wonder what product is being promoted by the almost lurid image on this sandwich-board poster. Is it a strip bar? Massage parlour?

No, it's clothes. This, it seems, is what we should wish our daughters to look like. Or, more to the point, what they should want to look like.

Sigh...

Whatever the message, I thought the contrast with the environment said as much as the poster itself.

Winter In Toronto

Toronto must have the sloppiest winters in the world. Snow, thaw, rain, all within 24 hours. Today the temps will plummet, and everything will be frozen again.

Sigh...