Mischief Making

Peek Freans Lifestyle Selections and Harlequin Books hosted A Taste of Mischief at Yonge-Dundas Square. They were giving away a book like package that contained vanilla bean latte biscuits while a professional photographer was taking pictures of people posing with some professional male models. They were becoming Harlequin's Heroines and it looked like a lot of fun.

AGO - King Tut

King Tut, the famous Pharaoh familiar to many through his golden coffin (the middle of three gold coffins), is coming to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) starting November 24th, 2009 till April 18th, 2010.

Outside the AGO stands an imposing 8 metre (26') black and gold statue of the onetime Egyptian god of the underworld named Anubis.



I was checking out the free Wednesday night entry to the AGO. It starts at 6:00 pm and runs till the museums close at 8:30 pm.

Nuit Blanche - inCENTive

I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish that I wish tonite. And then they (inCENTive) wrote those wishes on pennies (or cents) and posted them in panels. You can go to inCENTive creator Carly Benkendorf's website and add a wish that will be shown during Nuit Blanche on October 3, 2009.

My wish: I wish that life always gets better (and that's for everybody) - see if you can find it during Nuit Blanche showing at Ryerson University. Here are some of the more than 10,000 penny wishes. Don't forget that you can click on each picture for a larger version.

War Child - Busking for Change

War Child Canada held their 2nd annual Busking for Change fundraising event on September 29, 2009. I was unaware of this until I walked into First Canadian Place coming from Union Station in the underground PATH system. A couple people held buckets with a graphic logo of War Child while Zack Werner tuned his guitar standing in front of a microphone getting ready to start his set. War Child is a charity that helps children from war ravaged areas.

Going above ground after work I started seeing the outdoor venues quite often - including this one at Much Music's Queen Street West location where a small group (see picture above as well) played in the small cubby that used to hold Speakers Corner.

The inexplicable reality of bad service in a bad economy

Note: This column appears in the 10/1 issue of The Glendale Star and the 10/2 issue of the Peoria Times

How fresh is the fish?

This is the question my wife asked to our server during our first night out together in forever, by Westgate, at an establishment that shall remain nameless to protect the identity of the incompetent.

We had waited about twenty minutes to ask this question, and were only graced with our waitress’ presence after she had apparently lost an argument with another server as to who was going to wait on our table, an ordeal that I was fortunate enough to capture out of the corner of my eye. As a result, she was forced to introduce herself, and did so thusly, with eyes to the ground and speaking quickly and softly so as to add to the general awkwardness: Hi my name is (unintelligible) and I’ll be your waitress do you know what you want?

No, miss –- the pleasure is all ours, I assure you! It was at this point when my wife asked the aforementioned question.

Now, this is a legitimate question. My wife is Italian, and we are both from back east. Being privy to the inner-workings of both Italian and east coast culture, I understand that there are no boundaries on fish-related inquiries. To ask the question “How fresh is the fish?” to a decent or Italian server is to establish a level of trust. You are in essence saying this: I have a general awareness of fish freshness, so don’t try and give me the week-old halibut you’re trying to get rid of. Your server, in return, now understands you mean business, and will treat you with the class, service and fish-freshness that you deserve.

Believe me I have been at many a restaurant where my father-in-law has asked this very question. How fresh is the sea bass? Many times the server will simply say: No. You don't want that fish. Don't you worry about it, I'll take care of you. There are no additional questions needed. The trust has been established. Sure enough my father-in-law will be served a flounder that was caught and gutted as recently as five minutes ago. This is, as I have come to understand it, the essence of being Italian.

So if asking this question in Brooklyn is appropriate, then asking it in a non-Italian restaurant you have never been to before that is contained within a landlocked state of hunters and carnivores is certainly appropriate. Expecting an appropriate response is quite another matter.

Our waitress’ initial response to this question was a blank stare that said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I am going to stare at you until you elaborate.” My wife stared back. It was a stare-off! Eventually my wife relented, and simply repeated herself: How fresh is the fresh?

“Oh,” said our waitress. “It’s, ummm (looking around on the walls, for evidence of the restaurant’s fish policies, I presume)…fresh. They cook it right when you order it.”

Oh, really? So it wasn’t prepared this morning and left sitting under a hot lamp all day, as if we had just ordered a cod sandwich at Arby's? Fantastic! We’ll have the salad.

What amazed me was not the fact that she associated the promptness with which a fish is cooked with its freshness. (I wasn’t even sure this girl knew what day it was, much less what time the salmon arrived.) Nor was it the fact that she charged us $1 for more bread (!), or the generally awful service.

Because I was able to observe a lot during the lulls when our waitress was m.i.a., I was left amazed that a restaurant in one of the most popular and up-and-coming areas of the Valley, in this terrible economy, chose to operate so indifferently and carelessly. Believe me that this place will not be around in three months.

Another lease up for grabs. One less stop for the fish delivery truck. But don’t blame the economy –- hey, we paid our extra $1 –- blame incompetence.

CN Tower Hide and Seek

Downtown amongst the assorted bank towers (and a few others) you tend to forget about the CN Tower until it makes a rare appearance between buildings. Here it is squeezed between the big black towers at King and Bay Streets.

What makes this ironic is that that when you are far from the City it is the CN Tower that says 'this is Toronto'.

And what helps to define Toronto is the past, whether buildings or parks or streetnames. When they save a historic facade and incorporate it into new buildings I think that is a great way to grow - in with the new, in with the old. Here is the Toronto Stock Exchange facade, with special streetlights to hightlight the art deco relief on the wall, built into the Toronto-Dominion Centre.

Sunrise TO

The Toronto skyline from the Niagara Escarpment west of the city. It was a little cool this morning as the seasonal temperatures start to dip heading into fall.

The trees have started to turn yellow, orange and red but they are still the minority as most of the forest remains green. Pretty soon the leaves will be off the trees and snow will be falling so enjoy the colours while you can. You can check out the fall colour report here.

Queen Street Reflection

Life on Queen Street is reflected in a large plate glass window while inside a large metal sculpture hangs over a set of escalators.

Classic card of the week

Kevin Maas, 1991 Waldo Candies

If you are thrown off by the bright solid red background, or the not-so-subtle mentioning of Waldo Candies, then I would like to divert your attention to the bottom of this card, where we discover that the Waldo Candies Ball Player featured here is none other than “Maas,” who, as we all know, plays for the New York American.

Please do not tell me you are still confused. You are? Well then, allow Waldo Candies to elaborate, using their popular 1920s-style Old English and lingo:



Kevin Maas, designated hitter and first baseman of the New York American League Team, was born in Castro Valley, California, January 20, 1965.

Kevinthal Roberto Maas, designated hitter of baseballs and occasional caretaker of the initial base for the New York squadron of the American League subsect of Major League Baseball and its subsidiaries, was born in the Valley of Castro within the Republic State of California to Maria Beverly Rosenberg and Donald Carlito Maas -– son of Zacharia -– on the twentieth day, under the Aquarius moon, of the month of January, in the year nineteen hundred and sixty-five. Stop.

He quickly came on the scene in 1990, when he belted 21 Home Runs in only 79 Games.

In their attempt to convince us of the professionalism and haughty stature of their line of candy products, Waldo Candies has opted to capitalize “Home Runs” and “Games,” which are neither people, or things that should ever be capitalized. It should also be noted that Waldo Candies has –- intentionally, it would seem –- failed to capitalize or even mention the Yankees, which just so happen to be the New York American League team that Kevin Maas played for.

But I have a question: Are there more of these Waldo Candies ball player cards, and if so, what must I do in order to attain them?

This is one of a series of colored pictures

Are you effing kidding me, Waldo Candies? “Colored pictures?” I can only assume that the founder of Waldo Candies –- Ralph Waldo Emerson Candyland VIII, who was born in 1812 and still held in awe the automobile contraption and the advent of printed color –- was personally responsible for penning the backs of these cards, a feat he accomplished using a feathered ink pen and which were later transferred to Microsoft Word by his secretary, Lashonda.

of famous Ball Players in the American and National Leagues,

What is this obsession with each respective league? And why is “Ball Players” capitalized? I am so annoyed by Waldo Candies right now, you have no idea.

Given Free

Let’s just capitalize everything, Shall We?

with Waldo Candies, “The Famous Candy Confection,” one card in each package. Send 100 Waldo Candies coupons or 1 coupon and $2 to TALLADEGA OFFICE for complete set of four cards.

First of all, those directions are more elaborate than sending in for your Verizon rebate. Also, I’d like to point out that the “series of colored pictures” previously mentioned is four cards. Four. And just to get this straight –- I have to either a) eat a boatload of unhealthy candy, or b) eat some candy and then scrape up two bucks from somewhere, just so I can send away for what will amount to three more weird cards that, combined with the one I already have, will be worth $0.65…in ten years. And if there are only four of these cards, and each package of Waldo Candies comes with a Free card, then chances are if I eat 100 thingees of Waldo Candies that I'll end up with the entire set and thensome, correct? The point is, mom: I need to borrow $2.

Even though this card is silly and stupid, I have to hand it to Waldo Candies. They stayed classy in a world where most candy companies attempted to lure kids into their sugar-filled trap with words like, “Zapowie-balls! Bonkers! Kablewy-chews! Fun Dip! Zammy-zook bites!” and the like.

In conclusion I’d like to rewrite the back of this card in a manner that makes sense to the average 11-year-old:

Kevin Maas played for the Yanks. He hit a bunch of dingers when he was first called up, and everyone thought he was going to be awesome. But he kind of stunk after that. I don’t know where he is. Go eat some candy.

Did you know?
The CEO of Waldo Candies -- Sir Wirthington Wennington IV -- invented the original candy apple after he, drunk off moonshine, fell into a bucket of caramel while eating an apple.

Flatiron and Gaslight

One of my favourite views of the city is looking west towards the CN Tower and the Flatiron building from the St Lawrence Market area.

I also discovered some gas streetlights on the way to the St Lawrence Market. They were in front of a RBC bank at King Street East and Jarvis Street. Wow, talk about retro. The St Lawrence building and the gas lights were designated in 2004 as having cultural heritage value "Located on the southwest corner of King Street East and Jarvis Street, the site contains the ’12 Apostles Court’ facing Market Street and a series of gas lamp standards along King, Jarvis and Market Streets."

Car Free Day

I rode the GO Train into Toronto today listening to my IPod Touch so I missed the news - Today was Car Free Day, which was fortuitous to me as I was currently car free downtown. At lunch time I walked out of the Eaton Centre and saw a blow up basketball kids attraction in the middle of Yonge Street and thought that seemed a little unusual. There was also a mini golf station set up a few steps away and no cars were in sight and there was plenty of people walking in the middle of the road.

Heading up to the Square I found signs that gave the answer - it was Car Free Day. Go Transit had a booth and was giving out pencils and cardboard train and bus models, assembly required, while Toronto Hydro, The Sierra Club and others had booths set up providing information on several green initiatives and the impact to the environment due to urban sprawl.

As an extra bonus Mayor David Miller was on the way to give the Car Free Day proclamation when I asked him if I could take his picture. I was pleased that he was happy to oblige and he asked me to come into the picture (the Mayor is the tall one).

Nuit Blanche - Sat October 3, 2009

Don't put on your pajamas on October 3rd, instead get out into the night and take in the art of Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. The "free-all night contemporary art thing" which begins at 6:55 pm and lasts until sunrise.

Sometimes thought provoking, sometimes stunning and sometimes just downright strange, contemporary art is in the eye of the beholder as Toronto becomes an art gallery. You can see my Nuit Blanche experience and photos here.

Coyotes, casinos, and planes, who cares?

Note: This column appears in the 9/24 issue of The Glendale Star and the 9/25 issue of the Peoria Times

It has been a difficult time for those who prefer answers.

Virtually every major attraction and potential attraction of this part of the Valley has been dragged through the legal mud and has yet to be adequately cleansed. As a result, those in and around the Valley who initially took a side now no longer care, or have joined the third party of “getting this over with.”

We can start with the Phoenix Coyotes, an ordeal that began in early May and has left the city of Glendale, its citizens, Coyotes’ fans, players, millionaire coaches and billionaire Canadians in limbo. And while judge Redfield T Baum issued his decision last week, it should be noted that even he has acknowledged that this is far from over, having said this before beginning the excruciating process of writing down his answer: “I have to write it sufficiently enough so that those of you who don’t like what I write, when you take it to the appellate court, the appellate court will understand all that’s happened.”

Awesome. Nothing more fun than the inevitable appeals process. Also, I am going to go out on a limb and say that the appellate court will not understand what’s happened. Unless of course, they can explain how a hockey team from nowhere has began its preseason.

Then there’s the casino. In one corner is the city of Glendale, who has not decided whether they self-righteously oppose the idea of gambling, or if they’re opposed to their inability to make money off of it. In the other corner is the Tohono O’odham Nation, who claims the right to build on the land near 91st and Northern Ave. Our referee for the match is the U.S. Judicial system, which –- almost eight months after the initial plans for the casino were released –- has made its decision.

I am kidding, of course. That would be silly, an answer. In the meantime, Valley citizens have been forced to waste their hard-earned money elsewhere, but unfortunately, not on the Phoenix Coyotes.

While the federal government has played a large role in this mess, even they haven’t been immune to the indecisiveness they so greatly enjoy and employ. Currently there is a movement to build single-family homes -– what family doesn’t love the deafening sound of F-16s in the morning? -- around Luke Air Base. Those opposed to the development believe it could motivate the base to move elsewhere. Those in favor of the development either view the base as a non-crucial element to the city’s infrastructure, or are the developers themselves. The interesting part of this situation is that a decision has already been handed down. But each side interprets the ruling differently.

There needs to be a decision about the decision.

No matter which side you stand on with regards to any of these issues, you can only maintain your righteous indignation for so long. A slammed fist will eventually turn into a shrug of the shoulders. When the fate of your hometown team or hometown itself is at stake, that’s a scary thought.

Save our Planet - Climate Day

A flash eco mob gathered quickly in downtown Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square to raise individual letters spelling out "climateday.ca - fill the hill". They were raising awareness of the upcoming Climate Day on October 24, 2009 where they hope to fill Ottawa's Parliament Hill with people and raise a large voice to call for reduced greenhouse gas emissions.



I remember a long time ago driving through the Sudbury area with it's big Nickel and it's rolling hills of rock were bare - a desolate area that resembled a dead planet and where the astronauts trained for their mission to the moon. Pollution and greenhouse gases were expelled from their factories and choked the life from the sensitive ecosystem. This disaster forced people to act! So they raised the smokestacks, now called superstacks, and sent the pollution further away from Sudbury. Slowly and with great effort and expense a small portion of the area around Sudbury has started to return to life. Not so good further away though!

We certainly have the ability to kill ourselves and our planet, usually faster than we think it will take, and I hope that we can continue to increase awareness and action that make this planet a better place. Save our planet.

UPDATE: My pictures were used in the Climate Day site with permission.

The lights and colour of a Fall Fair

The bright lights found by the hundreds on midway rides beckon the fans into the parks at night time. Grab your coupons and grab your friend and go up into the black of the night while the ride splashes colour into the sky.






You can also find a lot of colour during the day.

Toronto International Airport - Pearson Doors Open

Toronto International Airport joined the Doors Open event and showed off some of their emergency services staff and equipment at the Fire and Emergency Services Training Institute (FESTI)area within the Airport.

There are a number of plane mockups and one actual plane that they use to practice emergency response and firefighting. The planes are torched and the fires put out by there large pumper trucks. You can see the powerful spray starting to spray the airplane in the photo below.




To add to the realism and as a reminder of the importance of their training there are several objects made of metal or fire hose that stand in for human casualties, including this hose construction that looks like a baby.



Several demonstrations were put on for the public including allowing the children to use a hose to aim water at a target, a rescue high abouve the ground using rescue ropes and a tactical police unit and their amoured car. Some raptors from Falcon Environmental Services were also shown with their hoods on and off. They help to keep the other large birds off the runways and away from planes taking off and landing.

U2 at 102.1 The Edge

Members of the band U2 wheeled up to Toronto's 102.1 The Edge studio in the Eaton Centre. Protected by lines of bicycle police the large, black SUVs waited outside while the band did interviews inside the studio.

Crowds of curious glanced into the windows, hearing that U2 was inside, trying to get photos of the famous band and the famous Bono.

Classic card of the week

Astros Leaders, 1987 Topps

Leading the 1987 Houston Astros was Yogi Berra and his band of merry, old men, of which Yogi was arguably the merriest, and definitely the oldest. While it would be safe to assume from this baseball card that Yogi Berra was the manager of the 1987 Houston Astros, that would be an unsafe and stupid assumption, because Yogi Berra was not the manager of the 1987 Houston Astros. He was the bench coach.

For further explanation as to how –- and in what specific statistical categories –- a bench coach can lead his team, let us turn over the back of the card:



Noticeably absent from this list of team leaders is Yogi Berra. Allow me to relay my confusion as to why, on the front of the card which is titled “Team Leaders,” there is a dream sequence picture of Yogi Berra among several other dudes who have formed a force field of old, white, nondescript baseball knowledge around him, while on the back of the card, which is titled “Houston Astros 1986 Team Leaders,” there exists a listing of actual Astros leaders that does not include Yogi Berra or any other coaches that made up the 1986 Houston Astros coaching staff. What gives?

Here is what gives. You cannot lead by actions. Sure, Glenn Davis and Kevin Bass led the Astros in most offensive categories, but did they lead the Astros in a general sense? It’s difficult to say, but according to the front of this card, no -– they obviously did not. In order to be a true leader, you need to sit on the bench, and be old, and say nonsensical yet endearing things that motivate people like Glenn Davis to go out there and hit home runs. You need to take your hat off every now and then and laugh, to remind your team that this is just a game. But then you need to put your hat back on to remind them that this is also serious, and should they fail, they can have a seat on the bench right next to you, where they will no longer be able to play baseball, although –- because they are now on the bench -- their chances of leading will increase exponentially.

Another person who apparently did not lead the 1986 Houston Astros was manager Hal Lanier, who led was there when his team won the Divison Title, and who also won Manager of the Year for reasons that remain mysterious. Many believe his lack of leadership skills stemmed from the fact that he preferred to hang over the dugout railing instead of sitting on the bench.

Did you know?
During a 1994 interview, Hal Lanier stated that he is still haunted by a recurring dream in which Yogi Berra – surrounded by men that are his father, but not really – laughs at his lack of leadership skills.

Fall Fair Season

While the massive exhibition that is Toronto's CNE has come and gone the rest of southern Ontario is now heading into the season of Fall Fairs.

A long line of tractor trailers and motor homes ride into Town taking over the local park as the carnies set up the old favourites, probably rides that you went on as a kid. The midway starts to take shape, full of trailers that open up and are chock full of stuffed animals.

Pretty soon families and teens will fill the fairs, walk the alleys along the games as shouts ring out - play my game, throw the dart, sink the basketball, win the lovely lady a prize. Then the rowdies will fill the beer tent late into the night and you will know the fair is in town. Here is a lonely Fair set up and waiting for customers.

TIFF - Waiting for the stars

A crowd gathers around the enclosed TIFF red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall, waiting for stars to walk the red carpet, pose for pictures and sign autographs. The premier of the Private Lives of Pippa Lee is scheduled for 6:30pm while the crowds begin waiting hours before the premier starts.



The stars of this movie include Robin Wright Penn (soon to be ex Penn), Alan Arkin, Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. The wait would be worth it to get a chance to meet these stars. Meanwhile CP24's George Lagogianes prepares to interview some of the fans.