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Toronto
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Images
- Hits: 878
A short - overdue trip to the big city, visiting some friends. I'd promised, and at the worst of all times (work, Jeep, Bills) had to make good on it. Bus to Calgary, flight to Toronto, very few short days, but enough, enough to see friends, the local sights, attractions, find abundant inspiration which as of late has been sadly elusive...
(The CN Tower, a proper landmark as from almost anywhere in Toronto you only have to walk a block to see it)
(great diner sign)
(yep.)
(Every town has one. Nelson has more than a few...)
(CN Tower)
Phenomenal used bookstores...
Everywhere great old buildings and architecture. Friends, they have a 5 room suite, in the ghetto, $1400 per month, but - with the speed and ease of public transportation it's easily escaped. And the ghetto here is far, far more interesting than the mediocre suburbs of Calgary.
I wanted to buy the sign...not sure how it'd go over here...
The Olympus. I had the Morning Glory burger, plenty big enough. Check out the Olympus - I wanted to order it just for the photo, but there was no chance in hell I'd be able to eat all that. Food, generally, in Toronto is a heck of a lot cheaper than out west...
Rated #3 for fine dining in TO, but, no, no it isn't. The other extreme, haute french cuisine, well done, but expensive and boring...
I was pretty excited when I passed this, but popping inside the building found nothing...
Passed this on one of my many, many walks (25 KM/Day average) - unfortunately it wasn't open on my timeframe.
Link: https://www.skullstore.ca/ & http://prehistoria.ca/
Casa Loma, won't bore you with the hundreds of pictures I took here...well, maybe just one:
(A well integrated fusion of a modern high rise with an old church)
Everywhere the independently owned "variety" stores, for cigarettes, lotteries, etc. As you can't display cigarettes in Canada for fear of harming the psychology of young children the store owner here has thoughtfully displayed dozens of packages of herbal viagra...
Old pay phones that somehow display like modern art pieces installed on street corners...
Blue Jay
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 1128
Another film I downloaded onto the phone for the trip, it got generally favorable reviews, the tale of an old high-school romance briefly revisited when the couple by accident run into one another. Good cinematography, OK story, but somehow or another it just didn't click with me. Not quality, perhaps, so much as a lack of personal relevance.
Links: Wiki on "Blue Jay", Trailer.
Homeless
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 1014
An interesting video series contrasting the differences between homelessness in Tokyo and Japan VS homelessness in North America.
I find this interesting because - if you're North American - and Canadian especially - homelessness is generally a "lifestyle choice" whereas in Japan it's generally a matter of unfortunate circumstance. In Calgary, the last 10 years, street people have raised their visibility by tenfold easily, in no small part due to the lack of policing and the new custom (paralleling India) of wandering into traffic to solicit change. When I lived in Calgary my route to work took me through 3 intersections that were "owned" by beggars - professionals - the same people year after year feeding their addictions and mental illness off the well-intended donations of Good Samaritans. In Nelson it's much the same - not the traffic wandering, but there's a high visibility of migrant homelessness that move here to prey upon the goodwill of tourists and hippies. Their "homeless" status is generally a choice reflecting their refusal to work and conform in any remedial respect to social norms. When I visited Japan I was impressed not only by the low visibility of the homeless, but by the lack of begging - in a city where the cost of living is easily double that of Calgary and the opportunities half.
Pair of Gooseneck Lamps
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Images
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At the thrift shop, a pair of old gooseneck desk lamps, excellent condition (although I love the form, I despise the color, may need to correct...).
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