bike ride (of a few weeks ago)

It's a lovely day out there. I don't have time to go riding today but I did a few weeks ago. There's a path that parallels the railway from Landsdowne to Cariboo Ave. Apparently it's going to be extended south, and maybe north when they're done driving all those pilings (see below).

There are lots of old factories along the route. Some have been turned into storage or offices.

I hope they leave some smoke stacks standing. They're great. There is quite a bit of graffiti. I didn't take too many pictures of it, but this one had some great colour. Look at that sky too! It was a funny day. Rain was expected but before the main force arrived periodic vanguards launched sharp, quick and cold drizzle attacks.
But then the sun would come out.

On the other side of the tracks some people were already ensconced in some nice looking apartments.
Some of the buildings had already been torn down and replaced by attempts at mimicry. It's a nice try but the bricks just aren't weathered enough. The GO Trains that run through the area are diesel powered but I don't think their exhaust is going to mark the new bricks like the smokier trains of the past.

Save old bricks!

There's actually a hullabaloo from the local residents concerned about air quality with an increase of diesel locomotives.
Vroom! Vroom!
I assume this land will become condos. Maybe office space I suppose given proximity to the rail line, but if you don't know what a construction site today in Toronto is destined for residential is usually the safer bet.

It was a good day for the sky and verticality in general.

The bike trail ends at Cariboo. Along the trail each road was marked with some nice sculpture, giant sheets of rusty metal with the stenciled names cut out.

Just north of Cariboo is a rail junction, I think the junction for which The Junction neighbourhood is named. Looking at a map there aren't many other rail junctions around and about, and according to this article The Junction centres on Keele and Dundas, just to the west, so I must be right.

On the left is a drill, on the right a pile driver. They are pounding pilings here to support the increased train traffic. Hurray for sleeper communities as long as they DO NOT add more cars to the streets.

Vertical!
Do you see that puff? That pops out on every clang. It didn't take me very long to catch it because the thing must clang every 7 seconds or so. Clang! Clang! I can understand why the neighbours are complaining and not enjoying their aural lives right now.

I've driven some t-bars in my time, and that's nothing compared to this ruckus. Maybe if I had steam driven, piston arms. Hmm. Maybe. Something to think about...

This is one of the GO stations, Bloor, further south on the path. I like the overgrown look of the rail bridge and my orange bridge is pretty sharp too.
Just another rail line. This one splits off from the one I was following at Landsdowne and travels more directly north. It ends up at Downsview airport, and probably beyond. Well meshed infrastructure gives me a warm feeling inside.

It would have been a different place when the trains were running through the guts of the city on a regular basis. The Big Smoke indeed. This smaller line has road crossings, as opposed to bridges, so there would have been lots of waiting. Given that the advent of rail travel in the 19th century signaled the new faster modern life it's interesting that I now think of it in terms of slowing people down. It says something about how people are increasingly individualized nuclei, enabled, largely through technology, to live removed from the greater society that surrounds them.

Come on LRT! Be finished already. Force people to live face-to-face.

Cool maps or how I lose an afternoon to the internet

How could anyone not lose an afternoon when this is the image that introduces you to the site? What better way to signify concern in Iceland about joining the EU?

The name of the blog is Strange Maps and that's all it is. Pretty neat stuff.

Also an encouraging site because it's given me a whole whack of ideas for what I can do with some of my maps. The problem I'm having right now is I want to do something, but a lot of the somethings I am considering involve a pair of scissors. The maps are so lovely in and of themselves I'm a little hesitant to go to chop town. I guess that's why they say "You can't make art without cutting a few maps!"

(click through the image for a bigger version!)

This one is neat too. I love hyper-simplified maps. That's probably why I'm a big fan of urban mass transit maps and rail system maps in general. When working with maps that need to carry a lot of information clearly you have to kill the geography sometimes. And that leaves room for lots of 3 dimensional brain translation.

Better than chocolate!

Thanksgiving

Is it all over so soon? The answer, obviously not. There is still oodles of transported turkey in my fridge and it looks like one more full on turkey supper (with all the trimmings) before I start converting.

Turkey à la king, turkey fried rice, turkey sandwiches and so on.

--Just discovered I forgot the rest of the homemade cranberry deliciousness in Owen Sound. Grunt.--

Last week the plan was to go home, relax, hang with my mum, and get some writing done. Real writing. As in finish a chapter or something. Some stuff just isn't meant to be though. Instead I got to work my face off!

It was actually loads of fun; cleaning eaves troughs, reversing gates, raking leaves, collecting branches and scrub, cleaning up the garden, removing fencing, reorganizing the shed, etc. I can't remember what else but I'm sure there was more.

Part of the gardening was me picking carrots. I love carrots. I use them in a lot of my cooking, and sometimes as carrot sticks. The problem is most carrots you buy at a store these days are bitter, gross and grown by the bajillion. Not these carrots from the garden though, they are sweeter and have dirt on them. I like to eat at least one carrot a year that is pretty clean but not all the way clean. Nothing like a satisfying grit filled chew to re-establish your connection with the earth. And it helps my gizzard to function properly.

Aside from the work around the house I also had the chance to hang out with some friends. Deck was there (he drove me home after all) and I saw Chippy and Dank. Oh my what fun. Even Andy managed to squeeze in some Owen Sound time between his 5th wedding of the year (in Ottawa no less) and returning to LA. And why not? OS is a lovely place in the fall.

To take advantage, one day we went walking to Indian Falls.

Something that I was obviously more excited about than certain other members of the party.

I think they had fun too. I'm probably just really happy because of my new sweater. Awesome basement find!

Later in the day Andy chased wild turkeys through a field until they took to the air. Seemed like a good plan. As Deck said, this weekend is all about harassing turkeys...and then killing them. Or he said something like that, it was probably much more eloquent.

There are way more turkeys about these days, so I'm assuming the Wild Turkey Management Plan for Ontario is working (seriously check out the first page of that pdf).

Aside from that, it was hang outs with my mum (she requested her picture not be posted, but I assure you she is a lovely lady) and this guy. He is neither lovely nor a lady. His name is Hannibal and he has his own charms.

Sometimes I give him a hard time. Here for instance, Hannibal knows he isn't allowed to eat what's on the plate, but he figured he'd try a few tricks to see if something happens.

He's a good guy so we usually let him help with the dishes.

We recently had to put down his brother Hermes, so Hannobal's adjusting to a slightly different life. He'll muddle through though, just like the rest of us.

I hope everyone got lots of good thanking done, and if not swing by my place and I'll give you a high-five and/or a hug so as you don't feel left out.

urban thoughts

I'm not sure what I was trying to achieve with my thesis but it's nice to know other people are thinking similar things. These quotes are taken from an article on Torontoist. It's an interview with Mark Kingwell, author of Concrete Reveries: Consciousness and the City.

Two bits that really jumped out at me, mainly because they repeat things I said (and by said I mean rewrote and struggled over a million times).

"The cityspace is so often about function - the movement of goods and services, desires and bodies, from node to node - that anything that disrupts the function is at the least interesting and at the most liberating."

This comment is similar to something I said, but in terms of the Lefebvrian spatial triad. I think using Lefebvre made my words a lot more confused. Look.

"If something must exist in space to have effect, contemporary society’s emphasis on work and consumption finds spatial form through representations of space and the resultant built infrastructure of the city. Skyscrapers dominate most cities today and are perhaps the most widely visible demonstration of the dominance of the city by capitalist work; their size and solidity leave little doubt of their importance...These buildings extend into the ground, connecting directly with a city’s arterial systems of transportation, communication and resource distribution. In this way, places of work are integrally tied into the core of a city. People flow into the buildings during the morning rush, and out at the end of the day, when they become work sites for cleaners and maintenance personnel who keep the buildings running and usable."

Heh. Who knows. I guess comparing an answer in an online interview to a paragraph from a thesis is a bit silly too.

But, do you know what isn't silly? Comparing both to a music video.

Röyksopp - Remind Me
Uploaded by hushhush112. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

And then this comment from the interviewer.

"You talk about the playful city, and the importance of play, and how play in cities can extend beyond the stadiums and other sanctioned heterotopian sites through the transformative power of carnival. Would you agree that graffiti, like skateboarding, longboarding, urban exploration, geocaching, parkour - or any of the other forms of independent repurposing of the city and its infrastructure for play that exist - are like carnival without end?"

I'm only posting this quote because longboarding caught my eye. As far as I know, and I could be wrong, longboarding is riding a longboard down the street. There aren't tricks and kickflips and grinds on cement ledges like there is with regular skateboarding. I'm not suggesting one is better than another, but if you're just using it as a mode of transportation it lacks a transgressive depth. Something that comes about once a space is re-imagined and used differently. To include it in the list I ask myself why bicycling isn't on there? They go along roads and aren't cars too. And if bikes were there, should all types of cycling be included? Similar questions could be asked about walking fer crimminy's sake...and on and on and on.

So what is considered as transgressive in urban space? That's the 20 million dollar question. Does it require intent behind the act? Is anyone on a skateboard transgressive or is the kid in it purely for the look something less? Can a person only be transgressive if they seek out the opportunities? Do we get to call them mindless automatons if they don't?

Questions without end.

As I said at the start, it's nice that others have considered similar issues and topics I invested so much effort and time in (but why didn't they publish their books before I was writing?). I'll leave the discussion to them for the time being because whenever I try to get involved I ask more questions than I manage to find answers.

And that makes me dizzy.

To end the discussion I'll simply say, make sure you PLAY at every opportunity and as far as I'm concerned the city will somehow become a better place.

Playing makes me dizzy too, but in a good way.

born to busk at rancho relaxo

If I was in a corn farming cooperative I'd want to call it Born to Husk. And then the other farmers would kill me.

But seriously folks.

Last night, Wednesday night, was a night for good times and good music at Rancho Relaxo. Born to Busk, Deck's band, were playing a set so despite an early morning wake-up for work I went out. And yes, I have settled on Deck, which is Toon's blog name for him but why reinvent the wheel?

Anyway, there are no pictures, good blogging me, but a good time was had by all. niXon was there (that's a new nickname and I think it's a good one for her because she is not a crook, just a candy fiend) as well as Chewy (damn this should just be the introduce a bunch of new nicknames post. This nickname came about because I am stupid and half deaf). This is Chewy's face. I'm really working my way into the Toronto blog scene now, I'll tell you what, what what!

There was an opening band, heavily influenced by The Killers. Their lead singer had a high school jacket that said Jets and that's all I have to say about them.

Then there was an outdoor adventure made amusing by a wee blond boy and his crack friendly female companions who kept telling him to Run! Run! Run! This was funny for a bit as he carried his chubby little body along with an amusing strait legged gait. Then he started coughing some dry long wheezy thing that should only come from a 70 year old 3 packs a day for the last 55 years kinda guy. I became slightly less amused.

And then there was B to B. I danced, Toon danced, Chewy danced, niXon bopped (she might have danced, I didn't see) and a bunch of other people flailed.

Then I went home with buzzing ears - why sound people? why so loud? - and was unable to fall asleep. Hey! Perfect.

No matter. I was up and at work on time. In time in fact for the morning meeting to hear, amongst other things, jeans aren't cool for work unless they are black and tailored. We need to look professional for the 8 year olds. My pants do have a hole in the bum, so I guess I was pushing my luck right from the start. Meh, I needed to get new pants anyway.

The end.

street view 2

Forget it. The media caught up with me.

Here's a bunch.

http://torontoist.com/2009/10/google_street_view_nowhere_to_hide.php

Google Street View

It's now in Toronto and in its honour here are my three favourite shots (so far) as discovered by friends...don't ask me how. (since posting these The Star has joined in. I guess there's news enough for the both of us...but they don't have ghost scooter, yet.)

Toronto, perfect timing as always.

View Larger Map

"Ghost Scooter"

View Larger Map

"Another sleepy day in a typical Toronto suburb"

View Larger Map

ears (art)

nuit blanche

Amazing.

As with last night, I don't know where to begin.

I saw so much, there was so much more to see, and I had a great time of it, seeing what I could and hammering around the city at top speed. Mercy my legs are tired now but I couldn't be more pleased about everything. Let's relate it all in order and see how that works out. I saw more than this (it's impossible not to), but I only took so many pictures and a blog post can only be so long.

The bus station was my first stop where I met up with Brendan.

What better way to start off your evening of art than with cage wrestling? Unfortunately the show was periodic and because there was so much to do so we couldn't wait around.

I did see some of Canada's "elite wrestlers" standing around though. I think that's Vampire Man and Mega Hollywood standing on the stairs (might not be their actual wrestling monikers).

We did get to see some of what was going on in the previous show through the window. They were blindfolded and bouncing slowly. Meh.

From an intellectual perspective, this was a perfect place to start.

I had been in the space on Friday, using it for its 'proper' function on my way to Kingston and since juxtaposition is such a big part of this sort of event the timing was ideal.

The art and shows are great but the under-riding theme of nuit blanche is the need to re-imagine the urban spaces we travel through daily, opening people to the possibility that other ways of seeing things are always there, waiting below the surface. I could get into ideas of capitalist space, social norms and the Lefebvrian spatial triad but who needs more of that?(especially when one now questions some of the arguments previously put forth)

And perfectly, when I looked past the red velvet curtain there were people with suitcases buying tickets and readying themselves for journeys to who knows where. Don't restrict urban space to single use perspectives people, it just doesn't make sense!

Oh, and George 'The Animal' Steele was there but I decided against the autograph and photo. He's one of the good guys.

After the bus station it was off to the mall where we saw a dancing snow queen, and then...looming high above, a ferocious silver rabbit signalled DOOM FOR ALL HUMANITY!

Seriously though. So good. And by approaching the way we did I feel we got maximum points for an exciting reveal. Coming from below the bunny wasn't there, and then he was upon us in all his glory. We are but specks of dirt in this holy temple of the rabbit.

Brendan and I scoped it out from all the levels and I think we agreed this angle took best advantage of the space, the architecture and of course the giant silver rabbit.

From the mall it was off to city hall. Hang some giant letters on what is again unique architecture, hook them up to a computer with some sort of random word generator and a digital voice and let things take their course.

I'm not totally sure if it was meant to be completely random and if it was I kind of wish it wasn't. When the words started changing and people were shouting them out as they appeared it was pretty fun. I almost wish it had been telling jokes or something so on the final word, when all was revealed, the whole crowd could have giggled knowingly as one. Ah well. Something to work on.

From city hall I was off on my own, scampering across to the Distillery District for a dance show. It was improvised from suggestion made an hour previously and was lots of fun. They seemed to go for more of the fun and funny than extreme and deep emotional contemplation. My favourite was undeniably the Mario Bros. inspired dance.

I didn't get any clear pictures of that, so here's another one, equally good featuring trees and other stuff.

My legs were getting pretty tired at this point, but I was feeling the evening so I hiked back to the centre of things at King and Yonge (stopping along the way for treats). I visited the vodka pool, taking the chance to throw in my 2 cents.

Before watching this guy wade through the art work, fishing out some of the non-coin related items that had been tossed in.

Art!? No, just trash.

The night was pushing on, as is this post, so it was a brief stop at real money Monopoly, where Hannah Sung won 2nd prize in a beauty contest and was awarded $10, making Trevor Boris very happy.

Then it was a crammed street car ride to Liberty Village, where I reunited with various cool dudes and dudettes. Hurray!

Indie band album cover anyone?

And finally, thoroughly slogged, I dragged myself to see Brendan one last time. His class with the Canadian Film Centre's media lab were showing their project. Spooky heads saying stuff from Twitter.

And then I slept. But not enough. Work tomorrow and I am so tired it hurts right now. Might add more commentary later, or not. Good night.

nuit blanche = good

Good Bye TOMson

Another week, another going away party. This time though, it's for the guy over to the right. That guy!

What's wrong, can't see his face? That's because he is a mystery.

TOMson is heading out west, to take up a new position with GreenPeace. It's funny, you'd think with all those dirty hippies on the west coast they'd be able to find someone to fill their management position, but apparently not.

So now they're poaching our very own dirty hippies to help run things.

Greedy, greedy west coast. Don't you have enough dirty hippies?

Okay, that's enough attempting to raise readership through scandal and conflict. Who needs that stuff anyway?

Dirty hippies.

Cheese and Fancy were there, looking, I believe the term is non-plussed.

Fancy has no excuse to scowl, but Cheese...well her feet are broken. Slowly healing. This was the first time she'd been out since she had surgery and her feet were feeling a bit heavy and uncomfortable. We got her there slowly but steadily. One third shuffle, one third crutching and one third exhilarating piggy back ride. After all day on the bus yesterday I was happy for the exercise. At least she was able to pull off the plastic bag and enormous protective booty combo stylishly. I know I couldn't.

By framing the shot thus ways, with Daydream's hands, I turned it into art.

I've been claiming a lot of my photos lately are art. Hopefully I'm not getting too pretentious. If I am, someone smack my head (but gently so as not to hurt me).

The Golden Girl was there, wearing a colour for the first time (that I can remember). It turned her into a light fixture obsessed demon of some sort, but no one is perfect so that's okay.

Then a series of fingers and thumbs appeared.

Followed by a red Toon. Doesn't she look happy? She keeps saying she's really happy and I would tend to agree.

And after a whole lot of hugging it was time to go. Someone in this picture smells funny. My guess is it's me.

Bye TOMson. You'll be missed but not forgotten. Heck, I might even see you out and about tonight for nuit blanche.

A brief trip

My bus left the coach terminal this morning at 9:30. It arrived in Kingston at 12:30, where I caught a 12:45 bus downtown. I walked to the Queen's campus where I had a brief meeting before saying hello to a few people. I then bought a wrap from the Swedish chip truck (out of beet salad...grrr) and walked up Division Street to catch another Kingston Transit bus that returned me to the bus station. There I caught the 3:15 bus (actually 3:08 for the math kids) back to Toronto that deposited me at the Bay and Dundas terminal at 6:30 or so.

What a day. I ate light, but I think even that was too much for the effort expended.

I was in Kingston to meet a prof. She provided a reference for my BCPV job and subsequently offered me some marking work. This was the first get together and paper pick-up. I'm still not sure how the job is going to work because the prof had to bolt to pick up her son, but I'm hoping she will be able to organize some more funding so I can make the trip to Kingston a few times over the term to meet with students if needed and still actually be making money. $100 per return bus ticket is a bit much, no matter how much of The Count of Monte Cristo I get to read. I'm going to be investigating both cheaper ticketing and craigslist options for future journeys.

Or, screw the students and I'll do everything by surface and email. Nothing says extrapolating on nuanced points of academic argument like email!

Grunt.

On an unadulterated positive note (ie what you are looking for when you read this blog) I got to ride with this guy!

On his bus.

It's a fun colour scheme! What do you want from me?

olympic clothing and provincial logos

HBC launched the Canadian uniform (outfit?) today for the upcoming Olympics. My thought, good.

I'm not going to say too much, just that I appreciate the aesthetic. If you're going to go for stereotypes you might as well go all the way.

Also, I appreciate the '80s styling, particularly on the toque. Childhood nostalgia? Probably, but who cares.

The other thing that caught my eye is the font, or more specifically the 'A'. It looks good. It reminded me of Alberta's recent decision that a unique stylized 'A' needed to be dumped in favour of an ugly, generic piece of script.

Whoever decided the Alberta logo needed to go just as it was reaching its pinnacle of retro chic needs to have their head examined. Similar to whoever thought dull, generic style would be a good idea to promote the province. Hey world! We're like everywhere else, only orange.

We were discussing this on Streem a few months ago and there seems to be a pattern. Look at Ontario's new trillium.

Meh anyone? I get it, if we work as a team we can be a better province. Very good. As Imran said, "It does lend credence to my theory that all modern day graphic design is done by 14-year-old Photoshop-proficient nephews of agency directors."

Just look here and try to tell me the older ones are not better. I think the green is the best, both in design and colour.

Alas. Governments in the '60s were bold and brave. Expo '67 and whatnot all said Canada was the future, we were going to change the world. It was reflected in legislation and the coolness of graphics too apparently.

And now? Governments are concerned less with governing and improving our lot with bold gestures, and more with surviving the next election. The result is boring genericism that aims not to offend anyone rather than take a risk and possibly inspire.