Category: Toronto

Les vacances sont fini

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

My parents have flown back to Nova Scotia, so the vacation is now officially over. We’ve set about recovering from the time away and resuming our daily lives. We both have tomorrow off and plan to relax a little, but soon it’ll be time for the office and the gym and groceries and bills and blah blah blah.

We had one last farewell to the festivities last night, having dinner at Fieramosca with my parents and my aunt and uncle from Guelph. Now every member of my immediate family, and Nellie’s, has been there with us at least once. It was, as always, a terrific evening and a good way to cap things off.

Actually, getting my parents to the airport on time was a bit of an adventure. We booked a car from Autoshare to drive them and Nellie went across the street to pick it up. After fifteen minutes she still hadn’t shown up (the car is parked right across the street) so we were all puzzled. Ten minutes after that I was starting to get a little worried, but five minutes later she appeared. See, the downtown core was slammed today: Nuit Blanche has shut down some streets and both the Toronto waterfront marathon and the Run for the Cure were on today. This meant road not only closures, but also that thousands of people who’d just finished running were trying to drive out of the city…and we were already thirty minutes behind our (conservative, admittedly) schedule. Calling a cab would’ve taken too long so we drove anyway; after crawling along Queen Street we thought we were home free on University…until we saw that Word on the Street was blocking the entirety of Queen’s Park. Apparently it’s festival weekend in Toronto. Anyway, after a slight diversion around WotS we booted up Avenue and cruised to the airport, arriving in plenty of time for their flight. We think.

.:.

I saw some really great places on our trip — highlights include the view from Domme, walking around the old centre of Sarlat, the rooms at the Relais Franc Mayne and pretty much all of Paris — but the five days spent at the chateau with so many friends and family, in such a phenomenal location, for such an auspicious occasion, is really what I’ll remember about the trip. It was just one great memory piled on top of the next. As I said before, it was a once-in-a-lifetime happening. I can’t believe it’s only been a week since we left. Already I miss it terribly.

.:.

One more good thing about France:

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 227
  • Weight this week: 221.5

Yup…I actually lost weight, despite a steady infusion of pain au chocolate and booze. I may have lost even more than those 5.5 pounds but put a bit back on once I arrived in Toronto.

Clearly I need to spend more time in France.

.:.

Given how many times I’ve watched these two movies, I can’t believe I didn’t notice this before now:

“The (toy) bear that Jack Ryan brings home to his daughter at the end of The Hunt for Red October is the exact same bear that Bruce Willis brings to his son in Die Hard (both films were directed by John McTiernan).”

[via John Sakamoto]

[tags]fieramosca, autoshare, nuit blanche, toronto waterfront marathon, run for the cure, word on the street, relais franc mayne, domme, sarlat, die hard, hunt for red october[/tags]

What a waste of a monkey army

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Nellie shot this last week while I was away. Not sure what she was doing up that early…

.:.

We just bought a new zoom lens for the camera, and a bigger bag to carry all the stuff in. New camera gear and a new bag…she could hardly be giddier. She’s off to the spa now, while I start packing. I have to keep reminding myself that I should be in bed around 8:30.

.:.

It’s stuff like this that makes me laugh at religion, even as I fear it:

Hindu devotees believe the area between India and Sri Lanka – now known as Adam’s Bridge – was built millions of years ago by Lord Ram, supported by an army of monkeys.

But scientists and archaeologists say Adam’s Bridge, or Ram Setu, is a natural formation of sand and stones.

On Wednesday the Archaeological Survey of India told the Supreme Court that the religious texts were not evidence that Lord Ram ever existed.

Hardline Hindu opponents of the government accused the administration of blasphemy and protesters carried out demonstrations in the area and in Delhi, Bhopal, and on a number of key highways. The next day the report was withdrawn.

Great message to send, Indian government. Way to stand up for reason and common sense.

[tags]toronto sunrise, zoom lens, canon s3 is, ambika soni[/tags]

Empty promises, phallic symbols, indie darlings and a state of readiness

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Some issues are important to society at large and legitimately worthy of changing/swaying someone’s vote. Others are not.

.:.

Torontoist has a good piece on the CN Tower, which will only be the world’s tallest free-standing structure for a few more days or weeks.

.:.

I don’t know why, but I feel guilty for liking Vampire Weekend. And really, I only like three songs (“Walcott”, “Campus” and “A-Punk”) but I’ve been listening to them a lot lately. Still, I feel like a bandwagon jumper.

.:.

As of tonight I have finished all my pre-work for my course. Well, 99.9% of it. ~15 minutes tomorrow night and I’m set for Sunday. I also picked up a French road map today, and bought a new shirt & tie…finally starting to feel somewhat prepared for everything.

[tags]religious school funding, february holiday, cn tower, vampire weekend, mba[/tags]

There will be no rocket science

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

This is all the detail my brain can muster today:

  • The Matador (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was ok, but not great.
  • I think it’s time for The Ex (the Canadian National Exhibition, for those of you not living in Toronto) to just close up shop. It’s looking it’s age.
  • If you know use an RSS reader and you have some basic technical skill, you should really check out Yahoo Pipes. I’ve been playing around with it since it came out, but now I’m finding it useful and not just kind of cool. For example, I aggregated all my various Montreal Canadiens news sites into one feed, and I found a patched Pitchfork feed so that I don’t keep seeing the same stories over and over.
  • I hope the film festival puts more tickets on sale. The few that I have a chance to see and that look interesting are already sold out after the advanced draw.

[tags]the matador, the ex, cne, yahoo pipes, tiff07[/tags]

The air show wasn't yesterday after all

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It was today. I tried taking a few pictures but I’m not quite skilled enough to manage a good picture of silver objects against a bright blue sky moving at hundreds of miles per hour with a point-and-shoot. I did manage to get a half-decent one of the F-22, F-16 and P-51 (that I mentioned yesterday). Click on the image to see it bigger or download the original.

By the way, BlogTO has much better pics.

[tags]canadian international air show, F-22, F-16, P-51, blogto[/tags]

"Thank you, bank robber!"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Some entertainers taking part in Buskerfest, just down the street from me. I didn’t have my camera when I walked by them earlier so I shot this when I got home.

.:.

Fatblogging check-in :

  • Original weight: 233
  • Weight last week: 225.5
  • Weight this week: 224.5

I seem to be holding steady at one pound lost per week. At this point I can’t possibly get to 214 by Sep 1 (unless I go on some kind of crazy-ass weight shedding regimen to make a fight weight) but in the two weeks before I go away on course I should be around 220. The tricky part is maintaining weight while on course; we never get to use the gym anymore, and as a (near) vegetarian my meal options aren’t great so I usually end up snacking a lot more.

I really haven’t changed my eating habits too much, but I’ve noticed lately that my brain has retreated from the insanity that got me to 238 last Christmas. For example, I no longer feel the need to eat every piece of chocolate in a 10-metre radius…just some of it. Now, when I’m about to overindulge I usually hear Yoda saying “Control, control, you must learn control!” in the back of my mind. I realize that sounds geeky (and kinda dirty too) but whatever works.

.:.

Watched Inside Man (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night. That was some gooooood movie-watchin’. Just Spike Lee enough to be a Spike Lee joint, but not too over-the-Spike-Lee-top. Good plot, good pacing, and the cast was like an all-star game. Highly recommended, if you haven’t already seen it.

[tags]buskerfest, fatblogging, inside man[/tags]

Like the ghost of Jacob Marley, but with a tail

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This morning, as the fog and haze lifted, all the buildings seemed to be breathing strangely.

.:.

Listen, I’m all for supporting our troops, and I have no problem with a stretch of the 401 being renamed to honor them. But really, can we not come up with something a little less cheesy than Highway Of Heroes? That sounds like a fucking Hallmark movie. Please, Ontario government, I’m begging you: give the highway a name that doesn’t sound like a Valerie Bertinelli vehicle.

.:.

My mother just sent me this email. For context: Stryder is my parents dog (a very big rough collie with a snout like an anteater), Tigger is my cat who died five years (who, for some reason, Stryder always idolized) and my mother is deathly afraid of mice and the like.

“I’m still shuddering. Someone had come for maple and we were talking in the yard when I see Stryder coming with something in his mouth. He drops it at my feet and it is a mouse! Still alive! The humans are trying to get away from him and he keeps bringing the mouse closer, trying to pick it up in his mouth. He must have had memories of his teachings from Tigger on how to catch and torture a mouse! I finally got him to drop it and come in the house. It might be playing ‘possum’ but right now it is lying belly-up. Stryder wants back outdoors but I’ll keep him here until it revives or your father comes to remove it.

I can see Tigger’s spirit watching, ‘That’s my boy!'”

I feel bad for the mouse, but I have to say, that made me smile.

[tags]401 highway, highway of heroes, collie[/tags]

Seul

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Sometimes it’s the ones you weren’t trying to take that you end up liking best. I was taking pictures of some fireworks going off over the Distillery District, et voila.

Seriously, though, I can hardly rely on this kind of serendipity next month. I need to learn to use the friggin’ camera.

.:.

Nellie’s away camping with the girls this weekend, so I have the run of the place. I can’t enjoy it too much, really; whether she’s here or not I’d be stuck in front of the computer all weekend learning about bond duration and Basel II. Still, it’ll be nice to play Mogwai all night and sprawl across the whole bed.

[tags]fireworks, distillery district[/tags]