Bill Andersen blog
My friend Brian made this beautiful tribute to his mother, who died last Sunday at the age of 94. It is very nicely done, in my opinion, and I was especially moved by the way he wrote so simply about all the relationships that made her who she was. It’s really a poem, isn’t it?
Catherine Gertrude Hickey
daughter
sister
wife
mother
friend
advocate
confidant
provider
protector
teacher
Top artwork from the TTC newsletter. Bottom photo: One I took a while ago.
Aside from the amazing see-thru streetcar (actually 30 metres long when visible) can you find the street improvements that brought out the exclamation mark in the headline?
No, the sidewalks are already there. The tracks are new, but that’s to be expected if a new streetcar route is to be added. My best guess is that glass transit shelter, although it seems to be on the wrong side of the street if it’s for streetcar riders. Worth an exclamation mark?
Above is the shelter the glass one will replace. It has an opaque roof, offering shade in summer heat. The new ones have glass roofs.
The only other thing I can see that’s new is a black fence along the edge of the supermarket parking lot. Can that be the cause of the excitement?
Of course the castle is Casa Loma and we are looking north from Macpherson Avenue. I took the picture the other day, when visiting the Toronto Archives nearby. Those a newish townhouses in the foreground, designed to look a bit oldish.
Danica pointed out these soon-to-be-obscured air vents and we recorded them before a condo goes up on the site next door. They are probably copper, judging by the patina. Lovely things atop a grand old Toronto Hydro utility building. Man, they built things well, once upon a time. The vents turn in the wind, thanks to their distinctive vanes.
Eagle-eyed viewers will have have noticed that the flag is distinctive, too. There’s a close-up after the break. I call it Old Sorry.
Sure, the Conservative Party of Canada has to accept its reputation for underhanded electioneering tricks, muzzling of scientists, a shameful environmental record, deportation of refugees to torture and invasive internet legislation. But that stuff doesn’t matter because Conservatives are GENIUSES at managing our finances, right?
Oh, there was a bit of bungling on the F-35s, but only by 30 or 40 billion. Balanced books inherited from Paul Martin are now carrying the biggest deficit numbers in Canadian history, but that’s because of foreigners, nothing Jim Flaherty could help. A few tens of millions in tax money somehow went into media advertising, patting the Conservative Economic Action Plan on the back, but that’s money well spent, not cheating.
Cat’s first time in snow.
Bill Byres surveys the Toronto Archives. Two storey stacks of storage boxes
Is there an easy way to access files stored in this remarkable treasure trove of old documents and photographs? Yes. The Toronto Archives building is a very pleasant building, staffed by a small band friendly, helpful archivists, so it’s well worth visiting. But first, see what they have stored in there, from the comfort of your own internet device. Here’s a link to the database.
Mr Byres and I had to go back to the corner of Bathurst and Dupont for lunch today. A couple of weeks ago we were a few steps away from Vesta Lunch’s venerable counter, enjoying a great meal at Annapurna. But when Bill told me about the time-standing-still hot hamburger at the Vesta, I suggested another lunch.
Glad I did. What a great place. Open 24 hours a day! I’ll bet there’s some very interesting company in there at 4:00 a.m. Look at how narrow the diner is… exceptional. All the old time fixtures are still functioning and movie art directors love the ambience. Bill said it’s a favourite location for shoots.
Even the coffee mugs were 50’s style… just white mugs but a little narrower than today’s. The coffee was good, fresh and the cup is bottomless. Bill and I both had hot hamburgers… two big patties smothered in gravy, sitting on a couple of slices of white Wonderbread. Fries on the side… pass the ketchup. Perfect comfort food on a crisp day. Under $10, including taxes. We left tips on the counter, too.
It looks like the convenience of simple, cookie-stored passwords will soon go away. There are just too many ways to crack them, faster and cheaper than ever.
Warm air was melting away the last dots of snow and the birds were singing when we walked along Lakeshore Boulevard this morning. The road is named for the Great Lake whose shore it traces, but you’ll have to take my word for it. City officials have chosen to decorate the water side of the Lakeshore with their own idea of what’s beautiful.
Construction continues. A huge streetcar barn is underway. The natural gas plant (McGuinty Towers) has been in place for a while now… a bit further west.