Month: August 2013

I knew it would be big from a number-of-jokes point of view. There are over 1000 of them. But when I received a couple of physical copies today, the overall dimensions came as a surprise. The cover is as as big as a sheet of typing paper. I was expecting something paperback size. Thick, to be sure, but smaller.
Anyway, I’m delighted with the way my cover came out and it should show up well on the shelves. Here’s the write-up on John Robert Colombo’s site.

I just received an email containing a fake link to a “fax” I could pick up online by clicking to view it in my PDF reader. It looked scammy, so I didn’t click, of course. Google says it’s been around for a while. It delivers the Zbot trojan virus, so just trash it without clicking any links.

It wasn’t hard to get up early… I felt like a kid at Christmas and couldn’t wait to get onto the bike paths with my new wheels. I posed the bike on the rocks for a beauty shot and photographed it from the nice, smooth asphalt path.
Today was all about learning how the gear levers work, and where the various paths lead. I still need practice to get the rust off my riding skills, even though I’m just going for easy, comfortable loafs.

The Bean Sisters (the nickname is a story for another time) Anna and Danica show a bit of provincial patriotism as they wait for the annual Symphony Splash to begin.

Just look at that sky full of summer clouds! The Simpsons sky, as brother-in-law Paul likes to observe.
Peter Bartosh inspired me to get back on my old bike and follow him down to Queen’s Quay. Pretty crowded right downtown, especially near the ferry to the Toronto Islands, but mostly a green, easy,open path ride. The east side waterfront is a mix of industrial activity, some parkland and a lot of seemingly vacant acres overgrown (very pleasantly) with weeds and native trees.
Along the way, I discovered a professional soccer pitch (two fields, actually), a place where motorcyclists take their ride tests, a Go-Kart track and a driving range with what appears to a drive-in movie screen(?). In short, there’s a lot going on down there that I had no idea about. A bike is really the best way to see it all.

Danica has unearthed an original airbrush painting Helen did (right) and I’m glad we have it. The work isn’t anything special aesthetically but the title on the back reveals Helen’s wish to justify the aboriginal motifs that she used so frequently in her paintings.

Perhaps “justify” is the wrong word. I don’t think Helen ever had any qualms about borrowing art ideas from others, but the title suggests to me that she may have wanted to explain her personal history with native art. That’s Helen as a baby, in the arms of her mother Fanny.

The ashes of Alan Mercer, husband of storyteller Joan Bodger, are said to have been stealthily placed under the foundations of the Lillian H. Smith branch of the public library on College near Spadina. Joan Bodger had one of her young protégés do the deed at night, climbing over the construction fence and down into the pit.
Friend and prolific author John Robert Colombo has published many, many tales of haunted Canadian buildings. I wonder if he knows about the Mercer ashes. The source of my tale was a kind passerby. I thought to ask his name but then decided it was better left a mystery.

Handsome bronzes of a winged lion and a griffin flank the arched entry way. Such figures were used historically to guard tombs and sacred spaces. How appropriate. I include the shot of yours truly because Colombo says I include too few… usually because I’m the one behind the camera. In this case, Bill Byres was the photographer.

With some encouragement from me, Bill indicates one of the funnier protests on this Kensington Market banner. Wal-Mart has been called worse than “Sheep Shaggers” but the description does have a quaint charm.
To see how Kensington Marketeers really feel about having a Wal-Mart move onto their turf, click for an enlargement.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, the saying goes. And so it is with the price of a new bike. They were a BIG expense for my Dad when I was a kid, and man, they still are!