Month: May 2014

School children sang, parents clapped, a politician plaqued and best of all, a library member, now 90 herself, recalled her girlhood visits when the library building was new.

Thanks to Kash and Carlotta Kashmeri, the last couple of days have been pure enjoyment. We were guests at their award-winning B&B, La Toscana di Carlotta. Kash had Shaw Festival play tickets for us, and invited us to stay overnight.
The production of Arms and the Man is good fun, well worth seeing. As if that weren’t enough, we were introduced to delicious, genuine Italian gelato at their popular shop, Il Gelato di Carlotta and then treated to first rate dinners at REST Stone Road Grille.
Kash and Carlotta are both broadly-travelled people with a wide variety of occupational and cultural stories to share. Wonderful company and lots of laughs.

Back at the B&B, Carlotta’s charming 88 year old mamma Shara welcomes guests, practices her English and manages the big, friendly goldendoodle dog, Mai. We had an unbelievably good breakfast this morning, chatted with another couple of friendly guests and just melted into the warm, Tuscan ambience.
We hope to return the Kashmeri hospitality one of these days when they come up the road to Toronto. We are mere amateurs, but we have lots of enthusiasm!
Wait! There’s dessert …

Kash and Carlotta sell the best gelato I’ve ever tasted in their beautiful, marble-appointed store on NOTL’s main street. Look for the bright yellow awning. There is literally something for everybody, no matter what diet restrictions you may be living with.

Apparently a case of depression and suicide, this is very sad news. The documentary about singer/songwriter Sixto Rodriguez is one of my favourite movies.
Searching for Sugar Man trailer

Hayden Walker caught up with us at Starbucks today, when we went for coffee with her grandparents Crawf and Ulli.
She grabbed a ride with her mom Julianna, who is also looking lovely, BTW.
Hayden is a Canada Day baby and her first birthday party will be a BIG event, following a Korean custom that is part of her heritage.
Yes, we are invited and, yes, I’ll wear one of my hats to the celebration.

We went back for the last day of Art of the Danforth, especially looking to revisit Wing-Yee Tong’s YARN GOODS: Trading Post. We had something to trade, and as it turned out, so did Wing-Yee.

Watercolour on illustration board, titled “Sidney, B.C.”, signed and dated 1979
Today’s Helen Andersen painting is just freshly framed. A lovely little landscape done on Vancouver Island by my mom.

Finally, it’s nice enough outside for us to ride. Haven’t gone anywhere yet, but we’re ready to roll. Today was “Clean Up the Back Day” so the cycling time went to that. Soon, though, as long as the rain holds off.

When I read that Art of the Danforth Director Asad Raza had insisted on freedom to take some risks with the event this year, I wondered what he had in mind. I recalled the time when Yves Tinguely had a bit of an accident with one of his self-destructing kinetic sculptures in Copenhagen, back in the 60s. After a lot of dramatic thrashing and gnashing, Tinguley’s monumental creation was supposed to collapse into a tangled, smoking wreck, but there was to be a hopeful ending. The crash would spring open a cage of doves so they could soar from the wreckage into the blue sky.
Of course, the doves did not survive. The Danes arrested Tinguely for cruelty to animals.
One of Mr Raza’s art risks is about allowing some copyright infringement. Mahmood Popal’s Opening Soon project uses a surprising hoarding to make its announcement. The Chanel Corporation feels obligated to protect its copyright by issuing a legal letter. Nobody will be going to jail, but the idea does have its shock value. Chanel? Really? Between a pawnshop and pest control store?

After the “oh, I get it” moment, the realization sets in … East Danforth is going through gentrification right now. The hoarding just leaps ahead in time a bit.
Popal has painted us a picture of a process we’ve all seen, and one that artists are particularly sensitive to. Creative types looking for low rent “discover” an area where they can afford to have a studio. As friends and colleagues cluster together, indie cafés and galleries appear to serve them. Trend spotters see hipness, move in and add flair. More businesses appear to serve the growing economy. Condos are built, politicians are pressured for better street services, rents and prices climb. Artists must move along and find another place to work.

This summer, a cycle ride from our place to the downtown waterfront will be on our list, but next summer, we’ll probably go more often. The construction will be complete and a Queen’s Quay visit will be a trip!

Peter, in turn, thanks his nephew Nick for calling attention to this ridiculous news coverage.
I laugh sometimes at hokey recreations staged by our local CTV channel, but Fox makes CFTO seem positively sophisticated!