Month: May 2014

GOOD YARNS: Trading Post
There’s no missing Wing-Yee Tong‘s colourful installation for Art on the Danforth and she’s right there working with it (and on it), engaging passersby in conversation. It’s fun and effective, exploiting old traditions of knitting and crocheting but using unusual contemporary materials.
The bright strips of material are flagging tape, often used to stake out mining claims. I’ve seen bits of it used to mark trails, too. Waterproof, inexpensive and lightweight, Wing-Yee is using it in an ingenious new way. She even lined the roof with shower curtain material before she covered it with a giant crocheted doily. Very clever in this season of unpredictable weather.
I didn’t notice until I looked at Danica’s photo, but the location is noteworthy, too. How often do you see a telephone booth these days? Did the artist set up beside it as part of her statement?

Once you’ve seen Michael Keaton’s BeetleJuice alongside Tim Hudak, will it ever be possible to see Tim any other way? It’s not just the facial similarities, the mannerisms are uncannily alike.
I decided to document the likenesses after enjoying the brilliant Orville Redenbacher/Kathleen Wynne pairing that has been doing the email rounds.
Don’t think I am playing favourites. I really have no favourites in this race. I can’t forget the tarnished, corrupted McGuinty track record and I certainly don’t want the heir of Mike Harris haunting government corridors.
Ms Horwath gives me slivers, she’s so wooden.
Ontario is going through a rough patch.

There goes a good writer, a good story-maker and a righteous scourge of fools and foes. The stupidity and cruelty Farley despised continues, but if he made us even a little uncomfortable, good job!

Graham was one of the good guys from my days in ad agencies. I worked with him for quite a few years, which is unusual in that high turnover business. I could count on him. Later, after the advertising days, we remained friends, Danica and I keeping in touch with him and Marguerite and enjoying stays with them at their place in Haliburton.
Gillian is right, in her words below. He was a kind man with a good sense of humour. We’ll miss him.

You see the context of Shirley Sumaisar’s unusual home in the shot above but you need a bit more detail to appreciate the vibe.Tucked in among the dolls, a small framed document reads:

Who doesn’t like Frank Zappa?Stumbled upon today on my walk, just around a corner on Queen St. East. I think the banner is part of a neighbourhood initiative because there’s no overt advertising message.

Download some pretty sharp photographs for free and use them for your own purposes. All of the shots are in the public domain. Have some of your own photography to contribute? Why not give something back?
PublicDomainArchive.com

While we are all complaining about the chilly Spring that has put our recovery from Winter at least two weeks behind, there have been similar years. In 1989, May 6th, the day after our wedding, it snowed.

May 5, 1989
Bill and Donna (Danica) conclude their 10 year engagement by tying the knot in the University of Toronto’s Hart House chapel.
Stealing from Doug Humphries’ modest statement on the occasion of his many-years anniversary, I will say, “Thirty-five great years for me, maybe 20 great years for Danica”.
Danica has been the best life partner I could ever have hoped for and our anniversary is certainly something to celebrate.

Forget about it. It’s only temporary. The road rip-ups and closures associated with installation of the monster streetcar barns in East Toronto have been going on for months but this is the first time that Memory Lane has been affected.
Did you even know we had a Memory Lane?