Author: Bill

Twitter was full of comments and questions yesterday about the source of a nasty smell pervading Toronto. Of course there were the usual jibes… Toronto always stinks… but no one seemed to have an answer as to the source.
This morning, someone mentioned an explosion at an Acton sulphur plant and I accept that as the most likely explanation. In fact, when I noticed a smell yesterday, I thought of sulphur and wondered if someone was working on a permanent hairdo in one of the apartments I was passing at the time. I’ve smelt that smell when salon technicians put concoctions on women’s hair. Sulphur is definitely part of the process.
Sulphur also plays a role in the treatment of pulp. I once spent a day as a longshoreman in Woodfibre, B.C. where the air made your eyes water and the stench was so powerful that human noses simply shut down after 10 minutes. “That’s the smell of money,” proclaimed an unapolegetic cabinet minister who represented the area.
So I know the smell of sulphur and that’s what I smelled yesterday.
Not exactly on topic, but

Photo by Karen Bell. Prize-winning butter sculpture at the Royal Winter Fair
Is that a football helmet he’s wearing? Do you think he’s chasing a TTC bus?

Good news. Canada’s happy. Romney’s toast.
Now can we ask why our national TV broadcaster chose to waste its time duplicating coverage that was readily available on channels from the country where the election was actually being held? I really hate to sound like Stephen Harper, but why the heck are we paying for this kind of public service?

iPad photo: Life size papier maché Mexican parade-style figures of Frida and Diego made for the show by Toronto artists Shadowland (I added the graphic title.)
Bill Byres had a spare ticket for me and we spent a couple of hours at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibition today. Big show… rooms and rooms of paintings and drawings by both artists, plus many photos of the two of them. It gave us a very good look at the work history of a fascinating couple.

Look closely at the eyes. Notice anything? I did. See the “Read more…”
My first observation is that the Main and Danforth Hakim Optical store does a good job of standing behind the products they sell. Danica took in a pair of 9-month old prescription sunglasses today. The frame had cracked for no apparent reason, and a lens had popped out. She hadn’t dropped the glasses and keeps them in a hard case, but how would the store operator know that?
No problem. To Danica’s surprise (she was expecting some charge), the frame was replaced with a new one in a few minutes, at no cost whatsoever. I have had similar service to polish out minor scuffs and make adjustments. Good service.
My second observation is the curious poster I noticed in one of the Hakim windows.

This was a nicely rendered elephant last time I saw it. I’m not sure if it has been defaced or if the paint-over is part of a planned revision. There were no apparent tags showing through the thinly rolled white paint.
This does remind me of one of the problems with well-intentioned public murals, though. If someone does decide to vandalize them, they are a lot harder to clean up than flat-colour walls would be. More expensive, too.

I feel the same way, Abby, and I live in Canada.

People who actually use public transit on a daily basis shouldn’t expect to see themselves represented on the TTC board. Look who was allowed to apply for the four unelected positions:

“Citizens appointed to the TTC board should have directorship and executive-level experience and have experience with one or more large organizations.”

Interviewed on CBC Radio this morning, one of the new appointees couldn’t think of the name for those paper things we use to transfer between vehicles. Another one claimed to use public transit “not every day, but frequently”. Yeah, sure.
Whose idea was it to create four positions for unelected senior executives on the TTC board anyway? How are these people accountable to the rest of us citizens? How does this do anything improve our transit system?

A 4 hour wait for a 10 minute eye doctor appointment was the bad part. Just routine, but oh, so wearisome. On to the good part.
The artist in his Dawes Road studio
I went over to Stefan Berg’s East End studio this morning, to buy two prints from linocuts he made for a book celebrating jazz artist, Buddy Bolden. Danica and I had seen some of Stefan’s paintings on the wall of the Main Street Grinders coffee bar, liked them and made note of his web address.
When I saw the prints, the hardest part was picking a couple to buy… every one of them appealed to me. But two nicely framed and matted prints fit my budget and I have the perfect place for them. Right by the microwave in the brightly lit kitchen. We stand there all the time and will get a lot of enjoyment from them. The prints are dark so they like good light.

We picked prints #24 and 29. You can see them better on Stefan’s site.

This is for a friend who is thinking about buying the new iPad Mini… the one without Retina Display. It’s both funny and accurate.