John and Ruth Colombo came over today, to converse and deliver two fresh copies of John’s latest book of poems, “effects” and “dream diaries”. John and I collaborate on ideas for the covers of these annual publications, so I am always eager to see the finished, printed book. This one came out very well, expressing JR’s wish for something with a film noir feel.

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The wind wasn’t biting today, so an opportunity to enjoy the ice-coated lakeside was too good to pass up.
Most Torontonians are tired of the lengthy winter we’ve been having, but when I look out at the lake, I wouldn’t want to do without this season. It has its charm, and the snow pack will greatly help the trees later on. Our urban canopy took a hit during the ice storm, with many mature trees suffering broken limbs. A good, deep watering by slowly melting snow will help many of them to recover.

Canada’s national rodent takes its toll, too. There must be a pun available about winter’s bite. Should I make one? Gnawwww.

Above: A still grabbed from the live web cam pointing at London’s most famous crosswalk. You can watch in real time as Beatles worshippers stop traffic to capture their own version of the 1969 album cover.

Sign of Spring?

The car detects the swimming direction of the fish and steers in that direction. I just think it’s funny. I wonder if the goldfish enjoys getting out for a drive.

An inviting front gallery called Art Square leads to little café tables and great crepes for lunch. They’ll even make your crepes with gluten-free rice flour for an extra $1.50. Crepes ran from $5 to around $12. We ordered nice ones in the $7 – $9 dollar range. Delicious and satisfying. Large coffee (only $2.25) was fresh and good.

We went to the Art Gallery of Ontario today, to see The Great Upheaval show. The video gives a good outline, so I will score the day in another way.

With twisted logic worthy of a Rob Ford, the Conservatives are sticking it to Elections Canada because the Conservatives were caught cheating in the last election.
It’s shoot the messenger time again in Harperland.

Thank you for the opportunity to see the current Harold Town exhibition, especially the Enigma drawings that have fascinated me for decades. Until this afternoon, I’d only seen them in reproductions and much smaller than the originals.

I can never decide how I feel about Harold Town. Obviously, he was a good artist, a genuine craftsman and a productive, hard worker. His skill as a draughtsman sometimes fills me with awe. The Enigma drawings combine beautifully easy, free brushstrokes with painstaking detail. I can’t think of anything like them. They are very well made.

What could we have had for our nearly 15 million spent on self-serving Conservative advertising?
Those 8 Veterans Affairs offices could have been kept open, and that would only use up 6 million. Might have saved Harper from a fight with some feisty old soldiers.
There has never been a balanced Harper budget. Flaherty’s new budget will be the 7th deficit budget in a row.