Anything but ordinary. A great sesaon: 192 days in length – opening two weeks early on November 14, 2009. Over five metres of snow fell in November and a total of 15 metres of snow fell over the season. There was also the winter Olympics, Paralympics and lots of great memories. I skied 176 days, missing days only due to poor weather (rain and high winds) and recovery from the Canadian hockey team gold medal game.
Recorded from November 14, 2009 to May 24, 2010 with a digital camera that took a photo every 30 minutes; the film is comprised of over 8000 images. It was taken from the taco-cam perched on a windowsill above the deck in the house that I live.
April Fool – Chalk Circle. A song I heard on the radio today. Shazam on my iPhone couldn’t figure it out; but I managed to somehow pull it out of the archives.
Yesterday, trying to make a hung-over friend feel better, I mentioned how beer makes one smarter by killing off the weakest brain cells like killing off the weakest buffalo in a herd – à la Cliff Claven in Cheers…
“Well ya see, Norm, it’s like this. A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”
Beers on the weekend. Click here for the slideshow or click on the image below to advance to the next image.
Some of my friends say that strangers are friends we have not yet met – I think they’re correct. A trip from Whistler to Vancouver that was delayed by five hours after meeting up a Craigslist rideshare and making a few detours along the way. 250+ images later, the result is above; entitled, Parking Lot Yoga.
Eartha Kitt, a talented woman who played Catwoman – and the best one at that – in the Batman series in the 1960s passed away yesterday at the age of 81. When I first saw her on Batman she was already a celebrity - like all the other villans on the show. She was also a talented singer, actress and stage performer. However, I will remember her most for her sultry voice.
I’m more likely, and more willing, to cross the continent or leave the country rather than go to the suburbs – or the ’905′ as Toronto city dwellers call them. When I do go, I always appreciate it when I get back to the city – especially my neighbourhood, the Kensington Market which I think is the most convenient neighbourhood in the city. I tell visitors that the Kensington Market is within a 15 minute walk to almost anything in the city – Chinatown, the university of Toronto, Queen Street, Eaton Centre, Little Italy, The Annex, the financial district, the lake and much more.
I can buy everything I need within the market. I rarely visit grocery stores or buy food from outside of the market. At my doorstep, there are three organic food shops, three health food shops, five vegetarian restaurants, three bakeries, countless cafés, a vegan shoe store and an organic clothing shop. There’s also a ton of vintage clothing and furniture shops as well as great bars and clubs.
The Market is generally crowded with people – so much that there is often not enough room for pedestrians on the sidewalks. This causes people to walk on the streets – a point of contention for drivers. However, on the last Sunday of the month from May to October, there is Pedestrian Sunday or PS Kensington when cars are prohibited and artists, performers and people(!) take to the streets.
Here are my photos from PS Kesnington in May 2008. Click on the larger image to advance to the next one.
Here is a set of images from the Market. Click on the larger image to advance to the next one.
I watched fireworks twice this week – once on Canada Day and the second time last night. I can’t remember what they were like on Canada Day, because it was quite crowded and I was more interested in talking with friends.
I got an invitation last night to watch them at the National Yacht Club and took up the offer. It was a nice place to watch because there were no crowds and it was nice and dark as well to watch and photograph.
The rest of the set from the evening. Click on the larger image to advance to the next one.
This past Canada Day weekend started with some music on Saturday night at the El Mocambo. They were appropriately named, Vive La Fête, a Belgian band. I first heard of this band a few years ago when my neighbour shared one of their CDs with me. I instantly loved the sound of this band which is electropop or techno.
As with almost any band, live music is always better than listening to a CD and Vive La Fête was no disappointment. The lead singer was engaging and definitely had the attention of the audience. One girl standing beside me repeatedly told me how beautiful she thought the lead singer was. I did notice that; however, the thing that I noticed more about the lead singer was that she was dancing without shoes wearing fishnet stockings. I normally find fishnet stockings quite vulgar; however, on her, they seemed to work. Now I understand, I think, why one of my friends likes fishnets so much. It didn’t change my view of fishnets – except maybe on her.
I did a quick search on Flickr to discover that she often, if not always performs without shoes. Next time I’ll invite my friend that is into fishnets; he might enjoy the show more than me.
Here’s some shots of Vive La Fête from Saturday night. The one of her stocking feet is by Bouneweeger on Flickr.
Yes, it is the same person. My neighbour shared this with me recently. On this CD, Céline Dion sings in French and it sounds basically the same as the material she sings in English now. I’m still not a fan.
Here’s some vintage Celine Dion from the 1980s on YouTube.
As I was cleaning my apartment recently, I came across my tickets to a show for the Pet Shop Boys in Los Angeles last September. Two weeks before the show it was canceled without an explanation – I got a refund but was allowed to keep the tickets. This was the only North American date for the band in 2007. This show would have been the third time that I would have seen them. I saw them in 2006 and 2002 on two previous tours. I think most people in North America do not even know they are still making music and touring. They are still very popular everywhere except in North America; in 2007, they played over 60 shows elsewhere in the world.
Since the early 80s starting with their first hit, West End Girls, they have released nine “proper albums”, twenty-two compilations and remix EPs, and fifty-five singles. They’ve sold more than 50 million records. All of the albums have reached the top 10 in the UK charts but only one, Please has reached top 10 in the US. (source: wiki) They are currently writing material for their next album due out in 2009.
Here is a set from the last time I saw them in concert; October 2006 at the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto.
The summer solstice, one point in time was at 11:58pm last night. However, the last three days were the longest days of the year. Sunrise was at 5:35am each day. Today, Stef and I watched it from the western beaches. We woke up just after 4am to do this – a bit mad but worth the lost sleep.
Here’s a time lapse video of the start of the morning.
100 days, Banner Image, Batcave, Environment, Film, Music, Photography, Skiing, Video, Whistler | Garry June 11, 2010 | 
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