A late report of our July visit to Toronto. It's been a while, so nothing will be in order and I'll probably only remember the highlights but...
First highlight! My parents took the kids to African Lion Safari. Apparently, it's much nicer than it was three decades ago when my parents were last there, and the kids had a great time, not only riding around the park in a car, but also getting to touch and ride on animals in a zoo area.
And the reason that was a highlight: Julie and I got to spend the day downtown. We had fun shopping in the Umbra store, a Canadian company that designs housewares, and then we visited the Art Gallery of Ontario. The main reason to visit the AGO was to see Abstract Expressionism at MOMA, which was a nice show -- I especially liked the short videos that showed conservators re-enacting technique, like Rothkos very thinned out washes -- but we were most impressed with Giuseppe Penone's tree sculptures. Displayed in the gallery at the front, north end of the building under the new facade designed by Frank Gehry, the gallery was wonderfully lit with lots of natural light. Penone took trees and carved chunks of outer rings from them until he exposed an earlier, younger version of the tree. Really striking.
The rest of our day was spent around Queen Street West, including shopping at Outer Layer which was chock full of fun stuff and nice people. That's where I spotted a purse hanger; Julie thought it was sort of ridiculous. A visit to Kensington Market was fun, with all the import shops and some neat artist's shops (a great print-making shop whose name I've forgotten).
In the evening, we picked up Pauline from the airport! We got to spend the rest of the week with her.
On Canada Day, we went down to Harbourfront. It was pretty crowded but it was fun to see a crack jump-rope team in action and we saw a nice documentary called "Finding Farley" about a young family (the son was about 2 or 3, and they had a dog) tracing Farley Mowat's journeys around the country. Some beautiful photography and scary amounts of black flies.
During the week we visited the ROM, and saw a cool exhibit on water (I was amazed at the early use of dams and the latest water devices: playground equipment that pumped water into tanks in Africa -- kids play and they provide water to their community!).
We saw The Glass Menagerie at Soulpepper; we'd previously only seen comedies at this repertory theater. The show was good and I was particularly impressed with Jeff Lillico, the actor who portrayed the Gentleman Caller.
Soulpepper is in the Distillery District and because it was Jazz Fest in Toronto (as well as Pride Week), there were a number of combos set up around the plazas. We also found a store that sold purse hangers and with the encouragement of Pauline, Julie found them delightful. We later had a search for them in the Pacific Mall.
Once again, we made it to Ontario Place and with the kids being much better swimmers, they had a lot of fun in the water park. We also saw some circus acts around the park and Austin and Julie saw a "4-D" movie about dinosaurs.
One new place we went this time was Scarborough Bluffs. It's changed since I was a boy, from erosion and also with what I think is a new system of water filtration. The trails were not particularly long, but it was a pretty walk.
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Toronto 2010
We went to Toronto for a week. And I record here our schedule and impressions for sake of memory and so when people ask me what to do in Toronto, I can send them a link.
Keep in mind that we have two kids, currently age 7 and 5.
Our first day, a Saturday, we went to the Skydome / Rogers Centre and saw the Red Sox play the Blue Jays! There were a lot of Red Sox fans in attendance. Mari lasted for about 5 innings, and then we stayed for one more before heading out to walk over to Harbourfront and Queen's Quay. Harbourfront was hopping with an electronic music festival which included lots of hip hop dancing. At Queen's Quay, we looked in on the Museum of Inuit Art. Although I learned something from the museum, I wouldn't put it on a must-see list. That said, Julie was charmed by her first visit to the Harbourfront.
On Sunday, we hung out at the pool with my sister's family. For lunch we went to Asian Legend on Shepherd Ave. The food there is very good but not particularly distinctive.
Come Monday, we let the kids go wild at Ontario Place! Every year we admire Ontario Place and wonder if we need to go again. And every year the kids demand it and we find more for them to do. This time around, they were much braver in the water park and we went down the big slides a number of times. Austin turned out to have outgrown the kiddie rides but is now tall enough for the full sized bumper boats! That was great. As usual, some of the most seemingly prosaic equipment was the most fun, in this case, some trick basketball hoops. Everyone from age 2.5 to 40+ had a lot of fun shooting hoops.
Tuesday was spent in the orbit of the Pacific Mall. Julie ordered some new sunglasses, we had lunch at the Mongolian BBQ and then more shopping! Also, bubble tea. We had dinner at my friend Sheldon's new house and he let us play on his drum set! Loud fun.
Wednesday was a day out for Julie and me. We started out down at the Beaches, walking the boardwalk and then heading up Queen Street East. We stopped in the Purple Thumb which had lots of neat locally made and designed clothes and accessories. For the lack of one size, Julie would have bought a dress. The nice ladies there suggested we try the desserts at Dufflet. We took their advice! In fact, we had a gazpacho and a ham and brie sandwich there before gobbling up two tarts: key lime and apple berry. Yum. Still in the Beaches, we stumbled upon Ends and bought some clothes. Not high fashion, but cheap. Like, 99 cent T-shirts (quality cotton, no obnoxious labels or sayings).
We then ventured west to Leslieville. Julie was struck by how many specialty dog stores we've seen in Toronto and declared her favorite was The Bone House, in part because it's small but every item seems well selected (as much organic and Canadian manufactured as possible). Found a great new collar for Boo! We had a couple of beers at Lil' Baci while waiting for my sister and Stephen to join us downtown. The Denison wheat beer (with a note of banana) was very good and we liked the name and glass of another beer, Flying Monkeys, whose motto is "Normal is Weird."
Once we met up with the rest of our group, we went for another drink (hey, it's our annual bar hopping tradition) at Swirl. Not the easiest place to find, you can see the black and white decorated door on the left of the Bone House in this photo.
I heard about Swirl in this review, and sure enough, the food is cooked off-site, stored in mason jars and is pretty good. We had the duck rilletes and a cheese plate from the Leslieville Cheese Market across the street. And I had a nice pear white sangria. (oops, forgot in the first draft to mention Ed's Real Scoop -- a very good ice cream shop at 920 Queen Street East. Apparently Ed was inspired by Steve Herrell's ice cream in Boston!)
From there we went to the Distillery District and Julie and I saw Jitters at the Soulpepper repertory theater. Great fun, and we enjoyed seeing actors we liked from other productions.
Thursday, the whole family went down to the ROM. We saw an exhibit of the Terracotta Soldiers from Xian and was again amazed at how nice the cafeteria is (not aesthetically, but good, decent food at non-gouging prices). Afterwards, we sent up to see the animal exhibits and there were lots of educators showing off hands on exhibits. That was really neat. Julie was amazed by the spider crab. I popped upstairs to look at the Middle East exhibit and watched Clemens Reichl in a two minute film about a lion from Babylon.
On Friday, we went to Ding Tai Fung. This is Julie's favorite restaurant in the area, serving Shanghai style dim-sum including xiao long bao that are so juicy, they seem like soup dumplings. Plus they make mini-dumplings and there is a big window on the kitchen where the kids can watch the dumplings being made. Yum. The mini-mall nearby had some good bubble tea and then we took the kids to the Kidstown waterpark. No giant slides, but otherwise as good as the Ontario Place water park. And free.
A great trip. What was best: discovering new neighborhoods in Toronto. Live theater. Ontario Place.
Keep in mind that we have two kids, currently age 7 and 5.
Our first day, a Saturday, we went to the Skydome / Rogers Centre and saw the Red Sox play the Blue Jays! There were a lot of Red Sox fans in attendance. Mari lasted for about 5 innings, and then we stayed for one more before heading out to walk over to Harbourfront and Queen's Quay. Harbourfront was hopping with an electronic music festival which included lots of hip hop dancing. At Queen's Quay, we looked in on the Museum of Inuit Art. Although I learned something from the museum, I wouldn't put it on a must-see list. That said, Julie was charmed by her first visit to the Harbourfront.
On Sunday, we hung out at the pool with my sister's family. For lunch we went to Asian Legend on Shepherd Ave. The food there is very good but not particularly distinctive.
Come Monday, we let the kids go wild at Ontario Place! Every year we admire Ontario Place and wonder if we need to go again. And every year the kids demand it and we find more for them to do. This time around, they were much braver in the water park and we went down the big slides a number of times. Austin turned out to have outgrown the kiddie rides but is now tall enough for the full sized bumper boats! That was great. As usual, some of the most seemingly prosaic equipment was the most fun, in this case, some trick basketball hoops. Everyone from age 2.5 to 40+ had a lot of fun shooting hoops.
Tuesday was spent in the orbit of the Pacific Mall. Julie ordered some new sunglasses, we had lunch at the Mongolian BBQ and then more shopping! Also, bubble tea. We had dinner at my friend Sheldon's new house and he let us play on his drum set! Loud fun.
Wednesday was a day out for Julie and me. We started out down at the Beaches, walking the boardwalk and then heading up Queen Street East. We stopped in the Purple Thumb which had lots of neat locally made and designed clothes and accessories. For the lack of one size, Julie would have bought a dress. The nice ladies there suggested we try the desserts at Dufflet. We took their advice! In fact, we had a gazpacho and a ham and brie sandwich there before gobbling up two tarts: key lime and apple berry. Yum. Still in the Beaches, we stumbled upon Ends and bought some clothes. Not high fashion, but cheap. Like, 99 cent T-shirts (quality cotton, no obnoxious labels or sayings).
We then ventured west to Leslieville. Julie was struck by how many specialty dog stores we've seen in Toronto and declared her favorite was The Bone House, in part because it's small but every item seems well selected (as much organic and Canadian manufactured as possible). Found a great new collar for Boo! We had a couple of beers at Lil' Baci while waiting for my sister and Stephen to join us downtown. The Denison wheat beer (with a note of banana) was very good and we liked the name and glass of another beer, Flying Monkeys, whose motto is "Normal is Weird."
Once we met up with the rest of our group, we went for another drink (hey, it's our annual bar hopping tradition) at Swirl. Not the easiest place to find, you can see the black and white decorated door on the left of the Bone House in this photo.
I heard about Swirl in this review, and sure enough, the food is cooked off-site, stored in mason jars and is pretty good. We had the duck rilletes and a cheese plate from the Leslieville Cheese Market across the street. And I had a nice pear white sangria. (oops, forgot in the first draft to mention Ed's Real Scoop -- a very good ice cream shop at 920 Queen Street East. Apparently Ed was inspired by Steve Herrell's ice cream in Boston!)
From there we went to the Distillery District and Julie and I saw Jitters at the Soulpepper repertory theater. Great fun, and we enjoyed seeing actors we liked from other productions.
Thursday, the whole family went down to the ROM. We saw an exhibit of the Terracotta Soldiers from Xian and was again amazed at how nice the cafeteria is (not aesthetically, but good, decent food at non-gouging prices). Afterwards, we sent up to see the animal exhibits and there were lots of educators showing off hands on exhibits. That was really neat. Julie was amazed by the spider crab. I popped upstairs to look at the Middle East exhibit and watched Clemens Reichl in a two minute film about a lion from Babylon.
On Friday, we went to Ding Tai Fung. This is Julie's favorite restaurant in the area, serving Shanghai style dim-sum including xiao long bao that are so juicy, they seem like soup dumplings. Plus they make mini-dumplings and there is a big window on the kitchen where the kids can watch the dumplings being made. Yum. The mini-mall nearby had some good bubble tea and then we took the kids to the Kidstown waterpark. No giant slides, but otherwise as good as the Ontario Place water park. And free.
A great trip. What was best: discovering new neighborhoods in Toronto. Live theater. Ontario Place.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Toronto pictures
These are sort of in reverse order, but that's blogging, right?
At the Marina Grill in Ontario Place.
Atom Blaster!
H2O Generator; aka kiddie Habitrail
Mari was in one of those tubes up top.
Water park at Ontario Place.
Rafts going to the top of the River Raft Ride.
Water parks are everywhere in Ontario -- the zoo, L'Amoreaux park, Ontario Place. This is what they look like.
Little India. Julie in her new shirt.
Ambiance Chocolat.
Pizza Pide dude. He's from Ankara.
Nice slogan. Also like the way the windows cut up our reflections.
The new ROM, looking SW from Bloor and Queen's Park.
At the Marina Grill in Ontario Place.
Atom Blaster!
H2O Generator; aka kiddie Habitrail
Mari was in one of those tubes up top.
Water park at Ontario Place.
Rafts going to the top of the River Raft Ride.
Water parks are everywhere in Ontario -- the zoo, L'Amoreaux park, Ontario Place. This is what they look like.
Little India. Julie in her new shirt.
Ambiance Chocolat.
Pizza Pide dude. He's from Ankara.
Nice slogan. Also like the way the windows cut up our reflections.
The new ROM, looking SW from Bloor and Queen's Park.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Toronto
We're on our annual trip to Toronto to see my parents.
As part of the annual trip, Julie and I went downtown Tuesday (our anniversary) while my parents took the kids to the Ontario Science Center.
First, we parked down in Leslieville because I had read that there were a lot of furniture stores down there. We found quite a few in some old factory buildings on Carlaw between Gerrard and Queen Street East. In one factory we browsed a studio that imported furniture from Asia, another one that imported furniture and furnishings from Africa, and a lighting design firm that provided the lighting for the Bellagio and MGM Grand in Vegas and was working on a Trump project in Toronto.
We stopped for a delicious snack and Bonjour Brioche on Queen. Julie had what she said was the best croissant ever and I had a brioche with cheese and blueberries baked on it, a bit like a cheese danish. And our car was parked right outside of Ambiance Chocolat so we had to sample a truffle each -- scrumptious and beautiful.
It was around lunch time so we stopped at Pizza-Pide for a pide! Pide is a delicious Turkish food that is a lot like pizza -- a thin crust with toppings baked at a high temperature. It was the best pide I've had outside of Turkey, but it was not quite right. I think there was too much meat on the pide. The cook said that he felt like the meat was better quality in Turkey but more expensive; in Canada, he put on extra toppings. The end result, however, was a ratio that didn't feel quite right. Sometimes street food should be made like street food and not gussied up too much. As a side note, the place serves Ayran, a salty yogurt drink that I don't particularly like, but I was so happy to see it in North America.
I may have been extra nostalgic about Turkey because the day before the family had gone to the ROM, newly redesigned with a weird crystal growing out of the north side (and a new entrance on Bloor), and I was trying to tell the kids about Cuyler Young, former director of the museum and an archaeologist I had met and worked with in Turkey. The ROM was gorgeous and the natural history displays were really aesthetically appealing and had enough information to stimulate some good conversations with the kids. The hands-on kids area was also fun, and the food in the cafeteria was quite appealing.
Our next stop was Little India. One of the guys sitting next to us at Bonjour Brioche had told us that Little India wasn't true Indian -- instead it was mostly populated by Indians from Uganda who had been kicked out by Idi Amin. Julie got a neat top and skirt from some little shops and we talked to a guy who made Indian style popsicles using disposable chopsticks as his sticks. We stopped at the Udupi Palace for a snack. Julie ordered some samosas and they were yummy but super spicy. Luckily I had ordered the Dhaivada, a lentil donut that was served in a cool, refreshing spiced yogurt that cut through the heat of the samosas.
From there we visited Cream (or find them on Facebook). We had seen the issue of Now touting the best ice cream in the city and had to try their #1. Well worth it. Julie had the banana chocolate and I had an orange blossom cone. Both delicious. They also make ice cream from sheep's milk. Mmm... dondurma.
We popped down to the Distillery to see if we could get tickets to the Soulpepper Theater but no dice. Last year we had lucked into two rush tickets for their night of one acts, Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy and Tom Stoppard's Real Inspector Hound. The shows were well staged, and had great casts and we had hoped to see another show there. Maybe next year.
West Queen West was as hip as usual and Julie found some great bargains at the Blue Shoe Box' renovation sale (693 Queen St. W, just up a bit from BakkaPhoenix). By the time we left the store she was in a completely different outfit from that morning.
The Duke of York up by St. George had seats out on the patio and we enjoyed some Canadian beers and fish and chips. We also watched some of the Red Sox - Blue Jays game on the tube.
Yesterday, we made a family outing to Ontario Place. The kids love it. This year we brought our bathing suits to enjoy the water park. The highlight was the Rush River Raft Ride, a four person raft down a big water slide. The kids did some rides, we played mini-golf, and we saw an IMAX film called Hurricane on the Bayou. Mari was terrific in the H2O Generation Station (the kiddie habitrail, we call it) and Austin loved the Atom Blaster, which reminded me of the basement of a Chinese department store. We had dinner at the Marina Grille, a restaurant I never realized existed in the middle of the park.
My parents took the kids home and Julie and I got some nosebleed seats at the SkyDome where we saw the Red Sox beat the Jays 6-1. Among the highlights were a Jacoby Ellsbury triple and Kevin Youkilis caught in a rundown between 2nd and 3rd and somehow getting back to 2nd without getting tagged. Lots of Sox fans in attendance, based on the cheering. Not surprising since Fenway is always listed as the most expensive park in the Major Leagues and tickets to the Dome were just $14 -- Canadian!
We've had a lot of fun hitting the family attractions here (the kids are 6 and almost 5 this year). Looking forward to taking the kids to Casa Loma in a year or so, or up the CN Tower. Maybe even take Austin to the Sky Dome.
Yay, Toronto!
As part of the annual trip, Julie and I went downtown Tuesday (our anniversary) while my parents took the kids to the Ontario Science Center.
First, we parked down in Leslieville because I had read that there were a lot of furniture stores down there. We found quite a few in some old factory buildings on Carlaw between Gerrard and Queen Street East. In one factory we browsed a studio that imported furniture from Asia, another one that imported furniture and furnishings from Africa, and a lighting design firm that provided the lighting for the Bellagio and MGM Grand in Vegas and was working on a Trump project in Toronto.
We stopped for a delicious snack and Bonjour Brioche on Queen. Julie had what she said was the best croissant ever and I had a brioche with cheese and blueberries baked on it, a bit like a cheese danish. And our car was parked right outside of Ambiance Chocolat so we had to sample a truffle each -- scrumptious and beautiful.
It was around lunch time so we stopped at Pizza-Pide for a pide! Pide is a delicious Turkish food that is a lot like pizza -- a thin crust with toppings baked at a high temperature. It was the best pide I've had outside of Turkey, but it was not quite right. I think there was too much meat on the pide. The cook said that he felt like the meat was better quality in Turkey but more expensive; in Canada, he put on extra toppings. The end result, however, was a ratio that didn't feel quite right. Sometimes street food should be made like street food and not gussied up too much. As a side note, the place serves Ayran, a salty yogurt drink that I don't particularly like, but I was so happy to see it in North America.
I may have been extra nostalgic about Turkey because the day before the family had gone to the ROM, newly redesigned with a weird crystal growing out of the north side (and a new entrance on Bloor), and I was trying to tell the kids about Cuyler Young, former director of the museum and an archaeologist I had met and worked with in Turkey. The ROM was gorgeous and the natural history displays were really aesthetically appealing and had enough information to stimulate some good conversations with the kids. The hands-on kids area was also fun, and the food in the cafeteria was quite appealing.
Our next stop was Little India. One of the guys sitting next to us at Bonjour Brioche had told us that Little India wasn't true Indian -- instead it was mostly populated by Indians from Uganda who had been kicked out by Idi Amin. Julie got a neat top and skirt from some little shops and we talked to a guy who made Indian style popsicles using disposable chopsticks as his sticks. We stopped at the Udupi Palace for a snack. Julie ordered some samosas and they were yummy but super spicy. Luckily I had ordered the Dhaivada, a lentil donut that was served in a cool, refreshing spiced yogurt that cut through the heat of the samosas.
From there we visited Cream (or find them on Facebook). We had seen the issue of Now touting the best ice cream in the city and had to try their #1. Well worth it. Julie had the banana chocolate and I had an orange blossom cone. Both delicious. They also make ice cream from sheep's milk. Mmm... dondurma.
We popped down to the Distillery to see if we could get tickets to the Soulpepper Theater but no dice. Last year we had lucked into two rush tickets for their night of one acts, Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy and Tom Stoppard's Real Inspector Hound. The shows were well staged, and had great casts and we had hoped to see another show there. Maybe next year.
West Queen West was as hip as usual and Julie found some great bargains at the Blue Shoe Box' renovation sale (693 Queen St. W, just up a bit from BakkaPhoenix). By the time we left the store she was in a completely different outfit from that morning.
The Duke of York up by St. George had seats out on the patio and we enjoyed some Canadian beers and fish and chips. We also watched some of the Red Sox - Blue Jays game on the tube.
Yesterday, we made a family outing to Ontario Place. The kids love it. This year we brought our bathing suits to enjoy the water park. The highlight was the Rush River Raft Ride, a four person raft down a big water slide. The kids did some rides, we played mini-golf, and we saw an IMAX film called Hurricane on the Bayou. Mari was terrific in the H2O Generation Station (the kiddie habitrail, we call it) and Austin loved the Atom Blaster, which reminded me of the basement of a Chinese department store. We had dinner at the Marina Grille, a restaurant I never realized existed in the middle of the park.
My parents took the kids home and Julie and I got some nosebleed seats at the SkyDome where we saw the Red Sox beat the Jays 6-1. Among the highlights were a Jacoby Ellsbury triple and Kevin Youkilis caught in a rundown between 2nd and 3rd and somehow getting back to 2nd without getting tagged. Lots of Sox fans in attendance, based on the cheering. Not surprising since Fenway is always listed as the most expensive park in the Major Leagues and tickets to the Dome were just $14 -- Canadian!
We've had a lot of fun hitting the family attractions here (the kids are 6 and almost 5 this year). Looking forward to taking the kids to Casa Loma in a year or so, or up the CN Tower. Maybe even take Austin to the Sky Dome.
Yay, Toronto!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Toronto 2008
The last ten days of August, we made our annual pilgrimage to Toronto. This year, our trip coincided with a visit by my sister Vera, her husband Stephen and their kids Neve and Mason.
Mari spent two weeks prior talking about how much she wanted to play with cousin Mason.
Here's Mason!
And here's Neve!
One of our favorite family tourist sites in Toronto is Ontario Place. Among the attractions is the Atom Blaster, where various pneumatic guns and cannons fire foam balls all over the place, not unlike the basement of that children's department store in Beijing.
This is a giant habitrail for children. Austin and Mari went through this thing a dozen times each. Mari even climbed up that bit on the left, went across the tube bridge and down the slide by herself. (We had sort of lost track of her for a while until she came out that slide.)
I think we have about a thousand photos of Mari eating ice cream.
My parents took a pedal boat out; my mother said she had never been on one before.
Another great kids' spot was the Ontario Science Center. Although the day we were there it was so freaking loud with screaming kids that I had a massive headache. Still, the place is great and almost completely different from when I was a kid. There are some of the same exhibits but the halls are all rearranged.
Julie and I had a day downtown while my parents watched the kids. We saw lots of fun design stores, clothing shops and art galleries. This knife holder was one of our favorites.
Julie got a weird shirt. Then we went to the Distillery District where an old distillery (duh!) has been converted into lofts and retail space. The area has a lot of arts organizations including multiple dance troupes and the Soulpepper Theater. We managed to see two farcical one-acts that night: Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer and The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard. Both were ridiculous and funny and we were very impressed with the cast.
We had a nice dinner at the Mill Street Brew Pub and Julie said she had the best coffee ever at Balzac's Coffee:
Here's a shot of the Distillery District. Julie often posts this rhetorical question: Gay or Canadian? You decide:
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Scott Pilgrim
In other Canadiana news, I've recently read the first three volumes of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim comics from Oni Press. They feature slacker/bass player/moocher Scott Pilgrim and his friends in Toronto as they play in a band, meet new girl and boyfriends, break up, rollerblade through wormholes and have epic hand to hand battles to the death.
The plot involves videogame logic and manga inspired violence but overall, there's a sweet silliness to the characters that is very compelling. My favorite might be Kim the drummer who hates everyone and tries to gain sympathy from another character by telling her that she was "scrap booking" on a Saturday night (she wasn't, really). Scott's wry gay roommate Wallace also ranks highly (he and Scott's new girlfriend have a friendship based on a shared hatred of Scott's ex-).
And again, sounding like a lost Torontonian, I love the background touches of Canadian bands on t-shirts and posters, fight scenes set at Casa Loma or Honest Ed's, and late night discussions at Pizza Pizza or The Second Cup. They've even namechecked the Pacific Mall.
The plot involves videogame logic and manga inspired violence but overall, there's a sweet silliness to the characters that is very compelling. My favorite might be Kim the drummer who hates everyone and tries to gain sympathy from another character by telling her that she was "scrap booking" on a Saturday night (she wasn't, really). Scott's wry gay roommate Wallace also ranks highly (he and Scott's new girlfriend have a friendship based on a shared hatred of Scott's ex-).
And again, sounding like a lost Torontonian, I love the background touches of Canadian bands on t-shirts and posters, fight scenes set at Casa Loma or Honest Ed's, and late night discussions at Pizza Pizza or The Second Cup. They've even namechecked the Pacific Mall.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
TV: The Pick-Up Artist
I'm ashamed to say, I read this book called The Game by Neil Strauss in the past year or so. The reason? Curiosity. I think I read a New York Times article by Strauss about a guy named Mystery who runs seminars on how to pick up women. And his course of study is based on sociological studies and millions of attempts. Yes, millions -- through the internet, apparently there is a whole subculture of guys who try to talk to women and then post about their success or failure, leading to dozens of other guys to try out the same line on women in a different city or club. (The sociology is all about proximity studies, coming off as non-threatening, etc.)
Oh, and just to make me seem less sick, I should point out that mostly these guys are super shy and just trying to figure out how to talk to a woman and maybe get a phone number. (Strauss' book has more about sex and drugs as he joins this subculture and the group gets crazed [mostly because their girlfriends dump them {duh}].)
The funny thing about all the stuff they teach is that they sound like how Julie and I socialize at weddings where we don't know anybody. Be nice, be different, don't linger.
Recently, one of my favorite TV critics (yes, I have them -- I also like the New Yorker's Tad Friend and Nancy Franklin [who seems really sweet in a special feature on the DVD of I Know Where I'm Going]), Heather Havrilesky of Salon wrote positively about a new show called The Pick-Up Artist, a reality competition featuring Mystery, aka Erik von Markovik.
It's pretty entertaining. The casting of the loser guys is great and they're problems are nicely diverse: "Needs to shed frat boy image" "talks too much" "too nervous around women" "way too energetic." There's also a guy who loves to breakdance at inappropriate times. But one thing that I really enjoy is the fact that Mystery is from Toronto, and I think some of the contestants are, too. The Canadian accent and the overall vibe reminds me of some friends from Toronto. The hidden camera scenes of the guys striking out in bars is also very amusing.
Anyway, there's a video highlight reel on the website (important for those of us without cable -- the show is on VH1).
Oh, and just to make me seem less sick, I should point out that mostly these guys are super shy and just trying to figure out how to talk to a woman and maybe get a phone number. (Strauss' book has more about sex and drugs as he joins this subculture and the group gets crazed [mostly because their girlfriends dump them {duh}].)
The funny thing about all the stuff they teach is that they sound like how Julie and I socialize at weddings where we don't know anybody. Be nice, be different, don't linger.
Recently, one of my favorite TV critics (yes, I have them -- I also like the New Yorker's Tad Friend and Nancy Franklin [who seems really sweet in a special feature on the DVD of I Know Where I'm Going]), Heather Havrilesky of Salon wrote positively about a new show called The Pick-Up Artist, a reality competition featuring Mystery, aka Erik von Markovik.
It's pretty entertaining. The casting of the loser guys is great and they're problems are nicely diverse: "Needs to shed frat boy image" "talks too much" "too nervous around women" "way too energetic." There's also a guy who loves to breakdance at inappropriate times. But one thing that I really enjoy is the fact that Mystery is from Toronto, and I think some of the contestants are, too. The Canadian accent and the overall vibe reminds me of some friends from Toronto. The hidden camera scenes of the guys striking out in bars is also very amusing.
Anyway, there's a video highlight reel on the website (important for those of us without cable -- the show is on VH1).
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Nixon and Mao by Margaret MacMillan
Yes,
I'm still posting about China. Lots of material to get to yet!
One of the books I read before going was Nixon and Mao: The Week that Changed the World
. Okay, to be honest, I read some chapters and skimmed a lot of the middle.
It's a good book, and the writing and research are both solid, but it covers a lot of old ground. That is, if you know something about the Nixon presidency, there are passages that won't tell you much; similarly about Mao and the two main lieutenants on either side, Kissinger and Chou En Lai. That said, if you know nothing about any one of these men, there is a chapter in this book that will very readably get you up to speed on the man's history up to 1972.
The ultimate disappointment is that the "week" didn't change the world -- the idea of the week did. Once Nixon said he would go and committed to it, the balance of power and trade began to shift in the world. On the actual trip, some amusing things happened, both sides were gracious at high levels and extremely curious at the level of ordinary Chinese and Chinese and American journalists. These make for some interesting anecdotes, but the truth is, Mao was in bad shape, he met Nixon one day and the rest was sight seeing.
When we were in China, someone told us a story about a tree that Nixon planted on his visit. Chou En Lai picked it out especially for the President and Nixon ceremoniously plunked it down in a hole in a park as a symbol of the growth of Sino-American friendship. It died. The person who told us the story implied that there was something about Nixon that killed the plant.
Another story is that Mao was getting extremely irritable throughout the meeting and finally asked Nixon if he minded if he (the Chairman) smoked. Nixon said, Go right ahead, and Mao proceeded to chain smoke two or three packs.
Anyhow, and good book on a particular historic moment, but better suited for those with less knowledge of either side (MacMillan is Canadian and maybe the book's audience lies in non-American, non-Chinese readers).
I'm still posting about China. Lots of material to get to yet!
One of the books I read before going was Nixon and Mao: The Week that Changed the World
. Okay, to be honest, I read some chapters and skimmed a lot of the middle.It's a good book, and the writing and research are both solid, but it covers a lot of old ground. That is, if you know something about the Nixon presidency, there are passages that won't tell you much; similarly about Mao and the two main lieutenants on either side, Kissinger and Chou En Lai. That said, if you know nothing about any one of these men, there is a chapter in this book that will very readably get you up to speed on the man's history up to 1972.
The ultimate disappointment is that the "week" didn't change the world -- the idea of the week did. Once Nixon said he would go and committed to it, the balance of power and trade began to shift in the world. On the actual trip, some amusing things happened, both sides were gracious at high levels and extremely curious at the level of ordinary Chinese and Chinese and American journalists. These make for some interesting anecdotes, but the truth is, Mao was in bad shape, he met Nixon one day and the rest was sight seeing.
When we were in China, someone told us a story about a tree that Nixon planted on his visit. Chou En Lai picked it out especially for the President and Nixon ceremoniously plunked it down in a hole in a park as a symbol of the growth of Sino-American friendship. It died. The person who told us the story implied that there was something about Nixon that killed the plant.
Another story is that Mao was getting extremely irritable throughout the meeting and finally asked Nixon if he minded if he (the Chairman) smoked. Nixon said, Go right ahead, and Mao proceeded to chain smoke two or three packs.
Anyhow, and good book on a particular historic moment, but better suited for those with less knowledge of either side (MacMillan is Canadian and maybe the book's audience lies in non-American, non-Chinese readers).
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Photobooth
So I'm posting for the first time on the Mac. Why? Because I took some odd photos with Photobooth to share.
This one kills me. I don't mind how odd I look but it bothers me when Mari looks weird. I'm vain about her, I guess.
An experiment in eye color:
This one kills me. I don't mind how odd I look but it bothers me when Mari looks weird. I'm vain about her, I guess.
An experiment in eye color:
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Canadiana
So Edie introduced me to this show "How I Met Your Mother," a sitcom about dating, etc. in New York. It's funny, but I often forget to watch it (like all this season).
But then I was flipping through TV Week and found a reference to a viral video marketing tactic that the show used which increased viewership by a million viewers -- more than 10 percent.
Here's a link to the video.
It's hilarious. I guess the premise is that one of the characters on the show is a Canadian who is trying to make it as a TV news reporter in New York. Well, this video is from her teeny bopper days in Canada and is called "Let's Go to the Mall."
If you, like me, went to a Canadian mall in the 1980s, you will enjoy it. My favorite part may just be the rhyme they make with "Tori."
But then I was flipping through TV Week and found a reference to a viral video marketing tactic that the show used which increased viewership by a million viewers -- more than 10 percent.
Here's a link to the video.
It's hilarious. I guess the premise is that one of the characters on the show is a Canadian who is trying to make it as a TV news reporter in New York. Well, this video is from her teeny bopper days in Canada and is called "Let's Go to the Mall."
If you, like me, went to a Canadian mall in the 1980s, you will enjoy it. My favorite part may just be the rhyme they make with "Tori."
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Queen Street West
It's become a tradition of our visits to Toronto that my parents graciously watch the kids while Julie and I have a day of shopping and eating out downtown. We usually go down to Queen Street to see what's new in the stores. Last time Julie bought something from Annie Thompson and we went to dinner in Leslieville.
This time we went first to Caban, a lifestyle store from the Club Monaco empire. How to describe it? Club Monaco is like Banana Republic for hipsters. One of my great non-buying regrets involved Club Monaco and a pair of purple pants (the other one involves Miffy, the mouthless bunny). Caban, then, is like ... Pottery Barns crossed with Urban Outfitters without the kitsch.
Anyway, Caban is going out of business (which is why I didn't bother to link to it). on the day we were there, the store had just initiated a 30% clearance on everything and had been diverting all merchandise in Canada to the Queen Street outlet. Needless to say, we found some nice bargains. I think the coup was the $69 pants that were tagged $5 -- and then the cashier took another 30% off. Yes, $3.50 for pants. Yes, that's 95% off the original price. Crazy.
We then drove west past Bathurst and went to Kolkid, a fun store with toys, books and clothes for kids. Julie thinks it might be better next time to shop at the designer cooperatives just down the street. They're neat and it's fun to buy from the designer (Annie Thompson had come from the back of the shop to show Julie all the features on her skirt last time).
We also spent money at Morba, another lifestyle type place, but with more furnishings, including lots of Danish modern and other vintage pieces.
We looked but didn't buy at Timmie's Doggie Outfitters. The website as of now is not live, but the blog has some nice pictures.
Then it was time to eat. We decided to graze and sample a few places. First we had a beer and appetizers on back patio of Squirly's. I may have overdone it, because after that I wasn't hungry anymore.
But we went on to Banu, an Iranian place for some salad.
And then we got to Habitat. Habitat is an interesting restaurant where they served "kaisekis"; essentially tapas inspired by ... anything. You order 3, 5 or 7 kaisekis and they come out beautifully presented.
We had 5 of these bite sized tastes and Julie's first reaction was, "Is that all there is?" and then after the food was explained to us, her reaction was, "Do we have to eat all of it?"
Here's what we had, clockwise from the bottom: foie gras with white beans and fried onions; a sardine on gazpacho; frog legs wrapped in bacon; a ravioli with two sauces and potato foam; and, in that egg shell, an oyster with mushrooms. An experience!
We had told the waiter that I have a mango allergy; Julie wondered if we should have mentioned that she has an aversion to amphibians. (I have to admit, the legs were tasty although a bit fatty.)
That's it for our night out!
This time we went first to Caban, a lifestyle store from the Club Monaco empire. How to describe it? Club Monaco is like Banana Republic for hipsters. One of my great non-buying regrets involved Club Monaco and a pair of purple pants (the other one involves Miffy, the mouthless bunny). Caban, then, is like ... Pottery Barns crossed with Urban Outfitters without the kitsch.
Anyway, Caban is going out of business (which is why I didn't bother to link to it). on the day we were there, the store had just initiated a 30% clearance on everything and had been diverting all merchandise in Canada to the Queen Street outlet. Needless to say, we found some nice bargains. I think the coup was the $69 pants that were tagged $5 -- and then the cashier took another 30% off. Yes, $3.50 for pants. Yes, that's 95% off the original price. Crazy.
We then drove west past Bathurst and went to Kolkid, a fun store with toys, books and clothes for kids. Julie thinks it might be better next time to shop at the designer cooperatives just down the street. They're neat and it's fun to buy from the designer (Annie Thompson had come from the back of the shop to show Julie all the features on her skirt last time).
We also spent money at Morba, another lifestyle type place, but with more furnishings, including lots of Danish modern and other vintage pieces.
We looked but didn't buy at Timmie's Doggie Outfitters. The website as of now is not live, but the blog has some nice pictures.
Then it was time to eat. We decided to graze and sample a few places. First we had a beer and appetizers on back patio of Squirly's. I may have overdone it, because after that I wasn't hungry anymore.
But we went on to Banu, an Iranian place for some salad.
And then we got to Habitat. Habitat is an interesting restaurant where they served "kaisekis"; essentially tapas inspired by ... anything. You order 3, 5 or 7 kaisekis and they come out beautifully presented.
We had 5 of these bite sized tastes and Julie's first reaction was, "Is that all there is?" and then after the food was explained to us, her reaction was, "Do we have to eat all of it?"
Here's what we had, clockwise from the bottom: foie gras with white beans and fried onions; a sardine on gazpacho; frog legs wrapped in bacon; a ravioli with two sauces and potato foam; and, in that egg shell, an oyster with mushrooms. An experience!
We had told the waiter that I have a mango allergy; Julie wondered if we should have mentioned that she has an aversion to amphibians. (I have to admit, the legs were tasty although a bit fatty.)
That's it for our night out!
In Toronto, with kids
In Toronto, we went to a number of fun places with the kids.
One thing we can recommend is the Kidstown Public Wading Pool in L'Amoreaux Park, Scarborough. I'm not sure if it's worth an hour's drive, but it was definitely worth the ten minute drive from my parents' house. But to call it a Wading Pool is like calling the Hindenburg a balloon. There are all sort of mechanical devices filling with water and tipping over to splash kids, slides and sprayers to run through, and (Austin's favorite) whales to sit on and pump back and forth that will shoot water out their spouts at other people. Lots of lifeguards on duty, a hotdog stand just outside the gate and it costs $1 per child to get in (no charge for adults). Amazing.
Turns out there's also a nice water park in the Toronto Zoo now. This one has environmental themes as you see how water comes from rain, feeds wetlands, goes down rivers and into the oceans and the polar caps.
The Toronto Zoo is a great zoo and we saw lots of great animals, like rhinos, elephants, red warthogs, polar bears, and most amazingly, baby Sumatran tigers! Here's the zoo's tigercam!
We also visited the Chinese Lantern Festival at Ontario Place. This was pretty special: artists were brought to create light sculptures that illustrated either Chinese history and culture, or more modern designs, like Toronto's CN Tower, or dinosaurs. This is going on for a few more months; if you want a coupon, go to this site. More pictures on Flickr here.
Toronto in the summer is great for kid visitors and their parents.
One thing we can recommend is the Kidstown Public Wading Pool in L'Amoreaux Park, Scarborough. I'm not sure if it's worth an hour's drive, but it was definitely worth the ten minute drive from my parents' house. But to call it a Wading Pool is like calling the Hindenburg a balloon. There are all sort of mechanical devices filling with water and tipping over to splash kids, slides and sprayers to run through, and (Austin's favorite) whales to sit on and pump back and forth that will shoot water out their spouts at other people. Lots of lifeguards on duty, a hotdog stand just outside the gate and it costs $1 per child to get in (no charge for adults). Amazing.
Turns out there's also a nice water park in the Toronto Zoo now. This one has environmental themes as you see how water comes from rain, feeds wetlands, goes down rivers and into the oceans and the polar caps.
The Toronto Zoo is a great zoo and we saw lots of great animals, like rhinos, elephants, red warthogs, polar bears, and most amazingly, baby Sumatran tigers! Here's the zoo's tigercam!
We also visited the Chinese Lantern Festival at Ontario Place. This was pretty special: artists were brought to create light sculptures that illustrated either Chinese history and culture, or more modern designs, like Toronto's CN Tower, or dinosaurs. This is going on for a few more months; if you want a coupon, go to this site. More pictures on Flickr here.
Toronto in the summer is great for kid visitors and their parents.
Now Monthly! What we did on our vacation
Hey,
Back from our trip to Toronto where we had so much fun that this post will read like bullet points.
In case you're wondering, it's about a 9-10 hour drive from Boston to Toronto if you go around the eastern end of Lake Ontario (i.e. Watertown, NY over the Thousand Islands Bridge to Kingston, ONT).
The first night, we stopped in East Syracuse. The next morning, we made a quick drive up to Canada, the last hour or so was spent with me nervously clutching my belly because I forgot to bring our passports. The border guard was nice and let us in with Driver's Licenses and the kids' insurance cards but reminded us to bring their birth certificates next time. Whew!
We had lunch at a nice restaurant overlooking the harbor at Gananoque. We ate at the pub and Julie had Thousand Island dressing on her salad in celebration of our drive so far. I had an Alexander Keith's IPA which was tasty. Ah, Canadian beer.
From Gananoque, we took a nice boat tour to see some of the islands (more than a thousand). We learned that a) ten minutes is about as much of a boat ride as Mari is interested in, b) islands are defined as having i) six square feet of area and ii) two trees, c) gosh darn it's a beautiful place. Lots of the little islands have been in the same family for a century and there are funny stories about some of the sale transactions involving bottles of rum and ridiculously little money. One of my favorite fun facts is that there is a church on one of the islands and you can bring your boat over on Sunday afternoon, anchor, and then sit and listen to the services from your own craft. Must be hard to get much into the collection plate!
That afternoon, we drove into Toronto. No hurricane, unlike last year. In fact, there was hardly a cloud in the sky the whole time we were in Canada. Beautiful!
Okay, next post!
Back from our trip to Toronto where we had so much fun that this post will read like bullet points.
In case you're wondering, it's about a 9-10 hour drive from Boston to Toronto if you go around the eastern end of Lake Ontario (i.e. Watertown, NY over the Thousand Islands Bridge to Kingston, ONT).
The first night, we stopped in East Syracuse. The next morning, we made a quick drive up to Canada, the last hour or so was spent with me nervously clutching my belly because I forgot to bring our passports. The border guard was nice and let us in with Driver's Licenses and the kids' insurance cards but reminded us to bring their birth certificates next time. Whew!
We had lunch at a nice restaurant overlooking the harbor at Gananoque. We ate at the pub and Julie had Thousand Island dressing on her salad in celebration of our drive so far. I had an Alexander Keith's IPA which was tasty. Ah, Canadian beer.
From Gananoque, we took a nice boat tour to see some of the islands (more than a thousand). We learned that a) ten minutes is about as much of a boat ride as Mari is interested in, b) islands are defined as having i) six square feet of area and ii) two trees, c) gosh darn it's a beautiful place. Lots of the little islands have been in the same family for a century and there are funny stories about some of the sale transactions involving bottles of rum and ridiculously little money. One of my favorite fun facts is that there is a church on one of the islands and you can bring your boat over on Sunday afternoon, anchor, and then sit and listen to the services from your own craft. Must be hard to get much into the collection plate!
That afternoon, we drove into Toronto. No hurricane, unlike last year. In fact, there was hardly a cloud in the sky the whole time we were in Canada. Beautiful!
Okay, next post!
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