I think the Empire Sandy is the most elegant three-master in the harbour, though she’s by no means alone – with bigger and smaller friends along the waterfront all summer long. Now that the real cold has set in, she’s tucked-in snug
Is that the cat that ate your new shoes? (top photo) The massive revamp of Union station has been going on for years – and clearly has years yet to run. The tracks themselves are currently open to the sky for the
One of the odd anglo traditions that is still very popular in Canada, is to listen to the Queen’s Christmas speech. Often this is done with fair sincerity by youngsters, and then increasingly for comedic or ironic value over time (even my
My atheism is no secret – nor, frankly is the very sad proliferation of betrayals of principle by legions of those who self-proclaim spirituality. No figurehead, nor call to live only peace and love has ever been strong enough to convince even
Every town should have one (top photo) I’m pretty sure that every great town has a few great markets in it – and somehow we are attracted to them deeply, without often stopping to think about their extraordinary cultural inertia. I will
And then there’s barrel-vaulting (top photo) Transit in Toronto and the region is one of the most contentious issues there is – we have had tons of misfires, multi-decade fights and studies of studies (even studies of why there are so many
A friend of mine mentioned Pythagoras recently – as a very powerful very early example of someone who was trying to extrapolate philosophical rigour, from mathematical clarity and principles. Better still, he didn’t just sit around thinking about stuff, like some nervous
Growing up Canadian, with tons of US media input, we notice early that Americans regularly assure each other that many things happen “only in America” which have in fact been common in dozens of other countries for ages, and are often done
One of the ways that writing reminds me a lot of thinking about mathematics or science, is that you are forever playing with different ways to arrange dynamically-related ideas (characters) – but you always have to provide some credible way-into their relationship,
Just finished a really lovely read – Variable Star – which was written by Spider Robinson, from 1950s notes for a never-completed novel by Robert Heinlein. Quite a nifty piece of work it is, too, in genesis and execution. Robinson’s curiosity and
I don’t like to make a big deal of it, but I have been blue of late – for a combination of very normal human reasons. Stoicism is worth having in your toolkit (and a vanishing art worth demonstrating, in any case),
One of the things I like best about Hamilton, just down the lake from Toronto, is that while it is a serious cultural city, with plenty of working artists, galleries, concert venues and events to celebrate it’s active scene (not to mention
As I mentioned the other day (Pinhead-camera) Catherine and I had a lovely day-trip with her father Neville to see the Hamilton steam museum last week. The museum consists of five structures which went into operation in 1860 – and the exquisite
Terry Shoffner paints the flyboy – top photo The very best thing about the job of being an art model is that (when you can get a gig) you can expect to find yourself among a group of people who are actively
Every poem needs an idea at its heart – but not all of the ideas need to be serious! Cookie-credit to Catherine (perfected pecan chocolate chip) – inspiration too – naturally.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about one of the more interesting and surprisingly ancient optical technologies – the pin-hole camera, or camera obscura – by which an accurate projection can be made upon a screen, of any scene toward which