Sunday, July 25, 2010

Margin Notes: Signs, Holmes, Indians


Yet another very strange advertisement was found on Front Street in Toronto, Ontario on 25-July-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - I've said before on this blog many times that one never knows what one will see on the streets of Toronto, and the sign above is another classic example. Found near the west end of Front Street at Bathurst, it actually advertises a sommelier service, so there's no need to check out the link.

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A new bar for private events was observed on the mezzanine at the John Street Roundhouse in Toronto, Ontario on 25-July-2010

Of course, many of us that spend time in Roundhouse Park here in Toronto think that Jesus just might drink beer if he were here, not wine. After all, Steam Whistle Brewing offers free samples to visitors from their home in stalls 1 through 14 of the John Street Roundhouse. If in the area, I strongly advise stopping by to check out their pilsner brew.

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Roundhouse Park was inside the G20 security zone last month, and the aftermath of that event has been decidedly low-key in Canadian public opinion. In his Spacing magazine column last week, John Lorinc presented a case for why Canadians aren't worked up about the G20, but are talking about long census forms, a nice complement to some of this blog's recent writings about Canadian character.

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From the alternate media to the mainstream, I have to admit that Ian Hanomansing's stint on CBC Television's The National last week sometimes confused me. Hanomansing's voice is so much like that of Hari Sreenivasan of the PBS NewsHour that I sometimes wasn't sure which program I was listening to--newscasters of Indian origin are making a strong impact at both networks.

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When listening to public radio, I sometimes learn things that I'm pretty certain I never really needed to know. On last week's To The Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio, one hour was an excellent show on autism, but I'm not sure I needed to hear Sherlock Holmes described as autistic. First public radio tells me that Holmes may have been gay, now it tells me he was autistic. What are they going to come up with next?

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