Margin Notes: Winter, Celebrations, Birds

Snow fell in what looked like a significant snow storm as viewed from my bedroom window on 22-February-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Winter finally came to visit the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario this week, but despite nearly a week of mostly snowy weather, the total accumulation on the ground has never exceeded four inches, rain showers keep clearing roads and sidewalks, and officially there are only about three weeks of winter left. I think Torontonians are going to make it through the winter in stride!

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I'm not sure that Torontonians would have taken a defeat in today's Olympic men's hockey final in stride. Celebrations broke out almost immediately after Canada defeated the US in overtime, 3-2, for the gold medal today which gave Canada a record 14 gold medals in the winter games. Having lived through local--not national--Super Bowl and World Series victories in New England, I can attest that I heard as many horns blaring for as long a time today as after any of the Patriots Superbowls or even after the Red Sox victory, and not only did people gather downtown at Yonge-Dundas Square, they gathered in neighbourhoods as well, including in my own Bloor West Village near Runnymede station, blocking traffic on Bloor and Runnymede. I haven't seen anything like this since Italy won the World Cup in 2006 and Torontonians of all ethnic backgrounds gathered in Italian neighbourhoods. It makes one wonder what would happen if the Maple Leafs actually won the Stanley Cup again... but I probably won't ever see that.

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A Hairy Woodpecker couple was noted flying around the Humber River near Dundas Street in Toronto, Ontario on 28-February-2010.

Maybe they were getting ready for a celebration, but I was surprised to see a Hairy Woodpecker couple near the Humber River today. It had been months since my last significant wildlife sighting, so it was a real treat that these birds decided to spend time in a tree not more than 30 feet from me today. Of course, maybe they were just curious why I wasn't at home getting ready to watch the hockey game.

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There weren't any doves by the Humber River today, but for the past few weeks, Dove for Men had been giving out free samples in the Skywalk near Union Station in Toronto, and I had collected a fair amount of product. I was actually somewhat disappointed that nobody was out to give out samples yesterday, and then I realized that the auto show was over, and that was probably why they had been there. It would be nice if their William Tell overture-based commercial would disappear now also.

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A different kind of musical connection was on my mind earlier this week when I stumbled onto a recording of Indeep's "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" from 1982. What struck me is how much the musical style resembles today's rap--it had never occurred to me just how deeply disco influenced rap, a fact that has never been lost to musicologists. I guess I just wasn't paying attention.

Transport: Canadian Pacific Spirit Train

As the Spirit Train Band performed on the train stage in the background, Olympic mascots Sumi, Quatchi, and Miga danced in front of the crowd

TORONTO, ONTARIO - On Thanksgiving Day, the residents of Mississauga, Ontario had a little something extra to be thankful for as the Canadian Pacific Spirit Train visited town.

The CP Spirit Train was designed to promote awareness of the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, of which CP is a major sponsor (never mind that the tracks between Vancouver and the other major venue at Whistler are owned by rival Canadian National). As the train travels the nation, it stops for a day to provide a free, family-oriented event.

These CP Spirit Train stops really are great for families. Trains always draw children, and besides the full-size train that sits on the tracks nearby, there's a model of the environmentally-clean locomotive from General Electric powering the train. In addition to providing an introduction to the Winter Olympics and Canadian participation, the Village has lots of fun activities like the chance to start in a luge and test goalie skills. Olympic athletes tend to be on hand to meet toward the beginning of the event (I missed them), and there's also a nutrition display. Wandering the Village are people-sized versions of Olympic mascots Quatchi, Sumi and Miga.

The centerpiece of the event, though are the music performances on the train itself, in a boxcar that transforms into a stage. The Spirit Train Band provides a good show with Olympic-themed songs, but the real headliners are Sierra Noble and the Colin James Band. How often can one see those two acts for free?

Remember to bone up on Canadian Olympic trivia before the event, as prizes are awarded to audience members for their knowledge.


The Spirit Train Village took over the parking lot at the Streetsville GO station in Mississauga, Ontario on 13-October-2008

Throughout its trip across the country, the Spirit Train has periodically been delayed by protests from aboriginal groups upset about the Vancouver Olympics. One such protest in Woodbridge, Ontario delayed the train for several hours on Sunday, placing its arrival in the Greater Toronto Area on Sunday after dark.

The Spirit Train still has performances in Smith Falls, Ontario on Thursday and in Montreal on Saturday--and rumor has it that it may be on tour again next year. For more information, visit the official CP Spirit Train site.