Margin Notes: Parades, Signs, Slash, IMAP

It appeared that the same person was riding in Fire Support 7 in the St. Patrick's Day Parade on 14-March-2010 (left) and the Easter Parade on 4-April-2010 (right), both in Toronto, Ontario

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Some people make the case that all of the parades in Toronto are boring because the same bands, same vehicles, and same people appear in all of them. I think that perspective ignores the power of tradition in parades, but I did notice something interesting while processing pictures from the Easter Parade. It appears that the same woman was standing in the left door of the Fire Support 7 van in each parade, as shown above--with a green shirt for St. Patrick's Day and a pink shirt for Easter. Presumably, she works on that van. I found that interesting, not boring.

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I had never seen a sign like this one on Old Weston Road in Toronto, Ontario denoting the end of pavement on 4-April-2010

Certainly one of the interesting things I found on the day of the Easter Parade was the above sign in the Junction neighbourhood of Toronto. It apparently denoted the end of the pavement during railway crossing construction. I don't think I've ever seen this sign in the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices) for the US or Canada.

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Speaking of standards, the way we describe internet addresses can sometimes be comical. Every time I hear Kathleen Petty give the web address for the CBC Radio One radio show The House, I laugh when I hear her say, "...slash the house" (as in http://www.cbc.ca/thehouse/)--it sounds to me like what the small-government advocates would really like to do with the House of Commons.

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Speaking of the Internet, I have recently converted my primary POP3 (Post Office Protocol) e-mail account to an IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) account. IMAP is not exactly new--the first RFC is from 1988 and its origins date to Stanford in 1986, but I had never used extensively before. (For what it's worth, POP dates back to 1984.) I don't know why I didn't convert to it a decade ago--now I can look at my mail from a shell, web, or external client interface interchangeably. Why didn't anyone tell me to do this?

Photos: St. Patrick's Day Parade

A leaping leprechaun made his way down Yonge Street during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Toronto, Ontario on 14-March-2010.

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site features the St. Patrick's Day parade. Perhaps it was the late-breaking weather, but one of the prime spots for watching the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Toronto, Ontario--the turn from Yonge Street to Queen Street--was remarkably uncrowded, allowing better-than-usual coverage of the event on 14-March-2010.

Holiday: St. Patrick's Day Parade 2010

The Toronto Police Colour Guard carried the first flags in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Toronto, Ontario on 14-March-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The streets lining the route of Toronto's St. Patrick's Day Parade are never as packed as for the Santa Claus Parade, but there are usually certain locations along Bloor Street, the corner of Yonge and Queen, and near the judging stand that are packed. However, this year stormy weather ceased only a couple hours before the start of the parade, and I was surprised to arrive just ahead of the parade and find the prime photo location where the parade turns from Yonge to Queen not at all crowded this year, affording my best chance to photograph the parade yet.


French football star Thierry Henry was portrayed playing against the Republic of Cork in the World Cup, with the referee in the background about to give him a red card on 14-March-2010

The hallmark of the St. Patrick's Day Parade is the representation from the various counties of Ireland. Some contribute floats, some contribute bands, some contribute dancers, some just contribute their colours--and then there's the County of Cork. Every year, they introduce some humorous gag. This year, venting Irish anger at the controversial elimination of Ireland from the World Cup qualifiers by France, they presented a match between France and the Republic of Cork in which a referee gave a red card to French star Thierry Henry every block of the parade. The spectator response was huge!


The Optimists Alumni Drum Corps were dressed in bright green in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Toronto, Ontario on 14-March-2010

Parades always have bands, and bagpipes dominate the bands seen on St. Patrick's Day. Yet, no Toronto parade would be complete without the Philippine Heritage Band or the Falun Dafa Band, and they joined other more traditional marching bands like the Optimists Alumni Drum Corps seen above.


An Irish wolfhound was dressed for the day as it walked in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Toronto, Ontario on 14-March-2010

People always find ways to express themselves during parades that they wouldn't in most other contexts, whether it be bizarre clothing or accessories, face paint, or behavior. Yet, it's always the dogs that I find are probably most embarrassed by what their owners make them do on St. Patrick's Day. Did this wolfhound really want to wear bright green?


The County Kerry float may have best symbolized the St. Patrick's day experience for many, complete with dancing and a bar right on the float on 14-March-2010

Of course, I've left out a main theme of the day--drinking. More than one county this year included a bar right on their float, as in the County Kerry example above. I had to wonder as I walked home if I was the only person not bound for a bar.

More coverage of the St. Patrick's Day Parade will be in a future update to my photo site.

Margin Notes: Parade, Hockey, Basa, Granny D

The Toronto Police's pipe and drum band helped lead off the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario on 14-March-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - What had been very rainy and windy weather for much of the weekend around Toronto calmed down just a couple hours before the start of today's St. Patrick's Day Parade. I've decided it's worth attending the parade just to find out what the County of Cork representatives come up with--this year, it was a soccer match between the "Republic of Cork" and France (which defeated Ireland in a very controversial World Cup qualifying game), complete with French star Thierry Henry receiving a red card. I think this beats last year's "first foreign overseas visit of President Obama to the Republic of Cork."

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While many cities held their St. Patrick's Day Parade today (the actual date is of course Wednesday), it's apparently never too early to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, nor can it be done too often. For example, our friends at Steam Whistle Brewing in Toronto, besides participating in the parade today, started their public St. Patrick's Day bash at 2 pm yesterday, and were on hand for Achilles Canada St. Patrick's Day Run this morning, amongst other events running through Wednesday.

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A snowman in honor of Canada's Olympic hockey teams was noted still standing on Annette Street in Toronto, Ontario on 8-March-2010

Canadians scarcely needed another reason to celebrate, as some are still basking in the glow of the victories of both the men's and women's hockey teams in... well, you know where. A snowman honoring the gold medals was found still standing a few blocks from my home this past Monday--though rains finally swept it away later in the week.

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Rain swelled the levels of the Humber River this week, but I didn't see any fish. Lately, I've been eating basa fish from Vietnam which has often been on sale. I thought it tasted pretty good and reminded me of catfish. It turns out there's a good reason for that--it's basically another species of catfish, but the Louisiana catfish lobby prevented it from being labeled as a catfish to avoid "customer confusion." I think this may actually play to Vietnam's favor--I agree with the customer surveys that show the taste of basa is actually preferred to catfish.

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It's been a long time since I've taken a picture of a fish. I finally processed the last pictures from my trip to the west coast over the winter holidays, and there were 1944 pictures in total--and that doesn't even count most of the railroad photos that I deleted shortly after they were taken. No wonder it took so long, paring it down to the 541 photos that will ultimately appear on my photo site.

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A woman that walked all the way from the west coast to the east to raise awareness for campaign finance reform died this week. The passing of Doris Haddock, better known as Granny D, was not well-covered by the major media. In 1999 and 2000, the then nearly 90 year old walked all the way from California to Washington DC. Some credit her with raising awareness that led to the passage of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation in 2002--legislation that was recently largely gutted by the Supreme Court. Haddock was 100 years old.

Photos: St. Patrick's Day Parade

The Durham Irish Association Band played during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Toronto, Ontario on 15-March-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site features Toronto's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Green-clad crowds (including dogs) gathered along the streets of Toronto, Ontario on 15-March-2009 for the annual parade. Besides bagpipes and leprechauns, highlights included Barack Obama references, a man periodically rising from his bed, and the colour parties of each Irish county association.

Holiday: St. Patrick's Day Traditions

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The tinge of orange in my beard reveals that I have significant Irish ancestry, though admittedly most of the year I basically ignore that fact. The only exception is on St. Patrick's Day, when even those who aren't Irish claim to be. Today, as March 17th, may officially be St. Patrick's Day, but to me the observed St. Patrick's Day is the nearest Sunday, when the parades are traditionally held.

While living in the Boston, Massachusetts area, with its high concentration of those of Irish ancestry, I developed a routine on observed St. Patrick's Day. It would actually begin on Saturday night as I would bake Irish-American soda bread and sweet potato pie in preparation for the following day. On the day itself, I would take the Red Line Subway to the Broadway station to watch the St. Patrick's Day Parade. While most people watched the parade from somewhere along Broadway in the ethnically very Irish South Boston, over the years I learned that the really interesting things occurred as the parade worked its way back through the side streets of South Boston toward the Andrew subway station. In some places, it would feel like crashing a block party, as people had their buffets out on the sidewalk.

The parade was a long one, and even walking counter-current to the route back toward Broadway, it could go on for nearly three hours. When all of the floats and South Boston politicians had passed, I'd rush back to the subway and head straight back home to start cooking. More accurately, I'd start boiling. The New England boiled dinner that I adopted as the St. Patrick's Day meal couldn't be simpler--everything was boiled. I'd put the corned beef in a big pot and start boiling, then peel and chop up the vegetables, and then realize that I didn't have enough time to get everything done, and would inevitably put the vegetables in other pots in order to have everything finished by the time people started showing up about 6 pm.

The first time I did corned beef on St. Patrick's Day, it was 1999 and I had only one friend over. The next year, after I moved to a room in a house near Davis Square in Somerville, the event began to grow as my housemates and landlord all came, as well as a few friends. I think the peak year was 2003, when about twelve people came over for the full meal, ending with sweet potato pie, and 2004 had nearly that attendance.

However, I suspended the event in 2005 because I had moved to a place without a good dining venue, and a business trip was scheduled too close to observed St. Patrick's Day. In 2007, after moving to Toronto, I decided to see if I could revive the tradition. I was pleased to find the Toronto St. Patrick's Day parade to be a pretty significant and fun event, probably only half the length of the Boston parade but still big enough to be a real draw. The bonus of a somewhat shorter parade starting at the same time was that I had more time to cook--the tricks I had learned cramming in Boston were not necessary.

So, Sunday was ninth time I celebrated St. Patrick's Day. In that time, I've learned how to improve the recipe I had for Irish-American soda bread into something that I actually like to eat, that I should buy corned beef at St. Lawrence Market and not from the grocery stores in Toronto (groceries stores carry briskets year-round in Boston), and that leaving the cabbage in the boiling pot used for corned beef for a longer period of time than most cookbooks recommend really does help the taste and texture.

Next year, I'll be ready to do everything right for my tenth St. Patrick's Day celebration.