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?

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.

Culture: The Last Steam Whistle

TORONTO, ONTARIO - One of the benefits of spending time volunteering at the John Street Roundhouse in Toronto is that the building contains a brewery. Stalls one through fourteen of the thirty-two stall roundhouse contain the Steam Whistle Brewery. The brewery gives out free samples, so after a hard day of physical work it is possible to stop in at Steam Whistle and grab a half-pint of pilsner before heading home on the subway.

Last summer, while building the bulk of the miniature railway in Roundhouse Park around the building scheduled to open next year, the routine was especially refreshing. After a hot day of tamping railway ballast in the sun, a cold beer was very satisfying, especially since many at the brewery knew what we were working on and were quite supportive of the effort, which is expected to bring even more people to the park and thus to the front door of brewery.

In fact, unless one really dislikes beer or alcohol, it's hard to develop some degree of fondness for Steam Whistle. Besides being a local company, offering free samples, and occupying a historic roundhouse building, they are known for a fleet of eclectic historic vehicles that they actually use to deliver beer. Some of those vehicles are often found in the parking lot behind the roundhouse. As a whole section of their web site is labeled, they are fundamentally about whimsy and enjoying life.

Today, the volunteers of the Toronto Railway Historical Association laid the final significant stretch of outdoor track, on roadbed not prepared by the city's contractor until this week. The miniature railway is essentially complete; my job as a member of the track construction crew is done. Thus, after doing some leveling and ballasting on this final section of track, a lead to a storage building, it was time for one last Steam Whistle beer.

With temperatures right around freezing, it was a far cry from the summer. However, one last Steam Whistle sample was really the only way to end the last day of track laying.