Photos: Holidays in the Pacific Northwest, 2010

One of the many scenes at the Garden d'Lights in Bellevue, Washington was observed on 22-December-2010

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA - This week's update to my photo site features holiday displays from the Pacific Northwest. The Garden d'Lights in Bellevue, Washington was observed on 22-December-2010, and Winterfest at the Center House in Seattle, Washington was visited on 27-December-2010.

Holiday: Winterfest

A model train passed a scene including a school yard at the Winterfest display at the Seattle Center House on 27-December-2010

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - For as long as I can remember, there have been two significant model railroad displays around Seattle, Washington during the holidays. One is in a store window at the Bon Marche (now Macy's), where one puts a hand on a designated spot on the window to make a train move, and the other has been in the Center House at the Seattle Center.


People gathered around the Winter Train and Village display at the Center House in Seattle, Washington on 27-December-2010

Much has changed in the Center House over the years. The Bubbleator, left over from the 1962 World's Fair, has been gone since the 1980's. Shops on the lower level have given way to the Children's Museum. Yet, there's still a Pizza Haven (see photo above) near the walkway to the Monorail (another World's Fair holdover, this year decorated for the Harry Potter exhibit at the Pacific Science Center), and the "G gauge" setup of the Winter Village still appears during Winterfest.


A train based on a Colorado narrow gauge prototype passed exited a tunnel at the Winterfest display in Seattle, Washington on 27-December-2010

Winterfest itself has varied over the years. The ice skating rink (in recent years in the Fisher Pavilion) and Winter Village train display have been staples, but there have been various other activities over the years. Back when KING television was a sponsor instead of KOMO, there was a "Holiday Sleigh Ride" in which local television personalities would introduce you riding Santa's Sleigh--easily my favorite VHS tape of my family.


A model of Seattle's King Street Station was where the controls of the Winter Train display were located on 27-December-2010

The train display itself has been interactive in recent years. For a $2 donation, one can become an engineer for a few minutes of one of two trains that run through the display. The trains aren't the only things that move, either, as a hot air balloon regularly takes off from the village for a trip through the sky, and ice skaters rotate through the center of the well-detailed town, amongst other scenes.


Both of the model trains operating at the Winterfest display in Seattle, Washington passed the Engine House on 27-December-2010

Winterfest continues through 31-December-2010 at the Seattle Center, with ice skating extended through 2-January-2011; see the web site for details.

Photos: Holidays in Toronto, Part II

A portion of the Toronto, Ontario Christmas Market was found in an alley of the Distillery District on 9-December-2010

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - This week's update to my photo site features more coverage of the holidays in Toronto, Ontario. The German-style Toronto Christmas Market, the Trail of Lights in Downsview Park, making mulled wine, store windows, and more scenes taken between 3-December and 20-December-2010 are shown.

Holiday: Garden d'Lights 2010

What has become the premier scene at the Garden d'Lights in Bellevue, Washington, the pond scene, was captured on 22-December-2010

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - It seems that all really good free things come to an end, and such is the case with the holiday season Garden d'Lights in Bellevue, Washington. Since 1994, the ever-growing light display had been free, but this year, outside of a few early-season dates, it cost $5 for adults and reservations were needed as total admissions were limited to keep the Botanical Gardens from becoming overcrowded, as had happened on several nights in the 2009 season.


An octopus was targeting a starfish for lunch in the aquarium scene at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens in Bellevue, Washington on 22-December-2010

The display now features more than 500,000 individual lights in dozens of scenes that stretch throughout nearly the entire Botanical Gardens complex. The display is always different each year, so while one can expect listeria at the covered walkways and a pond scene on the upper lawn, some of the better animals like the monkey and the slug could be found in different locations, and there were plenty of new scenes throughout the park.


A gardener watered potted plants near gourds at the Garden d'Lights in Bellevue, Washington on 22-December-2010

While the original idea behind the Garden d'Lights had been to highlight plant life as a winter nighttime extension of the Bellevue Botanical Garden's daytime and mostly fair-season mission, the most popular parts of the Garden d'Lights have mostly become the animals. Some years, kids were given a list of animals to find hidden around the displays, and certainly the rabbit with its carrot and the spider with a fly caught in its web have become perennial favorite scenes, with new ones added each year.


A turtle was one of the prominent animals scattered about the Garden D'Lights in Bellevue, Washington on 22-December-2010

Still, the bulk of the lights in the Garden d'Lights are devoted to plant representations, with quite a variety, from desert succulents to both the blue and pink versions of hydrangeas, with just about any flower imaginable seen somewhere in the gardens. I wish some of them could be labeled just like the various real plant species in the garden have signs with their names that can be seen in daylight.


A typical scene with a variety of plants was seen along the hillside of the Garden d'Lights in Bellevue, Washington on 22-December-2010

The size of the garden was expanded significantly this year to include new portrayals of salmon jumping in a rapidly-moving stream. This display was especially appropriate considering the Botanical Gardens' proximity to Kelsey Creek, a stream that is alive with migrating salmon at certain times of year.


Salmon jumped up a creek in a new display for 2010 at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens' Garden d'Lights on 22-December-2010

With all the new displays, even with the $5 charge, the Garden d'Lights still compares favorably with other similar displays. It remains open through 1-January-2011--remember to make reservations if you wish to go!

Holiday: Northwest Christmas Music

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - It rained here today. It didn't just rain for an hour; it rained for essentially the whole day. This is normal in Seattle during the winter, which is to say during the holiday season. Thus, holiday lore about a "white Christmas" does not seem particularly relevant in the Pacific Northwest--and neither is it especially welcome, since the region is so unprepared for its occasional snowfalls that if there is a white Christmas, everyone's plans are generally ruined.

This sentiment is reflected in the regional holiday music that has gained popularity over the years. Probably the quintessential Seattle Christmas song is Brenda Kutz White's Christmas in the Northwest. Originally released in 1985 as a fundraiser for Children's Hospital in Seattle, it eschews the idea of a white Christmas, noting that the holiday "Is a gift God wrapped in green." The ideas of sharing--relatively emphasized in the Pacific Northwest at any time of year compared with the rest of the country--and dreaming is mentioned several times. The song has been released multiple times, remains commercially available, and is consistently one of the most requested songs on the local all-Christmas radio station, Warm 106.9 FM.

While not as widely distributed, there is another Seattle holiday song that more directly addresses the weather. Released in 2003, the Pysht River Troubadours' Let's Have a Seattle Christmas does nothing except describe the downpours. It includes the line "There's so much water, it won't drain." There are references to the weathermen on each of Seattle's major television stations, the late Seattle Mariners baseball announcer Dave Niehaus, and even that Santa will need to trade his reindeer "for a Husky-powered hydroplane," which may the ultimate in local references. To me, nothing captures the local climate reality better than this song.

The song regarded (at least by Amazon--which as a locally-based business ought to know) as the most popular in the Pacific Northwest radio history actually has nothing to do with the region or its weather. Recorded in Swansea, Wales in 1981 by the Cory Band and the Gwalia Singers, Stop the Cavalry had been written by Jona Lewie about soldiers away from their families at wartime. It seems to have been lost to history who first played the song in Seattle, but by the mid-1980's, it had become a holiday staple on just about every station from KOMO to KLSY. If one wants to establish credibility as a northwest resident in past quarter-century, it's Stop the Cavalry, not Christmas in the Northwest, that one should bring up as the unique holiday song of the region.

Personally, especially on a day like today, it's "Let's Have a Seattle Christmas" that really resonates--"Get out the lifeboats and the dinghys, Captain, it's a Grand Tsunami... 'cause it doesn't just rain on Christmas, it's every day, every day, every day."

Holiday: Processing Cards

TORONTO, ONTARIO - I was late with holiday cards this year, much more so than usual, for a variety of reasons. As I was struggling to get the last of my set destined for the eastern United States finished earlier this evening, it struck me just how detailed the tradition has become for me--right down to the exact pens that I use.

The process begins with updating my address book. I suppose the very first step is making a fast check of that spreadsheet and counting up how many holiday cards I need to order. I then make up the cards and have them printed. In the old days, that meant taking a negative to the photo drop-off location at the grocery store, but in the digital era (for me, that's since 2005), that's meant going to one of the on-line photo sites to put the card together.

Then, after checking alumni web sites for any changes amongst my more distant past peers, I usually send out several dozen e-mails to people that I either know or suspect may have moved over the course of the year. While some of us could be counted on to move regularly during graduate school, I haven't noticed much decrease in the number of people moving as my friends have aged. When I think I've gotten most of the address update replies, I print out the spreadsheet.

The next step is writing up my holiday letter. Once upon a time, I used to have several distinctly-written versions based on the intended audience (e.g. former high school teachers) and didn't do much customizations to those forms. In recent years, I've just had one version, and have attempted much more customization, which usually works out pretty well for the first several dozen and not so well with a week to go until Christmas.

When it comes time to actually send the letters, I group by geographic area and work through the list. Cards bound outside North America come first (those are all late this year--sorry), followed usually by Canada, the eastern United States, and the western United States last, though the order can vary based on where I'm actually located when doing the cards. If I remain in Canada until late in the season, then those for the western United States go first and the Canadian cards are last, since they still have a fighting chance to be delivered on time.

When I choose which card I'm going to do next, I customize the holiday letter if I'm doing one (those I see in person or otherwise communicate with frequently and know what I'm up to generally don't receive a letter), send it to the printer, and then pull the same blue Eppendorf pen I've been using since at least 1999 to do the inside of the card. After signing the letter with the same blue pen, I then switch to the same black pen I've also been using for at least a decade to hand-address the envelope. It occurred to me this year how amazing it is that I've been using the same pens for this purpose for an entire decade and through multiple geographic locations. That may reveal just how infrequently I use the pens outside of the holiday season. For that matter, I'm still using the same printer toner cartridges that I've been using since 2006--five years of holiday cards on the same toner strikes me as a pretty good record.

Once postage is affixed, I use a pencil to put a check mark next to that line of the spreadsheet, and move on to the next card. The process is repeated dozens of times, over many nights, until I'm finally done. This year, that probably won't happen until tomorrow night.

A friend recently asked why I still do printed cards and letters, considering all the on-line services I could use for the same purpose that would be much cheaper and much easier. Besides tradition, I still have too many older relatives that really can only be reached by postal mail or phone. It still isn't really an accepted practice to send on-line holiday greetings to business colleagues, either. So, until those two things change, I'm sticking with the traditional process, no matter how much work it turns out to be.

Media: Air Farce New Year's Preview

One of the monitors showed the title screen for the Air Farce's only 2010 appearance, the New Year's Eve show, during a taping on 16-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Originally a radio satire show, long a weekly television show, the Royal Canadian Air Farce has been reduced since 2008 to a single annual appearance--an hour-long special that airs on New Year's Eve. When an e-mail went out to past attendees about the 2010 taping, I responded in about 45 minutes and figured I had a chance of getting a seat. I was at least 30 minutes late--the shows had been filled in less than fifteen minutes, and supposedly there were enough ticket requests to fill 21 shows. Yet, the high demand apparently scared potential rush ticket seekers away last Thursday night--there were only five of us, and we were all allowed in!


Original cast members Luba Goy and Roger Abbott chatted with the crowd between scenes during Air Farce taping on 16-December-2010

Not only was I allowed in--I ended up in the front row! I had the best possible photo angles of the set, right in front of the house band when they came on stage, and I was close enough to smell Luba Goy's perfume. Goy, one of three remaining cast members from the radio show still with the program along with Don Ferguson and Roger Abbott, clearly was enjoying doing the show again. All three original cast members made a point of talking to the audience as much as possible between skits.


Alan Park played President Obama and Luba Goy played Secretary of State Clinton in an Old Spice commercial parody on 16-December-2010

For those used to the fast-paced humor of The Daily Show or even the CBC's own This Hour Has 22 Minutes, the Air Farce has a completely different feel. Rather than a series of one-liners, the show takes its time to develop and deliver humor, whether in the form of a long parody of the Old Spice commercials with President Obama in place of Isaiah Mustafa, or a scene about the planning of next year's royal wedding.


Director Pat McDonald spoke with Alan Park between takes of a bed bug skit during the Air Farce taping on 16-December-2010

Attending a taping is so much more interesting than just watching the show not only because of the art of television can be observed, but because the humanity of it can be observed, as things go wrong and re-takes occur, and people have to wait. Nobody on television will see Penelope Corrin trying to hide a recycling bin with her skirt (or Alan Park pretending to be groping Corrin from a distance). At an Air Farce taping, much of that humanity is centered around director Pat McDonald, whose admonishments that "This is still funny" before a re-take, or "This one really made me laugh in rehearsal" delivered in his dry style helped set the tone for the audience. It's hard to imagine an Air Farce show without him.


The "Ground Crew" of David Matheson and Maury Lafoy had donned heavier clothing during taping of the Air Farce on 16-December-2010

There's substantial down time in a live taping while sets are moved and costumes adjusted, and to fill that time for the audience, they play the pre-recorded "Farce Films" to be used during the show. This year, a number were filmed at Roundhouse Park, a treat for me. Most of the time, though, was filled by the Air Farce house band, called the "Ground Crew," consisting of David Matheson and Maury Lafoy. While it is amazing that the whole cast and crew manages to come back together for just one show a year, the consistency of the "Ground Crew" with their old performances from the regular show run was amazing, singing such standards as "Raccoons" and "The Lake's Largest Johnson"--with only holiday songs added to mix to match the time of year.


The final "F-Bomb" of the Air Farce show was dropped during the taping on 16-December-2010

Without giving away the ending, suffice to say that the crew was worried enough about splattering the audience that those of us in the front row were asked to hold a plastic sheet in front of us to catch any flying debris. The camera zoomed in on those of us holding the plastic, so if the footage from Thursday and not the second taping on Friday is used, I will likely appear on television.

The Air Farce New Year's special will air at 8 pm on 31-December-2010 on CBC Television, with a repeat at midnight.

Margin Notes: Mulled Wine, Birds, Joe Canadian

Proud Bavarian Matthias Oschinski poured rum on the sugar cone as part of the process of making mulled wine at his apartment in Toronto, Ontario on 17-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - One of the highlights of my visit to the Toronto Christmas Market (covered previously) was the mulled wine, which was a really nice (and warm) treat in the cold weather. When my friends Karimah Hudda and Matthias Oschinski invited me over to actually make their own mulled wine, there was no way I was going to turn that down. Friday night, I was treated to how it is actually done in Germany, prominently using bags of spices, a cone of sugar, a special copper pot, and of course red wine, amongst other details. A native Bavarian, Matthias had expressed minor dissatisfaction with the offering at the market, and after drinking his version, I understood why--the spices were much more nicely accented, leading to a taste that isn't quite like anything else I've ever had. I can understand why Matthias and Karimah make mulled wine an annual tradition.


The blue, alcohol-based flame surrounded the sugar cone as mulled wine was prepared on 17-December-2010

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An annual tradition for most North Americans around this time of year is shopping, and malls know that. It surprised me when visiting the Eaton Centre here in Toronto this fall that it looked like their construction project involving flooring and railings wasn't going to be complete in time for the peak holiday season. Sure enough, when I went to shop there on Friday night, the crowds were having to work their way around the construction. What in the world were they thinking when they scheduled that work?

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I'd also like to know what the CBC was thinking when it named the new co-host of the flagship As It Happens show on Radio One. When the CBC fired Barbara Budd as co-host earlier this year, it claimed it wanted to replace presenters with journalists. So who did they hire? Jeff Douglas, best known as the actor that portrayed "Joe Canadian" in the famous Molson Beer "I am Canadian" commercial. Granted, Douglas has done significant documentary work, promises to push social media for the show, and I rather like him, but it sure doesn't look like the point of replacing Budd was to find a journalist. It makes the whole process look rather cold.

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A small bird braved the elements at Toronto's Lambton Park on 19-December-2010

The weather has been cold in Toronto for the past week, and it has looked like a winter wonderland for about the past week. I went out in the elements today and spotted a Cardinal, but as is usually my luck when male Cardinals are around, I didn't manage to get a decent picture. I had to settle for a LBB ("little brown bird") instead, shown above at Lambton Park.

Holiday: Trail of Lights 2010

The entrance to the Downsview Park Trail of Lights was viewed on 15-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Considering that the holiday season occurs around the shortest days of the year, it is not surprising that outdoor lighted displays have become popular just about everywhere in North America. Amongst these, Downsview Park's Trail of Lights here in Toronto seems to be rather struggling to find a defining identity.


Snowflake arches were found along the Trail of Lights at Downsview Park in Toronto, Ontario on 15-December-2010

When I last visited in 2008, the Federal facility had created its light display for pedestrians, and the two-kilometer walk seemed stuffed full of displays. However, two kilometers was apparently felt to be too long of a walk for the average person, and the trail was instead opened to vehicles in 2009. This year, it went to a hybrid format, with driving days on Thursday through Sunday and "Walk-Through Wednesdays" for pedestrians.


A flower bloomed after watering along the Trail of Lights in Toronto, Ontario on 15-December-2010

With the majority of nights devoted to the automobile, the layout of the trail was clearly car-oriented, with distances that felt quite long between the displays. It seemed far more like a winter hike through the snow that happened to have some lights along the way than a holiday light display. I happened to choose a particularly cold night to visit yesterday, with the wind chill reported as -15 C while I made the circuit, and that made it less than pleasant.


A squirrel jumped between trees on either side of the Trail of Lights in Toronto, Ontario on 15-December-2010

Many of the displays have motion involved, whether deer or squirrels jumping across the trail, a Jack-in-the-Box springing up, a bucket coming up from the bottom of a well, or a volcano erupting. Some of the best scenes were sports scenes, with a baseball pitcher striking out a batter, a football place kicker scoring points, and a soccer player scoring a goal. I was disappointed, though, that the displays were almost all the same as two years before, so there were no pleasant surprises to be found along the trail.


A long exposure captured all the positions of the football player kicking a goal at the Trail of Lights in Toronto, Ontario on 15-December-2010

The price also seems quite steep--$8 to walk through as an adult pedestrian, and $25 per carload. At least as a pedestrian, it takes more than a half hour to walk the route, without stopping for pictures or admiration. In a car, it would take far less than that. Considering all the free displays and events in the Toronto area, it's not surprising that there was quite light patronage during my visit.


Santa and his reindeer were found along the Trail of Lights in Toronto, Ontario on 15-December-2010

The Trail of Lights remains open (except Mondays and Tuesdays) through 2-January-2011 from 6-11 pm. The entrance is not far from Keele Street in Downsview Park, so those taking the TTC can use the Keele bus, Shephard West bus, or the Downsview Park bus. For more information, see the official web site.

Photos: Holidays in Toronto, Part I

Toronto's City Hall was green with the reflection of fireworks during the Cavalcade of Lights on 27-November-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Coverage of the holidays in Toronto, Ontario continues this week on my photo site with the Cavalcade of Lights concert and fireworks on 27-November-2010, the visit of the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train on 29-November-2010, and the CBC Metro Morning "Sounds of the Season" live broadcast on 3-December-2010, along with other scenes around town.

Margin Notes: Holidays, Devil, Pinkos, Osgood

One of the scenes in the store windows at The Bay in Toronto, Ontario was captured on 9-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Once upon a time, the store displays in big cities were a major draw of the holiday season, with people coming from outlying areas not only to shop, but to see what might be in the windows. I've been pretty disappointed with the store windows in Toronto the past few years. It's tough to complain about The Bay, since at least it has holiday displays unlike some retailers that do nothing, but they've mostly been repeats of winter scenes (like the one above) and Santa's shop for the past few years. The recession is over--it's time for some displays!

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A rather naughty Santa Claus was noted along Jane Street in Toronto, Ontario near Bloor on 11-December-2010

Of course, the quality of the display does matter. One of my neighbours has chosen to set up a rather naughty scene in his front yard in which Santa Claus periodically lowers his trousers to reveal "Ho Ho Ho" on his behind. I'm not really certain that one is the best to place on a busy street, and I hesitated before placing it on this blog, but near as I can tell no children are reading here anyway.

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One might say that the devil is behind that display. My favorite customer service request of all time may be the following: "Please remove the devil from all Tampa [items]." (A reference to the re-naming of the Tampa, Florida baseball team from the Devil Rays to the Rays.) It seems to be the business should retort, "What? You're paying me to do exorcisms now?"

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The devil apparently has been exorcised from local mall owners in the Toronto area. At the beginning of the season, there were several news articles on different malls that had banned the Salvation Army from ringing its bells at donation locations. Well, one by one, the malls bowed to public pressure and changed their policies. The last hold-out, the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto, reportedly changed its policy this week, and the signature bells of the season are again ringing all over. (Never mind that too few people bother to carry change anymore.)

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That kind of controversy sounds just like the kind of thing that new Toronto mayor Rob Ford would get involved in. Conservative sports anchor Don Cherry received quite a bit of publicity for insulting anyone that disagrees with Ford at his inaugural this week, calling them, amongst other things, "left-wing pinkos." As a result, liberal councillors have been wearing pink, and Spacing magazine is having trouble keeping up with the demand for pink buttons. It's going to be a long four years.

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Speaking of conservatives, has anyone else noticed that CBS commentator Charles Osgood seems to be taking over from the late Paul Harvey of ABC as the conservative voice of short-form radio? Listen to the 06:25 broadcast on Tuesday, the 06:25 broadcast on Wednesday, or the 07:25 broadcast on Friday and tell me if there isn't a right-wing slant in the presentation.

Holiday: Toronto Christmas Market

The entrance to the Toronto Christmas Market, sponsored by Lowe's, was observed on the evening of 9-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - One of the delights of the holiday season in central Europe are the Christmas markets in most towns of any size. These outdoor markets attract crowds with their outdoor huts of all kinds of gifts and foodstuffs. On business travel, I've had the privilege of being able to see Christmas markets in such places as Basel, Switzerland and Konstanz, Germany, and really enjoyed doing some Christmas shopping there.


Some of the vendors at the Toronto Christmas Market were observed in their authentic huts on 9-December-2010

When I heard that Toronto was going to have a German-style Christmas market this year, I was initially quite skeptical. While placing it in the Distillery District, which has a rather European atmosphere with its older brick buildings and small alleyways at any time of the year, seemed a good fit, I wasn't convinced that any such event in North America would be able to capture the feel of the European markets.


A choir performed German and North American Christmas favorites at the Toronto Christmas Market on 5-December-2010

When I arrived at the opening of the market last Friday night, however, I was pleasantly surprised. The shops looked straight out of Germany. Furthermore, the place was packed--it was barely possible to move around the central area around the stage and Christmas tree in order to explore the entire market.


Look closely at the turkey at the center of the Leonard Cakes store at the Toronto Christmas Market--it's actually a cake on 9-December-2010

There are only thirty stores at the Toronto Christmas Market, many fewer than a typical German market, and I was initially unimpressed, but after talking to some of the vendors, I changed my views. There were German-heritage businesses from as far away as Peterborough, Ontario, businesses that are normally on-line deciding to take up a holiday booth, and an interesting collection of entrepreneurs including a children's book author--all in all, very similar to the kind of mix found in Europe. Undoubtedly, as words gets around, there will be a larger number of more varied vendors next year.


One of several beer gardens at the Toronto Christmas Market, associated with a very fine German beer, was noted on 9-December-2010

While I might have been happy, the real test was the opinion of a native German. I had the opportunity to go to the market on Sunday with a group headed by a relatively-recent German transplant. He was duly impressed. He even managed to find the mulled wine, which was available at one of the beer gardens though it wasn't particularly promoted. While it wasn't as spiced up as it should have been, he was still quite happy that an effort had been made to offer it.


A puppet troupe performed for passers-by at the Toronto Christmas Market on 5-December-2010

Children have plenty to do at the Christmas Market as well, with roving entertainers, a real Gingerbread House to observe, a maze to walk through, and an "Elves' Workshop" where they can draw or write a letter to Santa. For more information on the Toronto Christmas Market, refer to its website but plan to visit soon--the market closes after this Sunday, 12-December-2010.

Photos: Toronto's Santa Claus Parade 2010

The Lowe's-sponsored float in the 2010 Santa Claus Parade in Toronto, Ontario had a bird theme on 21-November-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This week's update to my photo site looks back at the Santa Claus Parade. The holiday season has traditionally started in greater Toronto, Ontario with this parade. Held this year in moderate temperatures on 21-November-2010, a record number of floats and bands created a bit of a varied and very long experience for those that stayed until Santa Claus at the very end.

Margin Notes: Tiger, German Market, Redwood

A tiger was noted displayed for the holidays in Toronto, Ontario's Koreatown on 4-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - One of the disadvantages of doing most commuting underground in the subway is that one is completely oblivious to what's above ground. Apparently, the holiday light display shaped like a tiger pictured above has graced Koreatown here in Toronto near Christie Pits Parks each December since 2008. I didn't notice it until this year, and I have to say it may be my favorite lighted sculpture in the city.

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The crowds were so thick it was difficult to move near the performance stage during the opening of Toronto Christmas Market on 3-December-2010

Genuinely new this year is the German-style Christmas Market in the Distillery District of Toronto. I arrived late to the opening ceremonies on Friday night to discover that so many people had shown up that it was almost impossible to move around the stage, as shown above. This event is the best approximation of a German Christmas Market that I've seen in North America; I'll have more to say about it in a future post as I plan to go back at a quieter time--but it only runs through next Sunday.

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Winter will probably arrive in Toronto by next Sunday. We haven't had significant snow accumulation yet this season, but there were snow showers off and on all day today, and for the first time I decided to pull out my warmest winter hat to deal with a wind chill factor approaching -10 C even at mid-day. Of course, in a month, that will probably seem warm.

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It's warm inside the John Street Roundhouse this winter, the first season with interior heating in the museum stalls. The roof of a 1931 Canadian Pacific sleeping car is currently under restoration in those stalls, including the replacement of rotten wood. The kind of wood found on that roof was not what I would have expected--the restoration contractor, Tom Murison, identified it as California Redwood. If California Redwood was used on Canadian passenger cars in the 1930's, its use must have been quite widespread in the industry!

Holiday: Sounds of the Season 2010

All the artists from the live broadcast of CBC Radio One Toronto's "Metro Morning" Sounds of the Season broadcast were on-stage for the finale on 3-December-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Once a year, CBC Toronto holds an entire day of live and studio audience tapings of its programming at the national headquarters building in Toronto, Ontario. For the second straight year, I chose to get up early to be down in the Glenn Gould Studio in time to watch the taping of "Metro Morning," the morning drive-time show on CBC Radio One which airs from 5:30 to 8:30.


Host Matt Galloway took a moment before the show opened to send a picture of the audience to Twitter on 3-December-2010

While he had done plenty of live "Sounds of the Season" broadcasts as host of Here and Now, this was host Matt Galloway's first year doing the "Metro Morning" live broadcast. Galloway can hardly be accused of not being technologically adept--as we awaited the beginning of the show, he took a picture of the audience with his phone and posted it to the Internet via Twitter. As luck would have it, I happened to sit just a row away from Galloway's parents who had come to see their son at work!


Denzal Sinclaire performed the "Little Drummer Boy" during the Metro Morning Sounds of the Season live broadcast on 3-December-2010

The real draw of live broadcast is the musical artists that perform. This year, the Metro Morning broadcast featured the Toronto Mass Choir, Pavlo, and Daniela Nardi. Probably the most unusual performance was Elizabeth Shepherd and her Swedish husband Johan Hultqvist (of Mr. Something Something) who did a duet of a Swedish traditional holiday song. However, two performances really blew me away--Denzal Sinclaire, dressed
in jeans, singing the "Little Drummer Boy" with a great jazz sensibility, and Shakura S'Aida doing a wonderful rendition of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."


Shakura S'Aida performed the "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" impressing the audience in Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Ontario on 3-December-2010

For radio fans like myself, the other big draw of "Sounds of the Season" is the chance to actually see all the radio personalities who are normally just voices. As a past attendee, such broadcasters as traffic reporter Jim Curran, news reporter Jill Dempsey and business commentator Michael Hlinka were familiar faces, but medical columnist Peter Lin was a new face to me and it was equally fun to watch him tease Matt Galloway as it is to hear it on the air.


Dr. Peter Lin shared a lighter moment with host Matt Galloway during the live broadcast of "Metro Morning" on 3-December-2010

At one point, I pulled out my walkman to discover that the there was absolutely no delay in the broadcast--exactly what was happening in front of our eyes was going straight out to 99.1 FM without any buffering. In an age of digital broadcasting, that was remarkably refreshing.


Daily Bread Food Bank Executive Director Gail Nyberg spoke with Matt Galloway about fund-raising totals during the "Sounds of the Season" broadcast on 3-December-2010

Of course, the whole point of the broadcast was to raise money for area food banks including the Daily Bread Food Bank. It doesn't take a special day for that--donations are accepted anytime.

More coverage of the Sounds of the Season Metro Morning broadcast will be forthcoming in an update to my photo site

Holiday: Canadian Pacific Holiday Train 2010

The CN Tower was also decorated in holiday colors in the background as the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train arrived for its performance in Toronto, Ontario on 29-November-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Toward the beginning of the holiday season, communities across the northern United States and southern Canada receive a special visit. The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train rolls along its home rails, stopping in communities large and small to introduce Santa Claus, provide some musical entertainment, and raise money for local food banks.


The smoke cleared after the stage door opened for the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train's performance in Toronto, Ontario on 29-November-2010

For the third straight year, the Toronto performance of the train took place at the West Toronto Yard in The Junction neighborhood. The train was again decorated along its entire length with Light Emitting Diodes of shifting holiday scenes, with an emphasis on this "Canadian" train (a second train mostly visits communities in the United States) on packages and sleds, along with the famous four boxcars writing out "Canadian Pacific Holiday Train" in large lettering.


The locomotive of the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train was decorated with packages and bells as seen at West Toronto Yard in Toronto, Ontario on 29-November-2010

The main entertainment this year came from The Odds. They opened their performance with their most popular hit, "Someone Who's Cool," so it was instantly clear what band was playing. I found their performance especially amusing this year, as they intentionally mixed up Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman and otherwise tweaked holiday traditions. At one point, they brought a Canadian Pacific employee on-stage to play the harmonica with them, which was a nice way to connect with the audience, heavy on railroad employees.


The Canadian Pacific's Scott Nelson played the Harmonica with The Odds during the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train's performance in Toronto, Ontario on 29-November-2010

Of course, the main purpose of the train was raise money for local food banks. In Toronto, that means the Daily Bread Food Bank, and executive director Gail Nyberg was on hand to collect an oversized check from Canadian Pacific. Outgoing city councilperson Bill Saundercook was also part of the presentation in what may prove his last public appearance as an elected official; he talked about continuing the event next year as if he were not leaving office.


City councillor Bill Saundercook and Daily Bread Food Bank executive director Gail Nyberg held an oversized check from the Canadian Pacific on 29-November-2010

For the first time in recent years, the Holiday Train did not have to rush off for another performance in Vaughn, Ontario, the same night; the train instead backed up to overnight at Toronto Yard in the Agincourt neighborhood. Still, the performance was only about a half hour, and that actually felt way too short to me, though it's tough to complain about free, quality entertainment.


The rear of the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train was quiet as the train sat in Toronto, Ontario on 29-November-2010

The Holiday Train continues west, stopping for more performances every day, until it finishes in Port Moody, British Columbia on 17-December-2010. See the Canadian Pacific web site for schedule information.