Margin Notes: Blue Jay, Electric Car, Podcasts

A Blue Jay was found where else--Toronto, specifically Lambton Park on 16-May-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Despite the name of its baseball team, I don't see the actual blue jay bird very often in Toronto. The last time I captured a picture of one was in 2007. So, I was quite pleased today when one flew right in front of me in Lambton Park and landed in a nearby tree, affording the above photo opportunity. Perhaps coincidentally, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Texas Rangers today.

* * * * * *

After taking nice nature walks along the Humber River or High Park and seeing collections of birds and other wild life, I really dislike walking along streets with noisy vehicles. Thus, earlier this week, I was quite pleased when I watched a Ford Escape hybrid take a near-silent turn onto a street and proceed with barely a sound. I think I'm going to really like the electric car era when it finally arrives.

* * * * * *


The first new sidewalk stencil I have discovered in 2010 was this Rafat General Contractors one on Humbercrest Boulevard on 16-May-2010

I was avoiding walking along busy Jane Street when I cut along Humbercrest Boulevard today. There, I stumbled upon my first sidewalk stencil of 2010--a patch of concrete sidewalk that was probably poured on Friday. Rafat General Contractors gets the honor of being the first name I photographed in concrete in 2010.

* * * * * *

My first sidewalk stencil came almost a month earlier in 2010 than 2009, but my observation skills are still pretty slow. I just now realized that the BBC Newshour is available as a podcast. What I consider to be the premiere world news program has apparently been available for months. Getting a downloadable BBC news program on the weekend had long been one of my primary desires for electronic media. The only programs that I regularly listen to now that don't have a downloadable version with at least the bulk of the broadcast are the NPR news magazines (like All Things Considered and Weekend Edition Saturday) and CJAD/CFRB's Dr. Joe Schwarcz science show. In fact, I think my biggest complaint now is that one can't get Jian Ghomeshi's monologue for Q except on the live broadcast.

Margin Notes: Canadian Symbols, Construction

A very Canadian billboard was noted along Dundas Street West in Toronto, Ontario on 16-June-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Continuing last week's theme of never knowing what you'll see next in Toronto, I found the above billboard in the Lambton neighborhood of Toronto last week. Research revealed it was an attempt at a viral marketing campaign, but ignoring that, wasn't the message quintessentially Canadian?

* * * * * *


A beaver was noted swimming up the Humber River in Toronto, Ontario on 16-June-2009

There is nothing more quintessentially Canadian than a beaver swimming down a river, and that's what I found when taking a walk along the Humber River last week. This was probably the beaver that built a partial dam near the Canadian Pacific bridge over the Humber, but even if it was someone else, it was a nice surprise.

* * * * * *

The beaver undoubtedly pronounces in Canadian fashion, which seems to include a complete inability to use a soft "a". I've never gotten used to "pasta" pronounced as "PASS-tuh"--the word is Italian! The recent news about Chrysler has really driven me crazy, though, as no less than Peter Mansbridge of the CBC has taken to saying "Fee-AT" for the Italian carmaker "Fiat" which should be much closer to "FEE-aht". Plenty of Italians live around here--can we just listen to how they pronounce things?

* * * * * *

Speaking of the CBC, there is still no information on the summer radio schedule, though apparently it doesn't start until next week. Clearly, they must know what it is; Dispatches, today, for example announced that it will move to Thursdays at 1 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. How hard can it be to release this information?

* * * * * *

It's hard to include much information in a 140-character tweet on Twitter, but those of us that write lots of pictures captions in Shutterfly actually ought to be decent at it. With a long-time 120-character limit lifted only some months ago (that I still mostly observe), those used to writing photo descriptions ought to find Twitter's limit a snap. I'm still not enticed, though.

* * * * * *


A pile driver rested for the weekend at Old Weston Road in Toronto, Ontario on 21-June-2009

The noise in the Junction neighborhood of Toronto continues to not be enticing. I stopped by to look at progress in the railroad grade separation yesterday, and indeed it looked about 30% done as shown on a progress sign. It's going to be a long summer for those living anywhere near the Junction.

* * * * * *


I finally noticed my first 2009 sidewalk stencil this week, noted on York Street near Union Station in Toronto on 20-June-2009

The construction season that can make the summer seem long results in lots of freshly poured concrete, and in Toronto that means new sidewalk stencils. Amazingly, it took me until this Saturday to notice my first "2009" sidewalk stencil, found as a result of the York Street work near Front Street that took place over a month ago. Now, I'm back to looking for old sidewalk stencils... anyone seen any pre-World War II dates?