Margin Notes: Politeness, Signs, Conversation

Do Canadian children really need a book on how to be more polite, as found at a Queen Street West bookstore in Toronto, Ontario on 6-September-2010?

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Canadians, at least by American standards, are almost obscenely polite. I thought that it was a joke that they apologized to their furniture after bumping in to them, but then I observed it, and I've even done it myself. So, when I saw the above book in the window of the above book store as I watched the Labour Day Parade, my only thought was "Are you kidding?"

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I don't know what was going on Labour Day morning, but as I walked downtown to the parade I ran into some unproductive canine behavior. A small bulldog was noted trying to pick a fight with a Great Dane at High Park, which looked especially ridiculous as the Great Dane tried to ignore the other dog, and along Dundas Street West a man looked perplexed as he walked two large dogs that suddenly decided to fight each other on the sidewalk. They were still barking and going at it when I went out of earshot.

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A sign guiding bicyclists on an "indirect left turn" was noted at Dundas and Dupont in Toronto, Ontario on 30-August-2010

Farther northwest on Dundas Street West, I ran into the above sign guiding bicyclists that wished to cross Dundas from Dupont to Annette. The whole concept of an "indirect left turn" is rather fascinating--if what they suggest (staying to the right, and then joining cross traffic on another street) is "indirect," then what is the concept of going an extra block and making three right turns?

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That topic might seem a bit obscure, but I bet Ross Reynolds could guide a good conversation about it. The Conversation, a call-in show hosted by Reynolds on KUOW in Seattle, Washington, turned ten years old this week, and is still going strong as a noontime show. My congratulations to the Conversation team for creating ten years of excellent radio!

Margin Notes: Their Way, Birds, Plinky

A "their way" sign seemed to have taken the place of a "one way" sign at the foot of Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario on 14-August-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Sometimes it's better not to be able to read road signs. I have no idea what to make of the above one-way sign, seen looking west on College Street at the south end of Queen's Park Crescent. Is this a political statement about what goes on in the Legislative Assembly? Am I allowed to go "their way" if I want to? Does this mean I can go the other way if I don't like "them"? I'm pretty sure that sign doesn't appear in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) for Canada.

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Continuing in the theme common on this blog of never knowing what you'll see next in on the streets of Toronto, I decided to walk on Gerrard Street this afternoon west of Yonge, which is not an especially busy street. On the sidewalk, I found a man in a wheelchair clearly enjoying some pot. I knew what city I was in!

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A great white egret flew high above the Humber River in Toronto, Ontario on 18-August-2010

It's easy to forget that one is in the city when walking along the Humber River. On Wednesday night, I was treated to quite a variety of large birds, with a great white egret choosing to make several fly-overs and a great blue heron perching in a tree right across the river from me before it decided to head downriver. For some reason, the sight of the herons in a tree never ceases to elicit from me a degree of awe.


A great blue heron took off from its perch in a tree along the Humber River at dusk on 18-August-2010

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Dave Wetherald was at the throttle of the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre's steam locomotive #3, in front of steam locomotive #6213 during a test run on 7-July-2009

Those bird pictures are unlikely to ever appear beyond this blog, but the picture above is in today's Toronto Sun. Mike Filey asked for an appropriate picture for an item on the 6213 steam locomotive from the Toronto Railway Historical Association, and they ended up sending the above photo. However, Filey's column does not appear to be on-line anymore, so the only evidence will be a physical copy of the Sun.

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I've noticed more and more posts on various blogs citing Plinky prompts. Plinky markets itself as a service to overcome writer's block by asking provocative questions. I have no problem with people using Plinky, but if I ever suffer from writer's block, I will simply not write something on this blog for that day. As the past nearly two years have shown, this does not happen very often--in fact, probably not often enough for most readers.

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: Marquee, Signage, Flowers

What will likely be the last marquee messages at the Lusty Lady in Seattle, Washington were observed on 11-June-2010

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - Remember the Lusty Lady marquee? The Seattle institution will close today, so the current marquee featuring "The Rear End of An Era" and "Bare Thee Well Seattle" will likely stand as its final ribald configuration.

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A full-color pavement marking for Interstate 405 was noted in Bellevue, Washington on 24-June-2010

A sign that is not intended to disappear soon is a new style of pavement marking guiding motorists to Interstate 405 on 112th Ave NE in Bellevue, Washington. The markings, rather than just using white, are using a full-color interstate shield in blue, red, and white as shown above. I wonder what the marking will look like after a few tens of thousands of cars pass over it.

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Complicated traffic circle signs are proliferating in the Pacific Northwest, including this example at 104th Ave SE and SE 10th Street in Bellevue, Washington on 10-June-2010

Traffic circles or roundabouts are increasingly common in the state of Washington, a trend encouraged by traffic engineers at the state highway department. As a result, increasingly complicated signs are warning motorists of their existence; the above example from a residential roundabout in Bellevue is actually relatively simple.

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Flowers inside glass jars were noted along Bellevue, Washington's pedestrian corridor on 24-June-2010

Another strange sight was found along the Bellevue Pedestrian Corridor, a set of flowers inside jars. The jars were laid out along the NE 6th Street corridor east of 106th Ave NE last week, with no sign of explanation. Does anyone know what this was all about?

Margin Notes: Green Desert, Arnold Palmer, FM

Manastash Ridge south of Ellensburg, Washington showed a rare green face on 13-May-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Canada's largest city is now enveloped in the green of springtime as it should be in mid-May, but I was surprised last week to find Manastash Ridge between Ellensburg and Yakima, Washington substantially green. This area, used by the US Army as a proving ground, is normally quite brown and desert-like. I guess I had never passed through at right time of spring before, as I could not recall it ever being anything close to green before.

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While eastern Washington and Oregon are hardly as green as a golf course even in spring, the drinks served there think they are on a golf course. While having lunch in Bend, Oregon on 8-May, I first heard someone order an "Arnold Palmer" drink. I had no idea what it was, but I found out later in the day at the Madras, Oregon location of the Black Bear Diner--it's half iced tea, half lemonade, and the taste didn't impress me very much.

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While I may not have eaten at In'N'Out Burger this trip, I did manage a meal at Burgerville last Saturday, and while I had more traditional items, I was very impressed to find an asparagus and tomato melt sandwich on their seasonal menu. Considering how remarkable and in tune with its region that Burgerville continues to be, I have my doubts In'N'Out Burger will ever be able to expand into the Pacific Northwest, even if it wanted to.

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It's becoming almost unremarkable to have a major AM radio station start simulcasting or move to FM, but another major example took place on 15-May, as Seattle's only clear-channel, 50,000 watt station, KOMO Newsradio at 1000 AM, started simulcasting on 97.7 FM. Despite a transmitter northwest of Shelton on the Olympic Peninsula, I found that the FM signal came in reasonably clearly on the Eastside. Unlike the recent move of KIRO programming to FM, KOMO intends this to be a permanent simulcast on both AM and FM, meaning that Seattle news will still boom in at night as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada.

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The "Bellevue Financial Center" in Bellevue, Washington still wore the Washington Mutual brand on 14-May-2009, but most other locations had already turned into Chase

Another transition is taking place rapidly on the West Coast. Former locations of Washington Mutual have substantially transformed into the Chase locations. I don't think I saw a single remaining "WaMu" in California, and one of the few remaining locations in Washington state was my "home" branch in Bellevue, Washington pictured above.

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A variable speed limit sign greeted travelers westbound on I-90 across Mercer Island, Washington on 15-May-2009

A new feature has been added to I-90 between Bellevue and Seattle, Washington--variable speed limit signs. I've seen a variety of variable speed limit signs over the years from Snoqualmie Pass in Washington state to the Autobahns around Cologne, Germany, and these may be the best-looking signs I've seen. They still have the traditional white background and could be mistaken for nothing other than a normal speed limit sign. Unfortunately, when they display anything other than 60 mph, that means that there's a traffic jam to navigate.