Countdown to Cardiff

Photo: Gordonplant

In mid-September I will be heading to Wales and Cardiff for 12 days. That will be three times longer than any of my last two previous stays of around 4 days.

I'm booked to fly out of Hamilton into Dublin, and then an hour flight from Dublin into Cardiff. On my return I'll be spending a day in Dublin (I've never been to one of my ancestral homes, Ireland) and should also be able to visit with a former Metro co-worker who moved there at the beginning of the year.

In Cardiff I'm all set for a B&B in the town centre and will rent a bike and just explore all there is to see on land and water.

Cardiff, here I come.

Goin' to the chapel

A week from today and my 24-year-old niece Kate and her fiance Neil will be wife and husband.

I am so looking forward to the joyous occasion. I am sure I will cry when my brother Kelly walks her down the aisle (and I would be surprised if he didn't cry, too.)

She is the first in her generation in our family to wed and they are a ready, solid couple.

The celebration will be at my brother and sister-in-law's home on a lake in Michigan, under a tent under the August moon, with anywhere from 200 to 300 in attendance.

There will be dancing outside to a Beatles' cover band. All night long.

My younger niece and nephew, Sarah and Shawn -- 7 (going on 8) and 6 -- will be flower girl and ring bearer respectively.

And I will be a very proud and happy aunt and sister.

Toronto the Strange

Top photo: gbalogh Bottom photo: FuzzyRixard

When I first moved to Toronto, I would see painted moose in a few locations. I actually thought at one point it was an Asian symbol I was totally unaware of, as I only saw them outside of Asian businesses (obviously, not painted as those above). How naive. I have since learned it was a brainstorm of former mayor Mel Lastman to put Toronto on somebody's map. Fortunately -- in my opinion anyway -- there are only a few of these creations left, out of an original 326. A few is OK. The Ronald McDonald moose directly above graces the headquarters next door to my place of work.

Toronto local TV is graced with more than its share of outrageous pitchmen. The aforementioned former mayor Mel Lastman has passed his furniture business on to his son as well as his Bad Boy sense of the grab-their-attention sell.

Check out Idomo Furniture's fuzzy flowerchild gone grey on YouTube. (There must be something about the furniture business.)

But the worst (and more original) offender is Russell Oliver of Oliver Jewellery. This guy is just kind of creepy (and he has a whole slew of commercials -- playing fairly often). The sadly defunct Royal Canadian Air Farce pegged him more than 10 years ago.

And, for now, last but not least, are the multitude of raccoons in this city. Coming home at 2:30 a.m. I generally can see them every other night -- but especially the night before garbage pickups. Very healthy, fat, lumbering raccoons, often with three or four little ones waddling in their humpbacked manner across the streets. I've even seen one in broad daylight, flattening itself through an opening into the attic of a three-storey home. It is a mystery to me why the new Porter Airlines picked a raccoon -- Mr. Porter -- as its symbol.

Toronto, the Not so Good

Also, just a sampling:

• The lack of a true centre in the city
• Yonge and Dundas Square -- more concrete surrounded by sky-high advertising in an attempt to imitate Times Square. This could have been the city centre, but feels like the inside of a pinball game.
• The displaced and homeless -- In a fifteen-minute walk I can easily come across at least three people talking to themselves, and then several more in no condition to talk to anyone, not even themselves. It is very sad, especially the number who seem to have primarily mental disorders.
• The lack of true space for children to play. The schoolyard behind me (all asphalt) has its gates locked and basketball courts off limits when school ends.
• The lack of truly good breakfast places (in the downtown anyway)
• Surprising lack of good, medium-priced restaurants downtown.
• The way the media (and Torontonians) complain about the weather.
• The way traffic gets snarled as soon as anything precipitates, rain or snow -- even if it is just a drizzle.
• The scary-looking tranny sex workers on my street in the wee hours of the morning.

Toronto the Good

Photo: K-Billz

Certainly not a comprehensive list, but here are some of my favourite things about Toronto:

• The Toronto Islands
• Summers in the city -- any weekend, from downtown, I can walk in any direction and probably find a festival I don't even know about
• Taste of the Danforth (the annual, primarily Greek, street festival)
• Riverview Farm and the Necropolis Cemetery
• Broadview Park -- across the Don Valley from Riverview with a sunset view of downtown
• Cherry Beach
• The CN Tower with its LED lights -- I can watch them change from the couch in my livingroom
• The view from my apartment of downtown on the right, treetops on the left, and the lake straight ahead in the distance behind The Islands
• The scarves, head-coverings and robes of women from India, Africa and the Mideast -- so feminine and flowing, always flattering, so graceful, and such beautiful colours
• Film festivals
• TVO
• Rick Mercer (I know he's a Maritimer, but his show is based here)
• The city's mayor, David Miller -- an intelligent man with vision
• The George Street Diner (after searching for almost six years, I have found the perfect diner)
• The ravines and the way they weave throughout the city
• The most amazing bookstores, used and new
• Street jewellery
• The Philosopher's Walk, U of T