And Blah, Blah, Blah....

I'm sure those Pyshic guys know what all that etc. stuff is.  No need to spell it out.

In fact, no need to spell correctly either.

Any Day....Errrr...Month....Now

An update on something I blogged about (whined about) earlier - see Don' Get Me Started, Again  to get brought up to speed on this latest debacle.

The work to replace all the hand laid pavers between Yonge & Bay should be done just in time......for them to rip it all up again to build the next condo.

Which is the white building on left - it is slated to become a charming, 66 storey behemoth. (I think anything under 70 stories is now called a boutique condo.)

Any bets on whether (or when) these get all pulled up again?

This pic below shows that they are almost there, just feet from the end, right at Bay St.

Of course, as I mentioned, the supervisor told me that, don't worry, the contractor will be paying for this extra work.

Oh he'll be paying for it....by over billing the city on all his other projects.  [Ed. note: he's just kidding, in the remote chance that someone actually reads this stuff.]

And if you think any city employee pays attention to the cost of these projects.... well...... Google "Sony Centre Cost Overruns" to see the most recent example.

Okay, I did it for you; an article from the National Post and even a scathing one from the Toronto Star.  When The Toronto Star starts slagging city bureaucrats, you know it's bad.

When you have digested that, Google "PanAm2015 Cost Overruns".  The fun here has only just begin.......

I Blame Me. And You!

I hope you are sitting down.

Because this may come as a real shock:  Jilly's is going out of business!

Boy, Rob Ford goes out of town for a few days and a strip bar closes.

So the venerable great lady of Toronto's gentlemen's entertainment industry will soon be no more.

They say the closing will put 30 to 40 dancers out of work.   Guy beside me said, "Guess that means a wholesale ho sale."

I don't find that funny.  But maybe some of you Troglodytes do.

So the bar is gone.  But what about the building?

Designed in the beautiful Romanesque Revival style of architecture by one of Toronto's most famous architects, EJ Lennox (Old City Hall, Casa Loma, The Ontario Legislature Buildings to name a few), in 1893, the fear was that it would be torn down to make way for...say it all together now....condos!

But the purchaser says, "No!"

So that - at least for now - is good news.

However, that wouldn't necessarily be in keeping with the surrounding neighbourhood at Queen East and Broadview.

Some of you may have heard of The Real Jerk.  [Ed. note: we read your blog, don't we?]

Ha ha, The Jerk was one of the original Jamaican jerk chicken shops in town. It went down for the count and was replaced with this all too upscale Irish bar.

Now the question is, across the street, will Dangerous Dan's still survive.

For now he's alive and kicking.

But back to Jilly's.

For those in the know - and I'll take their word for it, of course, having no other way of knowing - the smart money was on coming around the side and joining the best party in town.

With "homemade cooking".

So started with a dig at Rob Ford and will wrap up with the same.

At one time, I believe in the 60's, the likely also venerable Ford Drugs resided in the same building.

At least according to the reporter from whom I stole this and the top photo. As how would I know, as the photos are inside the bar on the right hand wall, so I am told.

Not sure if that is a young Rob in the middle there.  Doubt it, but a good seque anyway, as I didn't like where that last paragraph was going.

So in summary; Jilly's gone, building stays, no condos for now.  Never been there.

Oh Yeah. Great Idea!

At meetings, everybody would be afriad to say anything.

"....what did you just say?  Hey, did everybody hear Bob's joke?"

These Guys.....

 Had a great view of downtown until they built.....

This Guy

And they laughed at the little guys behind them.  Until they built....


This Guy

And it will now be the new guys laughing.  Because......


These Guys

Will soon be getting up close and personal like you wouldn't believe with....


These Guys

And will soon feel like......


These Guys

So the big winners are......


These Guys?

At least for now.......

Who knows what's coming next door.......


I guess John Prine said it best:

"That's the way the world goes round
You're up one day, the next you're down."

Meh. It Wasn't As Special As We Thought It Would Be

Dude, Where's My View?

I guess you gotta take what you can get in downtown Toronto.

Plus that afternoon sun can be pretty hot, anyway.

I Only Have One Problem.....

...with this cornerstone.

Hey.  Maybe all the good corners were taken.

A Great Lady

Kitty Cohen, pictured here in the Toronto Star, became the oldest Canadian - at 101 - to throw out the first pitch at a Jays game.   Wow!

So what's the Arnotti connection?

Kitty and my mother used to entertain folks at seniors' residences in Toronto.  My mother would play the piano and Kitty would dance, dressed as a sailor, a South Seas damsel or a Cowgirl, to name a few.  And they both would sing.

And this was not when they were in their 70's either.  Before my mother left Toronto, she was 90 and Kitty was 93.

My mother used to tell me, "I do enjoy playing for all the old dears".  I finally had to tell her, "You is an old dear."

And I know she took pride in that.  And I'm sure Kitty did.  I mean still does.

So a great little Mother's Day reminder.

Thanks Kitty.

Mixed Messages....?

....being sent by the medical community?  [Sign in my doctor's office.]


Clever, but usually I am getting the finger wag - no matter how much I lie about how much I imbibe - that I drink too much.

And then they tease me with this?  Well that's beyond the pale.

It's enough to drive you to drink!

Or at least a good lick of the hands.

Oh Boy! Don't Get Me Started..... Again

So no sooner had the city laid down beautiful pavers all along Yorkville Avenue this fall (and how much did that cost?)....

...than they are ripping them all out again. What?

One by one.

By hand.

I asked the supervisor, what happened?

The darnedest thing.  Seems they forgot to put enough sand in between the pavers.

[Now I would have thought that would have been pretty near the start of "Laying Pavers 101", but I guess I would have thought wrong]

So with the winter, they have now shifted and chipped.

So right from Yonge over the Bay St. they are pulling them all up.

One by one.

By hand.

(Oh, I already said that.)

And replacing the chipped ones.

After seeing the look on my face, the supervisor said, "Uhhh...the contractor is paying for this, don't worry."

Oh, I worry.

It's what I do.

Okay. You Got Me....

Pretty accurate for ten bucks.

They were all over me when I came in the store.

And then, "Excuse me sir, can I help you?"

"Uhhh........no."    They've stopped.

Totally