How Did I Miss This?

Does this street corner look familiar?

How about now?

How about now?

Ahhh, now you get it. 

This poor little guy made headlines around the world and here he was lying on my corner for 16 hours and I didn't notice him. [Love the framed photo and condolence card.]

But lying there 16 hours on the busiest street in Toronto?

City officials said, of course, nothing unusual with waiting that long to pick up a dead raccoon.  They have 24 hours to pick up cadavers.

I guess......

But come on - they were first told of this fellow's demise at 7am.  Then Twitter got it at 9am.

Then a city Councillor repeatedly pleaded with them to come and pick it up.  All to no avail.

Until close to midnight, when the "vigil" was in full swing, when a city employee came by and dumped him in a green garbage bag, with the comment to bystanders, Come on people, it's a dead raccoon.

And you wonder why people often think these city employees are uncaring doofuses. They just can't help themselves.

So this morning, when I finally found out about it......

....somebody has taken the time to memorialize "Conrad".

Wonder how long the city will take to get rid of this tribute.

Probably will have to rip up the sidewalk - city procedures, people.

I Don't Believe It!

What don't I believe?

Not that this beautiful turn of the (last) century home hasn't been torn down - although that by itself is an accomplishment.....

But that.... 


It Is Actually A Subway Station!

Wow, for them to go to those lengths is amazing.

And the comment about it not being torn down;  it almost was when the subway was put through in the '70's.  The city bought the property to tear it down to build a proper (see below) station.

But locals and the Toronto Historical Board banded together to convince the city to preserve it.


Now This I Believe!

Nothing says "You're special" more than plastic and concrete.  And the more the better.

This is the next subway stop, just up the street.

What a difference a block makes.

I'm sure the transportation planners are glad those pesky locals didn't interfere this time!


And This I Believe, Too

Nothing says "You're special"  (Part Deux) more than a welcoming entrance.

Although it's not - either welcoming nor an entrance.

It's hard to make out, but what it says is, "Don't enter here, go all the way to the end of the block, pay your money, then come back here to catch your sad, sorry bus. Do you think this is here for your convenience?"

So I think I will walk the other direction and enter the subway through another era in time........

I'm Not Alone!

A while back I posted that some total idiot - sorry, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee  -  thought now would be a great time for Toronto to bid for the 2024 Olympics.

I guess there are also others not enamoured with the idea, based on this article.

She has a very good take on it, though, some repeated here;

On the second day of Toronto’s temporary affair with high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes for the 2015 Pan Am Games, commuters stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic were offered a bit of news surely designed to goad a few to veer off the road (and thus, keep traffic moving along): “Pan Am Games seen as possibly setting the stage for a Toronto Olympics bid.”

You start to giggle. “Did the radio host read that right? Could Toronto really be that masochistic?” More giggling. You’ve been in the car for an extra hour by now. 

Try cracking the window — that recirculated air might be getting to your head. “The Pan Am Games haven’t even started yet! They want the Olympics?” Your giggles harden and coalesce, transforming into booming, maniacal laughter. “The Olympics!” 

You feel a pinching in your side and don’t even notice that the car in front of you has progressed an extra ten feet. “Oh God,” you gasp, tightening your fingers over the leather of the steering wheel, “I’m really going to need the bathroom soon.” 

Laughter consumes you once again and you sit there, delirious, until the sudden blast of a horn behind you snaps you back into reality. You release your death-grip on the steering wheel, if only to free your hands to gesture in your rearview mirror. 

Mayor Tory [Toronto's mayor] says he will wait to see how “the overall Pan Am story goes” before making any sort of decision. To that I say: Dear God, no. Stop. Turn around. We already know how this story ends; I can’t fathom why we’d want to repeat it. 

I know exactly how she feels.   Except there would have been several expletives-deleted's during the car part.  Olympics!!

Finally The Name Makes Sense

I even ate there once.  When I was on Bieber Patrol,  <---- belieb="" check="" don="" if="" it="" me.......="" p="" t="" you="">

Nature - Gotta Love It

Spent some time on beautiful Mazinaw Lake recently.

For those not in the know, it is about three hours north east of Toronto.

It is part of a very interesting ecological formation in the area.

Mazinaw is the north-south lake in the middle left.  While all around it are east-west lakes.

I realize I had mentioned this before, so for a refresher on this see Home Alone.  [Pay no attention to the Home Alone references or cliff jumping imbeciles.]

So on this trip we got a litle more serious and found some very interesting cultural artifacts.

As this lake - allegedly - was formed by massive faults in the earth's sedimentary crust, the sheer walls go straight up 300 feet and, beneath the water, straight down 300 feet.

I'm surprized my cheap cellphone camera doesn't capture it better.

As we were motoring along, our guide - and host - pointed out something that looked to be pictures or paintings on the walls of the cliffs.

[For those of you that read the previous post, the aforementioned imbecile likely jumped right over one.]

According to legend, these paintings depicted the Ojibwa spirit Nanabush - born of a human mother and spirit father.

He, or similar characters to him, also existed in Algonquin and Cree culture.  But only if you can believe Wikipedia.

These drawings have been here for hundreds of years.

As we were working - okay, fishing - later on, came across a better depiction of Nanabush.

Can't you see him?

Is that better?

How about now! as our guide & host points him out to the inept photographer.

There.  Nanabush often take the form of a rabbit. 

Of the wascally variety, as he is known as a trickster.  And a shape-shifter.

You can identify him by his two large ears.

Well.......beep beep, that's all folks.

Oh Oh...I've Seen This Movie Before

Lovely turn of the (last) century apartment building near the University of Toronto.

It's great that the U of T keeps so many of its heritage buildings.

Oh oh......

Or does it.

Hmmm.....bricked up windows.....

Beside a parking lot......

Spells.... b'bye?

Well, maybe not.

Here is its neighbour.

Well......I guess that's better than nothin'.....

Come On.....

Man, someone was working overtime in the Drugstore Translation Department to come up with this one.

Pay me half the money and I guarantee I can come up with something plus bettre.

One In A Continuing Series

Out for a stroll and see that a beautiful new condo is going to be built.

Looks great.  Except for a couple of things.

First, looks like it is being built behind a tiny, old Gothic styled church.

And they're keeping the church.  That's great.

Except for the fact that the church is not that tiny, as there are multiple buildings in behind.

[The church section shown in the top photo shows the tower, which you can just see on the left in this pic.]

And the condo is going to be built just about where that black box is.

You wascally wabbits!

Second; looks like you will have beautiful views in all directions.

Oopsie.....looks like the promotional material forgot one little item.

The 20 storey building right beside it.  (The building in which I toiled for 15 years.)

So here is the view you won't be seeing it from your new living room.

But we saw it from the model suite in that 20 storey building.

Maybe you can get to know these guys.

Correction

As we lowered our gaze from the Toronto downtown skyline, we noticed construction activity directly below the model suite.

With super slow mo, infra red enhancement, we identified what looks to be the outline of another tower.

We asked the charming sales associate what that was.

"Oh, that's a another tower being built", she sort of smiled.

"How tall?"

"20 storeys", she grimaced.

"Won't it block these million dollar views?" (Our 1,600 square foot 1.5M$ model is on the 10th floor.)

"We were told no.  Or only a little bit."

Oh you wabbits make me wery wery angwee.

No!!

No!

No way!

Unh uh!

Forget it!

Nada!

Bupkis!

Get lost!

Now I won't be able to sleep knowing that idiot is out there.

He's already called the yet-to-start Pan Am Games a "fantastic success".

Scram!

I'm Opening A Bar In Calgary!

When Alberta elected the NDP by mistake last month, it opened the door for a whole bunch of new policies to be tried.

One of them is a minimum guaranteed income, or Mincome.  Everybody would get a guaranteed annual $20,000 to $30,000.  Not bad!

Calgary's mayor, Naheed Nensh, is volunteering his city to pilot test this experiment.

Well, I think Gordon Lightfoot is going to get a bump up in his royalty cheques, as soon every grifter in Canada will be singing Alberta Bound and taking the next Greyhound west.

So with 20 to 30 grand in your pockets, you get yourself a nice apartment, some cowboy boots and a string tie.

But like any self respecting grifter knows, you need something to do all day.

Welcome to Jimmy's Bar & Grill!

More bar than grill, I suspect, unless you can grill pickled eggs.

I'm sensing a whole new business climate out there.

Move over Oil, there's a new liquid in town.

What Would Happen.......

....if we shut down the Canadian Senate for six months and just see what happens?

Would anyone notice?

Go home, Senators.

I guess we can keep paying them during the pilot test.  But don't charge anything!


And then, try it for six more months.....

And then......

Next - on to Parliament!


Morning Update:
From The Great-Minds-Think-Alike File

In this morning's paper: I guess I'm not alone in my wishful thinking.

What Was That?

[Note: Not the same "What was that?" as yesterday's Men's Sex Maze post. At least I hope not.]

About midnight, loud crash boom outside my window.

Woke up this morning, decided to investigate.

View From My Window

Yonge Street closed in all directions.

Just in time for the morning rush.

Something happened.....

Lots of hook and ladders and tow trucks gathered.


680 News?!

Wow, I've never had their roving reporter outside my building before!

Hey, I know that guy!

I actually listened to him this morning on the radio, right from there I guess.


Yowza!

According to buddy outside my building, a cabbie was smacked head-on by an allegedly drunk driver.

Both front ends mashed together pretty good.

Lots of guys in hospital and driver under arrest.

Never a dull moment in my neighbourhood.  [I'm getting tired of typing that.]

Hey?!

"What was that?"

"Owww..."

"Is that what I think it is?"


"What the....?"

"Holy......!"

Overheard at a recent event.

Never a dull moment in my neighbourhood.

And I wonder how you qualify for the "or less" feature of the $10 Entry fee?

Location, Location, Location

These two businesses are across the street from each other.

So either the owners of the Cardinal Funeral Home are very savvy businessmen....

Or the practitioners at Toronto Western Hospital are not very good doctors....

I know they are good at deliveries, as I was born here, but after that......

And I hope that arrow in the top picture is not pointing to what I think it is.

Wow

At 17 I think I was either still trying to undo a bra clasp with one hand or make a bong out of a corn cob pipe.

Kids today......