Summer Distraction

This great weather makes studying very difficult...... whenever I'm sitting in my cubicle, my attention is intermittently drawn to the window.....the sky has been so blue and sunny..... it beckons me to come out and enjoy it while it lasts...... this week I've been heeding the call of the window and have found myself eating my lunch at Harbourfront..... here was another beautiful summer day by Lake Ontario......it was depressing however, to see that "Quay to the City" had ended, Queens Quay has been given back to the car leaving pedestrians, cyclists, and skaters to share only about 2 m of sidewalk again..... here's what was left of the bicycle "arc de triomphe".... They invited the public to take home the geraniums that comprised that kilometer long flower bed.....I got some for Tu Anh, and they're growing happily in her garden now..... Can't wait for the planned changes to the waterfront to be permanent..... In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the summer..... TECHNORATI TAGS: toronto, toronto waterfront

Daryl Maddeaux Rocks!

Check this out.......Those rocks are just balancing on top of each other..... no mortar, glue, cement, screws, nails, velcro, or what have you holding them together..... here is the artist Daryl Maddeaux setting one up......and here's the final product.....here he goes again......Wow.....Daryl said he learned the art of balancing rocks growing up in Fredericton, New Brunswick.....why does he do it?..... to illustrate that "nothing is impossible"....."no matter how difficult life may seem".....(I'm paraphrasing).....I witnessed a couple of them topple over, to which Daryl says "nothing lasts forever"..... VERY COOL Daryl!

TECHNORATI TAGS: toronto, rock balancing, daryl maddeaux

Protest

That was the scene as I made my way to the study center today..... as I approached the building I realized that the entrance was blocked off and surrounded by police..... I spoke to an officer and she instructed me to go around to the back, where they asked for two pieces of ID...... when I got to the lobby I was shocked to see about a dozen officers in riot gear and another dozen guarding the front doors......that's what happens when you share a building with the Israeli Consulate..... as you can see there was a small contingent of pro-Israel people..... But they were grossly outnumber by the Anti-Israel contingent......sorry for the poor quality of the picture but I took it from the window at the study center and I couldn't fit them all in the shot...... I made out Palestinian and Lebanese flags, pictures of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah, but Mohawk flags too?? I'm not too sure what that was all about, but I didn't really stick around to listen coz I needed to study..... the whole situation in the Middle East is so complicated that I really need to sit down and STUDY all the information from both sides before I can really decide where I stand on the issues, but I don't have time for all of that right now..... it seems that the problems in that region have existed since biblical times, and this recent skirmish has just made an already complicated situation even worse..... I don't really believe that the problems there will ever be resolved..... but I pray that at the very least, the UN resolution will stick on Monday.....

Quay to the City

It was a beautiful summer day today.....the humidity has finally gone, the temperature was in the mid-20's C, the sun was shining, and there was not a cloud in the sky....Tu Anh and I went down to Harbourfront Centre to check out "Quay to the City", the sneak preview of the winning design for the central waterfront.... they've closed off the eastbound lanes of Queens Quay (BTW, "quay" is pronounced "key" don't ask me why...) from Spadina to York, and converted the street into bicycle and pedestrian lanes and a lane of grass.... I think the grass is where the trees called for by the winning design are supposed to go..... the streetcars stay where they are..... to highlight the fact that Queen's Quay has been claimed for the bicycle and the pedestrian, a "l'arc de cyclomphe" has been erected at the foot of York steet.... I'm not so sure about what's going to happen with the traffic situation when they actually do get rid of eastbound lanes.... if you notice the westbound lanes of Queens Quay are jammed with cars.... anyways, the event will run from August 11-20..... there will be various free events like canoe and kayak rides, screenings of Jaws and POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl, a hot and spicy food festival (food's not free unfortunately), a sand sculpting exhibition, a "tall ship" boat tour of the central waterfront, etc..... Here's a map and schedule of the events.... I tried some of the spicy food....I don't know what I was thinking.....I don't do too well with spicy food.... Tu Anh enjoyed it though..... I preferred the crepes du soleil....mmmmm.....my sweet-tooth is gonna give me Diabetes Mellitus type 2....

TECHNORATI TAGS: toronto, toronto waterfront, queen's quay

Poems from the Subway

They've recently changed the poems on the subway, so I thought I'd share a few of them....

By Christl Verduyn

By Stefan Psenak

En francais/In English:

Par/By:

Here's an interesting one..... Is it really a poem though?..... I think it would look great hanging in an art gallery.....
By the Way, check out the new trains:

I like the fact that the cars will be connected:

In case you encounter one of the many crazies that the subway is teeming with, you're no longer trapped in one car.... the sucky thing though, is that the front car no longer has a passenger window, so you can't watch the train speeding through the tunnels anymore.... oh well check out the other new features on the TTC website.....

TECHNORATI TAGS: poetry, toronto, ttc