Archive for ◊ September, 2008 ◊

30 Sep 2008 Business As Usual

business as usual

Interesting financial times we’re in, I must say. It’s not what I was thinking when I shot the famous Honest Ed’s sign at Bathurst and Bloor last night, but maybe the concept of honesty in business sat at the subconscious level when I chose to shoot only part of the sign. I happened to be around the Annex because I was selling my October metropass to an Italian couchsurfer who’s here on a working visa, and when I met up with him at Starbucks I recognised another CSer there and we got to chatting about the Naomi Klein talk they’d just attended on her latest book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

Tonight I joked about the markets over dinner (because it’s otherwise rather depressing) and how it’s a good time to be too poor to hold any stocks and too young to worry overly much about the state of one’s pension.

(And would you believe I was joking about it over a flaming grill filled with meat… yes, I was at the Korean Grill House for the second time in TWO DAYS! The waiter even recognised me! Vegetarians can skewer me now.)

If the thought of market upheavals and the retreat of summer has got you down and feeling grey, here’s a bit of colour I found around along Bathurst Street across from the Honest Ed’s sign:

the last bit of summer colour on Bathurst

And if you’re still feeling rather lacklustre, here’s a dose of kitty love, or at least kitty sucking-up:

where's my donut?

30 Sep 2008 Canada’s DO NOT CALL List Starts Today
 |  Category: Consumer  | 3 Comments

dead ringer

What is the National Do Not Call List?

The National Do Not Call List (DNCL) gives consumers a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls. The National DNCL Rules introduce new responsibilities for Canada’s telemarketers.

If you are a consumer you can choose to reduce the number of telemarketing calls you receive by registering your residential, wireless, fax or VoIP telephone number on the National DNCL. You can also check your registration, find out how to remove your number from the National DNCL, and file a complaint about telemarketing calls. Please consult our frequently asked questions section to find out more about the National DNCL.

Taken directly from the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Communications Commission) website. Full details about the DO NOT CALL list here.

29 Sep 2008 Bravo Alberto! Viva Mexico!
 |  Category: Food + Drink, Friends, Out + About  | 4 Comments

BRAVO ALBERTO!

Last night I brought my Mexican houseguests and Sergio, freshly deplaned from Miami, to Korean Grill House to celebrate the fact that Alberto flew from Cancun to do the Toronto Half Marathon and ended up completing the FULL MARATHON yesterday morning!

BRAVO!!! Frankly, I’m surprised he could even walk to the car. I’d be asking for a wheelchair by now.

Alberto told us that the second largest group of runners in the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon (a total of about 14,000 people!), after Canadians, are from Mexico. He learned about the race from a flyer down in Cancun.

[Note to self: I should've had him turn to his left a bit (I had no room to move over), because you can easily tell by the shadow under this right eye that the light source is above and to his left.]

Marco

While Alberto did the full marathon, Marco finished the 5k, giving him hours of sightseeing time before Alberto crossed the finish line. I think he went shopping!

Sergio

This processing makes Sergio, who also happens to be Mexican, look really scruffy even though he wasn’t. He and I were musing last night in wonderment that we’ve known each other for nearly 10 years. What?!? Where has the time gone???

Have you ever eaten at a Korean grill-your-own barbecue? It seems to be a lot of work, grilling your own meat, but I really like it! And after grilling, I can put it on people’s plates with a flourish as if I barbecued it at home, except the best part is I don’t have to clean a grotty grill afterwards.

Korean Grill House
Queen Street, Toronto

{photos edited using Sesame Ellis’s RAW presets}

29 Sep 2008 Atypical Sunday Afternoon
 |  Category: Photography  | One Comment

home improvement

I titled this photo “Home Improvement” in Flickr, but actually it’s an old church from 1872. I was scoping out the four photo locations for the wedding I’m shooting next Saturday. Somebody must’ve seen me skulking about the grounds with a camera and called the police, because there was a patrol car in the parking lot watching me when I returned!

Then I gatecrashed a black-tie affair wearing flip-flops while scoping out the banquet hall. Thankfully, no one in (I kid you not) The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre glanced down at my feet as I slipped my way through the hors d’oeuvres-munching, hob-nobbing crowd to peek into the dining room. Because if they did, they would’ve kicked me out!

Then when I breezed through the hotel (another one of the four locations) to use the washroom, I got waylaid by some Filipinas who asked me if I would join the presentation in the conference room — for property investment in the Philippines!

The only venue where I wandered not out-of-place was the park and gardens, where I accidentally shot a duck without realising. See it hiding in the waterfall? I had no idea until I downloaded the photo!

can you see the duck?

28 Sep 2008 @ Korean Grill House
 |  Category: Mobile Blogging  | Leave a Comment

@ Korean Grill House

28 Sep 2008 The Brides’ Project | Brides Helping Children with Cancer

The Brides' Project | Brides Helping Children with Cancer

I spent Saturday afternoon at a house on Broadview Avenue here in Toronto, documenting the search for a wedding dress for a photography client and getting a firsthand look at how The Brides’ Project works.

It all started with an email from Haida last week, inviting me to accompany her on a bridal-themed weekend which included trying on wedding gowns and attending a bridal show. She sent along a link to The Brides’ Project and I was intrigued by the concept as this is something I’d never heard of before but wished was around when I was shopping for a wedding dress in ‘04/’05, even before cancer had touched my own life in such a personal way.

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27 Sep 2008 @ Salad King
 |  Category: Mobile Blogging  | 2 Comments

@ Salad King

I got the spicy tofu with three chilies out of a possible 15. It’s a good thing I only went for three — man, it was hot! As in, I downed three glasses of water during my meal kind of hot. I’ve also got a bowl of rice on the side, out of the camera frame, and I ended up ordering a second bowl to tone down the heat.

26 Sep 2008 Scenes From The House of Fielding
 |  Category: House of Fielding  | 3 Comments

as Beano looks on

Alberto demos his race shirt and number as Beano looks on. He and his friend Marco are visiting from Mexico to do the Scotiabank race on Sunday. Alberto’s doing the half marathon, and Marco’s doing the 5k.

Milagro

Notice how Beano manages to get into all the photos?

And is this not one of the most attractive tequila bottles you’ve ever seen? It’s too attractive to open! I’m told it’s better than Cuervo (the export that everyone knows), but I have yet to find out. Not that I’d remember what Cuervo tastes like, anyway, as I’ve avoided tequila since a rather nasty overdose of the stuff while in Australia and that was back in 1992. Funny how an adverse tequila experience can make such a lasting impression!

26 Sep 2008 Scramble
 |  Category: Linkage, Toronto, Videoclips  | Leave a Comment


Scramble from Sam Javanrouh on Vimeo.

A time-lapse video by Sam Javanrouh (Top Left Pixel) of the launch day of Toronto’s first scramble intersection at Yonge and Dundas. Or check out the HD version on Vimeo.

26 Sep 2008 Mr. and Mrs.
 |  Category: events  | 3 Comments

Mr. and Mrs.

I’m early in the editing, but this may very well be my favourite of the beach photos. The sunset was amazing — soft, soft light.

I’ve got a long ways to go before it’s complete, but if you want to take a peek at Rod and Fancy’s growing wedding and engagement photo album, it’s right here (newest uploads first):

[thumbnails] [slideshow] or in the Pictobrowser.

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