To me, Niagara Falls is Canada’s most American city. It doesn’t feel like I’m in Canada at all — especially in the casino — except for signs in French and the presence of Cuban cigar retail outlets.

Not enough brain power at the moment to write anything coherent (I’ll end up typing “Lakeview Falls” again), so just a few more photos for now:

Technorati tags: Niagara Falls

On the Canadian side.

I found a great vantage point on the top parking level of the Fallsview Casino. I got myself a player’s card just to get free parking and the other freebies. I haven’t spent a penny in the casino, and my friend is playing the tables so our meals are free. I love that word free!

There’s a whole story about how my hotel room card probably ended up going over the falls this afternoon because the wind caught it while I was taking pictures along the Niagara Falls Parkway, sending it sliding down the embankment… and into the river… but I’ll save it for after dinner. Because I’m hungry!

Technorati tags: Niagara Falls

Fallsview Casino, March 2

I couldn’t take photos inside the casino, but here are some exterior pics. Casinos are such WACKY places — ’tis a crying shame I can’t snapshoot the slice of humanity inside. It’s a goldmine for people-watching… no wait, a DIAMOND mine. But it’s almost 4 o’clock in the morning, so I’ll prattle on about it later, after a top-grade snooze.

[UPDATE: After catching up on this week's deficit of sleep, I corrected the name of the casino to Fallsview instead of the bewildering name of Lakeview Falls! What was I thinking? I must've been delirious. No, I hadn't anything to drink. But we went to bed at 5am.]

Technorati tags: casino

I was raised in the Seventh-Day Adventist church, but stopped attending when I was of the age to do so without getting grounded by my parents or told I wasn’t allowed to borrow the car for my flagrant disregard for authority.

With that behind me, I set forth to explore other religions and other religious practises around the world, the irony being that I was actually very interested in religion. However, I couldn’t imagine that I would enrich my spiritual life more by attending the same church every week than learning firsthand how everyone else worships. After all, how could you know that what you were taught was actually right? I wasn’t about to buy everything I learned wholesale, I had to do some shopping around first.

These days I consider myself hovering around agnostic (which never seems to be a choice on forms); the definition of agnostic is something David and I discussed at great length when we were together. The religion he identified with the most was Taoism, while I was leaning toward atheism but settled with agnostic.

Terminology aside, what we did share was an avid interest in art, and there is an abundance of objets d’art in churches. Even in lean times, churches had conspicuous wealth and a strong influence with artists — a good example of this is the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which is still unfinished today. I wrote a post about my ambivalence toward ecclesiastical art while visiting Spain (the last two paragraphs) in 2004.

I was very appreciative of Reverend Spires inviting us to view the interior of the church and allowing us to take photos. It’s that kind of welcoming, open attitude that slows attrition rates and gives a more favourable impression of the clergy rather than what gets splashed all over the media. It’s not to say that they should be immune to negative publicity, but certainly a balanced (ahem) picture is called for.

Whatever one’s attitude is toward religion, it has to be said that churches hold a great deal of architectural importance. Back in the day when churches were the centre of village life, they served as a focal and meeting point for everyone. Town squares were anchored by churches. Today, I hate to say that town squares have been replaced by shopping malls as the most likely place to bump into your neighbour.

After we got our fill of Trinity Anglican Church’s beautiful interior, Monica and I had a chilly walk around the town to take a few photos before the sun made its disappearance over the horizon. We headed back to her house for dinner, where I met some darling cats who didn’t like having their pictures taken. I did manage to get a decent one of Jane, the matriarch of the three. It’s so nice being around cats again that I’m leaning toward getting two kittens, not just one!

Here’s the proof. Happy Hens:

View larger. “Our products will ruffle your feathers!”

The Happy Hen is located strategically across the street from the Trinity Anglican Church, but one of many churches within a few blocks. Everywhere I turned in this historic part of Cambridge I saw a church: Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, you name it — Cambridge has it!

It took me about an hour to get to Cambridge from Toronto, most of the journey along the 401. It was a walk in the park compared to my trip last weekend to Scranton and Philadelphia, a sunny but cold walk in the park. But I was on a mission, see! I went to visit Monica, a longtime reader and, for more than a year now, a regular commenter. As a result of unforeseeable circumstances I ended up a new resident in the metro Toronto area and finally, after months of loose planning, Monica and I were finally to meet in person.

Of course, being me, I made arrangements around food. I suggested brunch at 1 o’clock, but after three courses and much conversation the wait staff kicked us out to set up for Valentine’s Day dinner!

I brought cameras and I intended to use them, but I have to hand it to Monica: wandering around town in subzero temperatures with no hat and short hair is something I don’t even do in the name of photography! Brrrrrr!

Monica showed me her aesthetically favourite church — Anglican and conspicuously spire-less compared to the other churches in the area — and while I was taking a photo a clergyman rolled up in a van.

“Would you like to see it from the inside?” he asked, waving us in.

“Absolutely!” I had just asked Monica if any of the churches would be open, for us to shoot in and to escape the cold for a bit. What excellent timing.

We took photos of the interior and Reverend Frank Spires generously took us around to show us details he didn’t want us to miss, like ornate carvings on the wall and the little chapel to the side of the main area of worship.

I haven’t uploaded them all yet, but I’ll post a link to the batch once I do and finish my story. In the meantime, a big ThankYouVeryMuch to Monica and her family for their hospitality yesterday. I hope I can reciprocate!

Technorati tags: Cambridge, Ontario, Anglican Church

Pentax K-1000
September 2, 2006
Tofino, Vancouver Island

Another photo from that ancient swamp that faintly resembles an African savanna, in parts. I’ll write more about it when I’ve got more tree photos uploaded so you can see what I’m talking about. The trees are amazing twisted shapes, intertwined and rope-like. It’s hard to believe the ocean is close by, except for the unmistakable sound of surf pounding against the shore.

Technorati tags: Tofino, Vancouver Island, tree, film photography, Pentax K-1000

Pentax K-1000
September 2, 2006
Vancouver Island

Who’d expect to see such brilliant colours materialise from a swamp?

Technorati tags: film photography, Pentax K-1000, Tofino, Vancouver Island

The recent climate havoc on the West Coast and the resulting brown churn of tap water reminded me of my trip over Labour Day weekend to Tofino on Vancouver Island, which was beautiful and oddly serene due to the last-minute water shortage that made the national news and turned most of the tourists away. Which goes to show you can get on the favourable side of a public calamity sometimes.

Pentax K-1000
September 3, 2006

1. An old Ford truck on the property at Tofino Botanical Gardens and Clayoquot Field Station.
2. Daisies at Tofino Botanical Gardens that squeezed in at the end of this film roll, a nice little surprise for which there is no equivalent on a digital memory card. (You either get the whole shot, or nothing at all.)

Technorati tags: film photography, Tofino

Pentax K-1000
Vancouver Island
September 1, 2006

Technorati tags: film photography, Vancouver Island, Tofino, sunset, beach

Oh man, so many photos, so little time… I’d like to lock myself in a closet with a bottomless latte for three days just so I can go through them all, but I’ll post some random pics to start. Here’s one of a bunch I took of some surfers on Friday night. The sunsets in Tofino are magnificent, but the ocean temperature is still hypothermia-inducing. All surfers are told to wear wetsuits.