On one of the earlier (February 2017) visits to Victoria—before up-and-moving here from Toronto—I saw a small path just off the main walkway that runs parallel to Dallas Road, a beach road that runs along the south coast of the city. I went down the path to find that it ended at a spiral staircase…
Read More Spiral Beach, Victoria B.C.I stumbled across this record of a brief encounter memorialized on a stone tablet at a brick beach. I’m amazed I even chanced upon it, lying there, partially hidden amongst all the bricks, cinderblock and other demolition site junk that created this beach on the Leslie Street Spit, in Toronto’s East End. That someone had…
Read More It Was a Dark and Stormy NiteI sometimes get emails from people who think I’m Gary Roberts the (former) hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Today I got one from the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Read More I get emailI love my local coffee shop, where I sit and read as two guys on my right argue passionately in Russian, a little old lady sips tea on her own and glances sharply over the top of her newspaper at the two guys arguing, and an ochre-robed Buddhist monk serenley sips an espresso as he…
Read More Coffee and people“Hi, my name’s Neil!” says the guy, loudly, as he turns the corner right in front of me and moves into my way. I’m walking home from work, it’s just after 5 p.m. and starting to get dark. The temperature is 4°, unseasonably warm for January—a nice night to walk home. I have to stop…
Read More NeilAdam is sitting in the steel and leather barber’s chair, his back to the small table displaying the tools of his trade and the large mirror on the wall, as he talks to an older guy seated across from him. The mirror competes for wall space with a number of vintage Playboy pin-up posters, the edges of…
Read More Corrado’s barbershopNew Year’s Eve, Franco and me sitting at the Old York bar while Graham the bartender has me serving champers… Graham: “Get a good grip. That’s it.” Me: “Like this?” “Yeah. Now move it gently. Gently! That’s it. Keep going, pull it slowly.” “I hope I’m doing this right.” “Mmm, that’s nice, you got it. Yes. It’s coming.…
Read More The Bubbly VirginWalking by the TIFF Bell Lightbox building on King West on the way to work this morning, a guy in front of us strolls along with a hint of a drunken swagger. Dressed in ripped and soiled jeans, a dirty jacket that’s too big for his slight frame and carrying a green plastic bottle crate, he weaves and snakes…
Read More A morning walk to workFor the record, I am not a good skater. I’m actually pretty crap at it, but I will give it a try every now and then. Today Franco and I went down to the Harbourfront Centre Natrel Rink for a practice session. He’s taking hockey lessons right now and needed to practice so I tagged along for the ride,…
Read More Skating at the HarbourfrontThe first thing I noticed as I opened the door to the outside was an overwhelming fragrance. Flower beds filled with honeysuckle, iris, and aubrietia lined both sides of the path leading to the rooftop garden. Their heady perfume, floating on the warm summer air, mingled with the baser smell of damp soil to create…
Read More Up on the roofI had an appointment with my dentist yesterday. I’ve been going to this dentist for 6 or 7 years now, and I’ve never had any complaints about him. Other than the fact that he has fingers like hot dogs, and can be a bit rough when he’s rooting around in there, he’s nevertheless a pleasant…
Read More That left a bad taste in my mouthSince moving into our old house in 2007, there have been some debates between El Franco and me over the state of the flagstones in the small front yard. I maintained that they were in good condition and that we didn’t need to remove them, whereas El Franco hated the relatively new yellow stone flags…
Read More Good FridayI attended a presentation this week by Peabody Award-winning writer and broadcaster, Jowi Taylor, about his project Six String Nation. During the presentation Jowi explained how, in the weeks leading up to the 1995 Quebec Referendum, he was dismayed by the quality of the iconography portrayed by the media as representing the Canadian identity. These symbols were hokey in…
Read More Six String NationI found this song in the voice memo app on my phone yesterday. It’s a traditional French Christmas carol called “Trois anges sont venus ce soir” (Three angels came this evening), sung by El Franco. I have no idea when he recorded it, nor does he. It must’ve been when we’d had “one too many”…
Read More Trois anges sont venus ce soirI just went to Trinity-Bellwoods Park on Queen West, where there was a gathering of redheads. It was an event organised by a couple of filmmakers—Gareth C. Scales and Aaron Champion—for an upcoming documentary about life as a ginger, so I thought I’d go check it out. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse…
Read More Toronto Redhead Summit