Torcon area tour: distillery district

Piece from the Sandra Ainsley Gallery in The Distillery area.
(click on image for bigger version)


Still have power. Our energy crisis is not yet over, however; the test will come today and the rest of the week as Toronto gradually returns to a semi-normal working schedule. Our premiere has asked all employers are to cut their power usage in half, at least for today and likely for the rest of the week.

Between now and Torcon, I plan to focus at least some of my Blatherings on local highlights within walking distance of the convention.




Crafts tables. Note the old "Gooderham and Worts" sign.
Jeff's mom, incidentally, is a direct descendant of the Gooderhams.


Yesterday, Jeff and I visited The Distillery District, about a 15-20 minute walk from the Royal York Hotel. The site used to be the location of Gooderham and Worts, Canada's largest 19th century distilling firm, which was responsible for half of CanadaÔøΩs taxation revenue. A popular Hollywood film location, the area has been seen in over 800 movies, including Chicago, X-Men, Frequency, The Recruit, Against the Ropes, and The Hurricane.




Balzac's Coffee, voted TorontoÔøΩs best coffeehouse.
(click on image for bigger version)


Recently revamped, the 13-acre area was opened to the public earlier this year as a new entertainment district, hosting artists' galleries, outdoor craft tables, live entertainment areas, coffeehouses and restaurants. No cars are allowed, and many of the old buildings retain their original fittings, machinery, and signage.




Some buskers.


It's clear that the area is still under development, but it's worth a visit (especially since admission is free!). Plus you can find good food; I had an excellent grilled vegetable and pesto sandwich from the Brick Street Bakery, and also picked up a couple of freshly baked melt-in-your mouth shortbread and Inverness ginger cookies. Yum....

Only a week and a half until Torcon!

DIRECTIONS FROM ROYAL YORK TO DISTILLERY DISTRICT:
Walk east on Front St. until you get to Parliament Street. Walk two blocks south on Parliament to Mill Street.
Here's a map. (red star = Royal York, blue star = The Distillery District)




Brick Street Bakery sign.

August/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

what I learned from the blackout

Kye and JeffL yesterday afternoon. JeffL and Alison had invited
Parki, Jeff and me over for dinner.


Happy birthday to Mark Osier!

We have our hot water back, and our elevators are working again, woohoo! NOAA has some interesting satellite pictures of eastern North America 20 hours before and 7 hours after the blackout. Sadly, some in Toronto are *still* out of power, and we've been warned that tomorrow (Monday) will be the big test, whether the city can handle normal working day power demands. Whether the subway opens on Monday (and other services/events) is still a big question mark.

Went to JeffL's and Alison's with Parki for dinner last night. Because of the dubious quality of post-blackout meat in grocery stores right now, Alison opted for a vegetarian dinner: corn on the cob, tomato & basil & bocconcini salad, orange couscous, an amazing broccoli and red onion and pine nut salad. It was a perfect evening meal for a hot summer day.

Not surprisingly, some of the discussion focused on the blackout. I'm sure the "Where were you when the blackout hit?" question will be a topic at many gatherings for quite some time in Toronto and other affected areas.

We also talked about what some of us learned as a result of this event:

- To keep car gas tanks filled. (many gas station pumps quit working during the blackout, long lineups after)

- Have extra batteries on hand. (these were among the first items to sell out on store shelves within the first hour or so of the blackout) Know where flashlights are.

- Have candles, matches.

- Keep extra water, extra gas stored for emergencies.

- Keep some extra cash on hand. (the ATMs stopped working, and most stores that were able to remain open would only accept cash)

- Have important contact information on paper or other storage that has an independent power source.

- Keep a mini-flashlight with me. I bought one for my keychain that can also click onto the brim of a hat.

- Have a transistor radio (the only source of info during those first hours of the blackout). JeffL & Alison have a wind-up radio (needs no batteries); we're going to get one as well. We figure it'll be useful at the cottage as well, where blackouts are much more frequent.

- Don't count on cellphone service. (I was unable to reliably make or receive calls during the blackout and for some time after because my cellphone service was overloaded)

- Don't rely exclusively on cordless phones. When the blackout hit, all our cordless phones were rendered useless because the bases had no power. We had to plug in our one regular phone, which is usually kept in storage.

- Events like blackouts don't necessarily have to be all bad. It's important to keep a sense of perspective and sense of humour.

Anyone out there have other practical suggestions to add to this list as a result of their own experience?



We ate on the deck by candelight (by choice, not because
of lack of power :-)).

August/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

indoor day

Our building has no hot water, but we do have power, or at least for now. With the elevator having problems and pouring rain outside (which will hopefully cool things off a bit), I think this will probably be an indoor day for me. Jeff's off to do work at a client's office, so I'm going to settle in the living room with a big pile of books, my German language course, flashlight and pile of batteries. Some news reports say that we should expect rolling blackouts throughout the weekend, possibly even up to the end of next week. The subway won't be working again until Monday at the earliest, and GO trains are still shut down. p.s. Bill Roper and Tom Jeffers now have Livejournals! August/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ Debbie Ohi | Post a Comment | Share Article | Permalink tagged Uncategorized Friday Aug152003 when the lights went out... Friday, August 15, 2003 at 11:54PM Today's headlines. Last night, Jodi and Allison and I had planned to get together at Allison's place for an Urban Tapestry practice. As some of you already know, the practice never happened, and I ended up crashing at Allison's place in Richmond Hill. We had what is now being referred to as the biggest blackout in North American history, affecting more than 60 million people; affected areas are still recovering, and apparently 50% have power back. Ontario Premier Ernie Eves has declared a state of emergency for the province and has asked nonessential or non-emergency workers to stay home today. If I had left for Allison's place 20 minutes later, I would have been stuck on the subway near the northern end of the line when the blackout hit. Though passengers were all escorted to the surface by TTC employees, I would have had no way to get home again except to walk and that would have been a VERY LONG walk to the other end of the subway line, especially in the heat. Flashlight and batteries I bought last night. Last time I went Allison's by subway/bus, it took me about 2.5 hours because of subway problems and unusually heavy traffic, so this time I left earlier. I only started noticing things were weird when we began passing intersections with no working lights. When I arrived, Allison was waiting in the lobby. Because her building had no power and the phones weren't working, she said, there was no way I would be able to let her know that I had arrived. We were worried about Jodi, who never did arrive and seemed to be unreachable by phone. Three hours later, we found out that she had (quite wisely) decided to stay home, but was unable to let us know because her phone was out. The couple of hours were a tad tense because no one really knew what was going on except that the power outage seemed to cover a huge area. There was even a rumor about the event being terrorist-related, and the constant sirens weren't very comforting. When we picked up more information from Allison's radio Walkman and were able to contact family and close friends ok, however, we started to relax and appreciate other aspects of the situation. as Allison pointed out in her journal, for example, the night sky was much more beautiful; normally the city lights flood the sky. People started talking to each other instead of watching TV. (hey, the power just went off again. my laptop still has enough power to let me finish writing this Blathering; I will upload it when the power comes back on) After strolling around the neighborhood to see what was going on, Allison, John and I lit candles around the apartment, munched snacks, and talked. Didn't get much Urban Tapestry practice done but hey, there's always next week. :-) I ended up crashing on Allison's and John's pull-out. Since it looks like there will be no subway service until Monday, Jeff picked me up today (after waiting 45 minutes in line for gas). Sign on the front of the Princess of Wales Theatre. (Update 8:51 pm) After Jeff left to go gaming in Scarborough earlier this afternoon, I went out for Greek food for dinner, went to Tomb Raider II at the Paramount (air conditioning, yay!), came back to the apartment to find the power was back on. A news conference I just saw on tv warned Toronto residents that we'd likely be experiencing rolling and rotating blackouts over the weekend, and that everyone would have a chance to have power, taking turns until full power is restored. There is one elevator in our building functioning, with a sign advising residents that we should walk rather than use the elevator since there are likely going to be more power blackouts this weekend, some as long as three hours. Ack. Walk 24 floors in a sweltering stairwell? Or take a small risk of being trapped in an elevator for 3 hours? I opted for the elevator tonight but am not sure about the weekend. What choice would YOU make? I'm curious. August/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ Debbie Ohi | Post a Comment | Share Article | Permalink tagged Uncategorized Thursday Aug142003 poll: comics Thursday, August 14, 2003 at 11:05AM Sara drew this picture of me on the way to the cottage. She was in the back seat with Annie, and could see me in the rear view mirror from where she was sitting. :-) (click on image for larger version) My family used to go on camping trips each summer, and these usually involved long car rides. To keep us occupied and to keep themselves sane, my parents used to let us buy comic books to read in the car. So we loaded up with Archie, Richie Rich, Casper, and other supermarket type of comics. As a teenager, I was also fond of MAD magazine and Plop! magazine. In university, I was reintroduced to comics by my friends Reid (then boyfriend) and John Swain. Reid got me interested in Swamp Thing, Power Pack, Dark Knight, X-Men, Miracle Man, Cerebus, Elektra. John Swain bought me the first five issues of Dr. Strange as a birthday gift, and I was intrigued enough to continue collecting the series for a while. A bunch of us made regular trips to the Silver Snail on Queen Street and Bakka. I quit collecting comics after while because of the amount of money I was starting to spend on the hobby, except for occasional collections like Elfquest. Then I met Rand and Adam (who wrote "Stop Talking About Comic Books Or I'll Kill You"). :-) Rand introduced me to the work of Chester Brown, Seth (who did the cover of the most recent Aimee Mann CD) and Joe Matt, as well as many others. I find it ironic that I found about about these three Toronto artists through an American. Anyway, I grew interested in the idea of autobiographical comic strips, and thus blame Rand for my own. When I was living in Philly a couple of years ago, one of my co-workers (Leone Atchison, Sequential Tart Webmaster) took me to the local comic bookstore as well as introducing me to some of her favorites. Rand and Lee have apparently run into each other a couple of times at comic book conventions. While Jeff and I were at the cottage, the National Post ran a series of articles about Seth. We took the motorboat across the lake to the Portage Store to get each issue. One of the articles mentioned a Toronto comic bookstore, The Beguiling, so we decided to check it out last night. Wonderful place! Not only does the store have a ton of comics and original artwork, but also has a wonderful collection of used children's books. Jeff bought a new Neil Gaiman comic called 1602 and I picked up a $4 used copy of "Homer Price" by Robert McCloskey. I was very tempted by a copy of "Freddy the Detective", but decided to resist. Jeff also saw me drooling over a Kabuki graphic novel (I love David Mack's artwork) and bought it for me (thank you, Jeff!). If you're in town for Torcon and are a comic book fan, you should consider checking out The Beguiling (601 Markham St., see this panel by Joe Matt of Seth, Joe, and Chester Brown in front of the store). Other comic book stores downtown: Silver Snail (367 Queen St. W. - 15-, 20 min. walk from Torcon), Hairy Tarantula (354 Yonge Street,†second floor, short subway+walk from Torcon) Survey: What were your favorite comics as a child? What comics do you read now, if any? (yes, online comics count) August/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ Debbie Ohi | Post a Comment | Share Article | Permalink tagged Uncategorized Page 1 ... 16 17 18 19 20 ... 47 Next 5 Entries » Copyright©2021 Debbie Ridpath Ohi. Base URL: DebbieOhi.com. Contact

when the lights went out...

Today's headlines.


Last night, Jodi and Allison and I had planned to get together at Allison's place for an Urban Tapestry practice. As some of you already know, the practice never happened, and I ended up crashing at Allison's place in Richmond Hill. We had what is now being referred to as the biggest blackout in North American history, affecting more than 60 million people; affected areas are still recovering, and apparently 50% have power back. Ontario Premier Ernie Eves has declared a state of emergency for the province and has asked nonessential or non-emergency workers to stay home today.

If I had left for Allison's place 20 minutes later, I would have been stuck on the subway near the northern end of the line when the blackout hit. Though passengers were all escorted to the surface by TTC employees, I would have had no way to get home again except to walk and that would have been a VERY LONG walk to the other end of the subway line, especially in the heat.




Flashlight and batteries I bought last night.


Last time I went Allison's by subway/bus, it took me about 2.5 hours because of subway problems and unusually heavy traffic, so this time I left earlier. I only started noticing things were weird when we began passing intersections with no working lights. When I arrived, Allison was waiting in the lobby. Because her building had no power and the phones weren't working, she said, there was no way I would be able to let her know that I had arrived. We were worried about Jodi, who never did arrive and seemed to be unreachable by phone. Three hours later, we found out that she had (quite wisely) decided to stay home, but was unable to let us know because her phone was out.

The couple of hours were a tad tense because no one really knew what was going on except that the power outage seemed to cover a huge area. There was even a rumor about the event being terrorist-related, and the constant sirens weren't very comforting.





When we picked up more information from Allison's radio Walkman and were able to contact family and close friends ok, however, we started to relax and appreciate other aspects of the situation. as Allison pointed out in her journal, for example, the night sky was much more beautiful; normally the city lights flood the sky. People started talking to each other instead of watching TV.

(hey, the power just went off again. my laptop still has enough power to let me finish writing this Blathering; I will upload it when the power comes back on)

After strolling around the neighborhood to see what was going on, Allison, John and I lit candles around the apartment, munched snacks, and talked. Didn't get much Urban Tapestry practice done but hey, there's always next week. :-) I ended up crashing on Allison's and John's pull-out. Since it looks like there will be no subway service until Monday, Jeff picked me up today (after waiting 45 minutes in line for gas).




Sign on the front of the Princess of Wales Theatre.


(Update 8:51 pm) After Jeff left to go gaming in Scarborough earlier this afternoon, I went out for Greek food for dinner, went to Tomb Raider II at the Paramount (air conditioning, yay!), came back to the apartment to find the power was back on. A news conference I just saw on tv warned Toronto residents that we'd likely be experiencing rolling and rotating blackouts over the weekend, and that everyone would have a chance to have power, taking turns until full power is restored.

There is one elevator in our building functioning, with a sign advising residents that we should walk rather than use the elevator since there are likely going to be more power blackouts this weekend, some as long as three hours. Ack. Walk 24 floors in a sweltering stairwell? Or take a small risk of being trapped in an elevator for 3 hours? I opted for the elevator tonight but am not sure about the weekend.

What choice would YOU make? I'm curious.

August/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ

poll: comics

Sara drew this picture of me on the way to the cottage.
She was in the back seat with Annie, and could see me in the
rear view mirror from where she was sitting. :-)
(click on image for larger version)


My family used to go on camping trips each summer, and these usually involved long car rides. To keep us occupied and to keep themselves sane, my parents used to let us buy comic books to read in the car. So we loaded up with Archie, Richie Rich, Casper, and other supermarket type of comics. As a teenager, I was also fond of MAD magazine and Plop! magazine.

In university, I was reintroduced to comics by my friends Reid (then boyfriend) and John Swain. Reid got me interested in Swamp Thing, Power Pack, Dark Knight, X-Men, Miracle Man, Cerebus, Elektra. John Swain bought me the first five issues of Dr. Strange as a birthday gift, and I was intrigued enough to continue collecting the series for a while. A bunch of us made regular trips to the Silver Snail on Queen Street and Bakka.

I quit collecting comics after while because of the amount of money I was starting to spend on the hobby, except for occasional collections like Elfquest. Then I met Rand and Adam (who wrote "Stop Talking About Comic Books Or I'll Kill You"). :-) Rand introduced me to the work of Chester Brown, Seth (who did the cover of the most recent Aimee Mann CD) and Joe Matt, as well as many others. I find it ironic that I found about about these three Toronto artists through an American. Anyway, I grew interested in the idea of autobiographical comic strips, and thus blame Rand for my own.

When I was living in Philly a couple of years ago, one of my co-workers (Leone Atchison, Sequential Tart Webmaster) took me to the local comic bookstore as well as introducing me to some of her favorites. Rand and Lee have apparently run into each other a couple of times at comic book conventions.

While Jeff and I were at the cottage, the National Post ran a series of articles about Seth. We took the motorboat across the lake to the Portage Store to get each issue. One of the articles mentioned a Toronto comic bookstore, The Beguiling, so we decided to check it out last night.

Wonderful place! Not only does the store have a ton of comics and original artwork, but also has a wonderful collection of used children's books. Jeff bought a new Neil Gaiman comic called 1602 and I picked up a $4 used copy of "Homer Price" by Robert McCloskey. I was very tempted by a copy of "Freddy the Detective", but decided to resist. Jeff also saw me drooling over a Kabuki graphic novel (I love David Mack's artwork) and bought it for me (thank you, Jeff!).

If you're in town for Torcon and are a comic book fan, you should consider checking out The Beguiling (601 Markham St., see this panel by Joe Matt of Seth, Joe, and Chester Brown in front of the store). Other comic book stores downtown: Silver Snail (367 Queen St. W. - 15-, 20 min. walk from Torcon), Hairy Tarantula (354 Yonge Street,†second floor, short subway+walk from Torcon)

Survey: What were your favorite comics as a child? What comics do you read now, if any? (yes, online comics count)

August/2003 comments: Read | Post | LJ