My last day in Toronto. I could say ‘on this trip’ or I could say ‘forever’ and the fact is I don’t know at the moment, ‘cos it’s the future, and as yet undetermined. But I do hope to return.
Waiting out a 6-hour flight delay was made more entertaining by watching Spain v Italy in the Firkin pub on Yonge Street: location for what remains my favourite shot yet taken in Canada, namely this one on 14/10/2021. Both these guys were cheering for the same team, specifically Spain: and both went away happy, as they duly won, 1-0.
Some might say 1pm is a little early, even on a Saturday, to be camping it up in full drag queen mode, but clearly this opinion is not shared by the entertainers at the Church St Garage in Toronto. Taken from across the street while enjoying lunch on another pleasant, sunny day here. The other guy is just passing through, but I like the juxtaposition, two people in their own world but in the same world, maybe.
Clare has flown out to Toronto to join me for a few days, and why not, it’s a fine city to explore and also to look at. The skyline seems very well balanced and the CN Tower sets it off excellently. The best view of it is from the islands just offshore in the Lake, which is why a lot of people go there on a nice day — though she made it before the weekend. I like the shape her shadow makes on this one.
Professor Carl Bereiter, Emeritus of the University of Toronto, is someone I’ve been lucky enough to, if not exactly work with (at 94 years of age, Carl doesn’t exactly turn up to the office very much any more) but certainly meet, talk with, hear from. He is genuinely one of the pioneers of the academic field of computer-supported collaborative learning, in which I have occasionally been known to dabble. And please, don’t ask which one of the people in this picture is him.
It’s been a few months since I did a self-portrait, and the prospect of this one did occur to me while sat having a pre-meeting cup of tea in Tim Hortons, pondering how we can find ways to continue the collaboration that has brought me here three times now. I am here sat in more or less the same spot from which I took this shot in October 2021, and armed with the knowledge of the venue, the building in the background and Google Maps you can probably pinpoint the exact location should you wish to.
So that’s another one ticked off the list of ‘Bands I Have Liked for Thirty-Plus Years But Never Before Seen Live’. Then again, Jane’s Addiction did their first ‘farewell tour’ in 1991, have still only ever managed to scrape together four studio albums, and the original four members have only just decided they are still prepared to talk to each other and go on the road again before one or more of them dies. Which in singer Perry Farrell’s case, has always seemed likely to happen imminently. Therefore, I never really had the chance to break the duck before tonight. But I’m not complaining — they were worth the wait.
May ends with a burst of sunshine and this shot offers the chance to inspect the range of slightly-toasted pink and vaguely brown skin tones that the average English visage offers up at this time of year. My Friday evenings may seem to often be spent at the pub, and specifically this pub (the Railway), I admit — but in fact this is the first one for eight weeks.
The first concealed round number of the day: today I am exactly 20,000 days old. When I first saw the Nick Cave documentary 20,000 Days on Earth (it’s very good and worth watching even if you have no idea who Nick Cave is) I naturally worked out when I would reach this milestone, and, well, it’s today. In my case 20,000 days works out at 54 years, 9 months and 3 days.
The second concealed round number is that this is the 100th blog pic to be taken in Scotland. This last week has seen the country overtake Norway in the all-time table to now stand third, behind only England and Australia. To mark this, let’s feature Joe, and behind him, Dundee — the juxtaposition of person and place being the principal reason that Scotland has kept up its healthy rate of appearance over the last three years (Dundee features on 24 of those 100 shots).
The diorama of Dundee was created by photographer Sohei Nishino, and is a remarkably good piece of work which gives a totally new perspective on the place and which one can lose oneself in: both characteristics of great art, if you ask me. And according to this article about it, it used 20,000 photos. Back to the first concealed round number we go. It must mean something.
Oor Wullie is a cartoon character who, since 1936, has appeared in the Scottish Sunday Post. He comes from the D. C. Thomson publishing house in Dundee, who also gave the world Desperate Dan, and like him, Wullie has his statue in the city centre. This family seemed to be enjoying his company — the women, anyway. Maybe not the guy on the right though.
No apologies for putting up the cheesy-grin family shot today as the day was all about Clare, who ran her first ever marathon in a time of 6 hours and 1 minute. The Edinburgh marathon started in the city, headed out along the coast, turned around and came back as far as Musselburgh. This is Longniddry, where Joe and I caught up with her at about the 20 mile mark. She looked, as you can see, fresh as a daisy, and from this point on I had absolutely no doubt that she would finish. I know what this has taken in terms of training — an immense effort! And I am very sure it won’t be her last. (Will I be taking up the challenge? No chance.)
