Ned and Renee’s Flower Garden
In the past few years my brothers garden has become a place of delights whenever I visit.These are not just visual but also scentual - wafting a beeline fragrance that entices the soul subliminally.
The allure has become so compelling that I have added some smattering of bulbs to my Mom’s Perennial Flower patch just to see what would bloom - and to my surprise and delight the June and July show garden was as spectacular as the coinciding National Fireworks fests.
What is even more fascinating for me, is how carefully my brother coaxes the splendor from some very shy floral varieties. I just assumed that the blooms did their best given water, fertilizer and reasonable soil.
Not so! There is an art to gardening.
Roses need a dusting, especially if the weather alternates between rain and sunshine. Lilies need trimming. Peonies need support and a deep mulch. Plantain needs its share of sun and shade. And so on insight one seems to be tendering care for tender shoots and sprigs whose unfolding, whether by dawn or the rising mid-day sun, is its own reward.
And thus one begins to appreciate uncanny words of wisdom -
To the Nahuas indians, words were flowers, metaphors that gave birth to thoughts and actions - Jose Antonio Burciaga
And suddenly these blossoms are braziers of passion- reflecting the inner souls or -
Scent is the soul of flowers - Jules Verne
Or memories enchanted, haunted, or still sensible tastes of passing times.
The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him - Auguste Rodin
So save the last words to a founding father of physics -
What greater stupidity can be imagined than that of calling jewels, silver, and gold ‘precious,’ and earth and soil ‘base’? People who do this ought to remember that if there were as great a scarcity of soil as of jewels or precious metals, there would not be a prince who would not spend a bushel of diamonds and rubies and a cartload of gold just to have enough earth to plant a jasmine in a little pot, or to sow an orange seed and watch it sprout, grow, and produce its handsome leaves, its fragrant flowers, and fine fruit. It is scarcity and plenty that make the vulgar take things to be precious or worthless; they call a diamond very beautiful because it is like pure water, and then would not exchange one for ten barrels of water - Galileo Galilei
For the complete Ned and Renee Floral feast visit here.
July 21, 2008
Cue Billiards
I like to play pool and here is a great place to play. Cue Biliards is at 359 Jane Street just above Annette. It is a second floor billiard parlor which has 3 virtues. First, it has great tables for the games of ball , cue stick and angles.
The table and lighting just invite angular thinking and communing with the the Cerebellic gods who say - “yes, you likely can squeeze off that shot; but don’t try banking too much on the latter.” The ample space and spotless tables and long views are perfect for marking spot and place. One can see possibilities here.
Its all in the many angles racked up and ready to roll at your beck and call. This is truly physics at play.
The Second Virtue
The second virtue of Cue Billiards is the entertainments. There are full Big Screen TVs tuned earlier this summer to Euro 2008 and Netherlands tripping themselves up once again while Russia showed tremendous pace but in the end its was Spain who possessed the Euro magic. So if all you want to do is sip a cool one and talks sports, take your Cue here.
But also in the summer there are some Live Jazz Delights on Tuesday nights:
.
Alex Goodman and Justin Gray provide lively jazz sounds - many original compositions that have the Cantina sound straight out of Star Wars. The riffs on guitar and bass ripple with energy and surprising stints of rhythm which are a delignt if not an inspiration at the pool table. Jazz is cool - and it has a way of percolating into your mood and thinking.
The Third Virtue
I like my pool with darts - and often find that the latter mix very well indeed.
There is something about darts and pool that echoes - perhaps the ability to repeat a particular shot. More likely figuring the strategy of the end game. Perhaps ultimately, friends and sparkle of competitive as well as good company. All the ingredients and a fine milieu are there at Cue Billiards just north of Bloor on Jane.
June 20, 2008
Best Bloggin’ Browser Around
I would like to tell you that the new Firefox 3 web browser is blazingly fast, full of new GUI features yet with great ease of use. And FireFox 3 has one of the best set of add-ons, themes and extensions. It leaves even the upcoming IE8(early next year likely) in the dust. But I won’t - I will let the Microsoft evangelist, Paul Thurrott tell you.
Now if you have an 5 minutes of time (it really is that fast for download and install), upgrade to the Web 2.0 browser of choice - its that good. Don’t go image browsing/finishing or blogging without Firefox 3.
June 9, 2008
Along the Riverdale Art Walk
Summer in Toronto means Art Shows in all the little cities that make up the Big Ville. One of my favorites is the Riverdale Art Walk on Queen Street just east of the Don River. I was here two years ago on an equally balmy June Saturday - a bring water day - and had a great time then as now. Then I watched a mural being created in a nook park right on Queen.
This year I spent some extra time browsing the stores, shops and eateries that abound on this stretch of Queen. Riverdale blends into Leslieville which then becomes the Beaches. What sets Riverdale apart is the many Art and Antiques shops, a growing number of fashion stores and places to really eat or buy for home feasts.
Brick Street Breads on Logan north of Queen
Brick Street Breads, just writing the name, provokes the Pavlovian salivation response for this bread lover. What is particularly enchanting is a wide selection of breads that will please the eye as well as delight the palate. This Saturday for example, there were a number of crust masterpieces: bread braided in woven pleats in rye and cornbread emanating come hither aromas that begged for buttered bites. And if you like borscht, there are baguettes to die for dipping. Double dare you to pass this flour by.
888 Gallery at 888 Queen East
Beyond the Pale Gallery and Pottery-making Teaching Shop
888 is a gallery with all sorts of neat nooks and crannies. Try the back porch in the Summer with its Mediterranean colors and comforts. Jewelry is to be found now in the nearby backroom. See here for treasures found. And nearby is my favorites pottery shop where Helen is owner, teacher and master glazer. Lessons are available in the evening and afternoon Saturdays for the kids. You can learn slab, form or wheel pottery but most important of all you will be brought into the world of glazes, firing and bringing out colors on clasy - literally beyond the pale. See here for the novelty and impishness in design that abound in this Riverdale artistes den.
Ethel at Queen St East
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the antigue, furniture and specialty stores that can be found along the Riverdale walk and continues well into Leslieville heading East on Queen. One of my favorite places for window shopping is Ethel - just look in or go around the corner and you will see why.
So Queen West with all the media headquarters and costantly changing fashions may get more coverage, but the Eastside of Queen is more than alive and well with places to see, do and just enjoy a weekend walk.
May 25, 2008
Open Doors Toronto
Toronto’s Open Door Festival is a rich opportunity to see the city’s public buildings on the inside - in all their intimate regale. This is where major buildings in the Toronto Area are opened to the public on a late May weekend. This year the themes is Sacred Places - as the Churches, Synagogues and other houses of worship through the city open up for for tours and a chance to see some of the activities supported by the community places of worship.
St Paul’s on Bloor Street
One of the clear impressions attending the places of worship is how vibrant they are in the local daily activities in their neighborhoods. This was exemplified not just by the many members ready to take you on tour, but also by such activities as choirs, shelters, kids programs - just a multitude of activities at every place.
Flute music at St. Peter’s Anglican on Careleton in CabbageTown
The other interesting aspect of Open Doors this year was the number of people with cameras taking pictures. Not just the popular places like TDCentre or Hart House - but also in the Houses of worship. And there were many stunning scenes to see.
Metropolitan United at Queen and Church
A beautiful day helped to make the trek among TO’s Secular and Sacred Places a well worthwhile trek. What added to the glory was the organ music and choral fests offered at some of the locales. For example, Metropolitan United has a sumptuous organ and a player equal in capacity and grandeur of the machine. As I walked into the building full, lilting tones wafted throughout.
The other pleasure of the tour were the many examples of stained glass windowing.
St. Simon-the-Apostle Anglican Church on Bloor
Many of the stained glass windows rose 20-30 feet to the heavens in thin towers of hue depicting various religious themes. What was fascinating was to see the history of stained glass from the classic glass and lead borderings at St. Paul’s to the literally stained glass of St. Simon’s to the big bold chunks found at UofT’s Christie House Chapel. And the day provided plenty of sunlight to add stabs of colour spilling over the walls and floors.
But the stained glass was not the only arts to be seen in places of worship.
Chapel of St. James the Less
Paintings abound, floral arrangement, tapestries and fabric weavings of great warmth. On can see that the centuries old tradition of the sacred bringing forth profound artistic emotions and statements abounded everywhere. The result was that each locale had its own mood and sense of mission; but remarkably all had an exquisite touch of quietness and solemnity - an place to communicate with spirits.
Finally, each place of worship had its individual sense of mission.
St Lukes United on Carlton and Sherbourne
Yet each had a welcoming tone, not just for the day; but invigorated by its members and what they did and said on this day.
May 22, 2008
Casio at the Lakeshore
Continuing our series of testing images of the Casio EX-F1. Here are some shots taken at Toronto’s Lake Ontario shore. The images are from an HD Video (1920 x 1080 pixels). I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the images. I had expected because the images were from a video they would be soft, blurred, color awry and full of compression artifacts. They are a bit soft and can wander on the color balance - but not badly at all. Here are samples taken from video images:
A cluster of canoes in the docks.
This image is photofinished with Photoshop. But that is the opportunity presented by the Casio EX-F1, I just would not bother to consider using most “still” images taken with my video camcorder. Just not enough of resolution and image fidelity; but with the EX-F1 in HD Mode - there are some great shots to work with.
Having Canada Goose fun.
Shades of Red to Play with.
Speed vs Sail boating
The day was really chilly at the beach.
This is an example of where the camera was weak on color and exposure. It appears if the scene is too contrasty the camera loses both color and exposure sharpness. It also may be related to panning and zooming while taking a video.
The rescue boats nearby for all the new sailor, kayakers .. just kidding.
Back to the kayak and canoe racks.
Now about half of the images above have been post processed in Photoshop. But still I was generally very pleased with the images I could take away (using the snapshot feature in Adobe Premiere Elements). I have yet to test all the different video settings for focus and color balance - so the jury is still out there. There is a bit of softness to the edges - but not as bad as I expected. And as for blurring and compression artifacts => none so far but I have yet to test in lowlight and at the extreme ends of telephoto range.
In sum, I am quietly pleased with the quality of the video; but camera shake adjustments are minimal - you need to use a monopod or even better, a tripod, when taking videos.
Blogroll
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jun | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
Theme Designed by Business Broker