Winter in Canada

For those living in a more temperate climate, I thought I'd share some snaps of what these days look like in Toronto. I watched a short film about singer/poet/photographer Ingrid Chavez's life in snowy New England (I've linked the second half of the film at the bottom here). It's so beautiful and it shows the mystique of a snowy, cold winter. It also captures the solitude. When we're stuck on a treadmill of daily routines, it's hard sometimes not to appreciate what we have. Take a minute to look around. Play a song, stare out the window, look up at the sky...

View from our kitchen: I took this picture as I was getting ready for work one morning last week. The clouds looked like floating funnels. Believe it or not, the sky is bright at 6:45 a.m. compared to a month ago.

I thought it was high time that Duncan go skating for the first time. We went down to the skating rink at Harbourfront yesterday. It's magical skating by Lake Ontario with frozen boats in the harbour. Check out the infant behind Duncan. Some parents are really hardcore about getting their tots out on the ice. "C'mon, you can walk, you can skate!" Check out Duncan's "poor relations" helmet which consisted of a tuque with a bike helmet strapped on top. Hey, when I was a kid, we didn't even wear helmets. We just took our concussions graciously.

That's a concert stage in the distance. I've seen so many shows there: Billy Bragg, Junior and the Peas, electronic festivals, Rosanne Cash, Inuit throat singers, the list goes on.

Skating must be in the blood of Canadian kids. Duncan had no problem walking in his skates off the ice. He literally threw himself onto the ice without any fear.

This isn't to say that he didn't spend 90 percent of his time on his bottom, but he had a good time.

First Zamboni sighting.

Here's a view of the frozen harbour from a pedestrian bridge we were standing on. You can see the Roger's Centre between the condos across the street. I hate that they changed the name from the Sky Dome to the Roger's Centre. Why must everything be so corporate? If I had billions of dollars, I'd just invest it quietly into hospitals and the arts without having my name splashed about.

This boat was really pretty. I'm not sure where it came from. In the next picture, you'll see it's name.

The Car Drives Like a Dream

As mentioned in my last post, I've become obsessed with that Royksopp video that someone out there in YouTube land put together. I did a bit of hunting around and found a clip from the same era. Can you believe that GM made such a trippy film for their cars? I guess someone was inspired by the Twilight Zone.

This reminds me of Yellow. Check it out. "I love you." "I know."

Nut Canister & Welsh Tea Towel

Ken was working late tonight, so I dragged Duncan down the street to the Value Village at Woodbine and Danforth. I'm happy to say that in his own 5-year-old way, Duncan's developing a thrifty eye. He was over in the toy section a few feet away from the crockery section, where I was debating whether or not to fork out over $20 for two Forest Fancies casserole dishes with lids. All of a sudden, he cried out, "Mom - where are you?" "I'm over here with the Pyrex." He came running up to me and said, "Look what I found - Playmobil!!!" Woo-hoo! Playmobil stuff is pretty expensive. We've bought him a lot of new Playmobil and this police paddy wagon fits in nicely with the rest of his sets. Cost: $1.99. By the way, the Pyrex is still there. I didn't love it enough to fork out the big biscuits.
I did find this pretty, vintage nut jar for $1.99. It has a comforting feeling about it. I'm sure if I psychoanalyzed the situation, it's probably the seventies colours of my childhood.
It was Made in Japan. Was Japan still mass manufacturing things in the seventies?

This nut canister goes really well with my seventies tin, purchased at a thrift store in Thorold before Christmas.

And now, a Royksopp interlude. I love this song and the film clip someone set the music to. I can't stop watching this. The woman is such a happy dancer.

I also bought this charming souvenir tea towel featuring whimsical images from Wales and several Welsh words. I now know that bryn means hill. Who needs a university degree in linguistics? The tea towel cost .99.

I also bought some deluxe kids books, including this Eric Carle book about clouds which I've never seen before.
It comes with chalk and a mini Eric Carle chalk eraser.
Children's books generally cost .99. I loved the pictures some enterprising child left behind for us to enjoy.
My mother is a retired teacher. She used these Mr. Mugs books when she taught Grade 1 back in the seventies. She used to bring them home for me to read. I still love the stories and illustrations.
This book was from a little later and featured non-Caucasians.
Oh no - Peanuts the cat is sticking his paws in the brownies again. Meanwhile, Mr. Mugs' fur has had the Donna Mills hair poof.
I LOVE this book. Duncan already has a copy on his bookshelf. It's a sweet book showing all the different types of houses in the world.



Duncan and I like the Swiss boy the best. Our favourite line in the book is: "I sleep in a bed with a big puffy puff. Come over some night, We have puff puffs enough." What I'd give to sleep with a puff puff.

Oh - I finally saw Crazy Heart last night. Wow, what an amazing film. Jeff Bridges totally deserved all the recognition he received this time last year. He showed a complete lack of vanity, making the character of Bad Blake so believable that I kept thinking of him all day at work, like he was a real person. I loved the music, the story - everything about it. Go rent it if you haven't seen it already.

Ikea Art Cards, Pink Pottery, and Another Hole

We were at Ikea this week and I saw something I wanted so badly, I couldn't wait until we got to the right department.

Yes, it was a set of beautiful art cards of Swedish cities. Aren't they great? Sadly, when we got to the art and frame section, we couldn't find them and the floor clerk had no idea what we were talking about. I'm tempted to drag myself out to the Etobicoke location tomorrow so that I can have what my heart desires. They are sold in a set of five for $4.99. Good, arty VFM (value for money) if you ask me.

My urge to thrift had to wait this week. I can't even begin to describe how chaotic the week at my school was, so I won't even start. I took Duncan to the Science Centre today and I thought that we'd pop by the Thorncliffe Goodwill on the way home. They had had one of those 50% off sales yesterday and there was barely anything on the shelves today. I did spy the small sized Autumn Harvest Pyrex bowl, which I have already and I don't especially like. That was it. I saw some guy buying it when I was in the checkout.

I did find the pretty piece of pink pottery that you see above. I think I was charged $1.49. The woman who rang me up seems to be a hard worker who isn't a pricing dictator, so she tends to price down if the goods don't have price stickers on them. Thanks.

Lastly, I'd just like to say that every day this week, I've taken off my winter boots to discover that I've got another hole in another pair of socks. This has happened with new and old socks. I even cut my toenails and I still managed to get holes. What's going on? I'm starting to think there's some sort of sock conspiracy going on. Better call Jesse Ventura.

Welcome new followers, by the way. Thanks for joining in on the insanity. And to Sir Thrift-A-Lot, that wasn't me peeling stickers off Pyrex. I should have been so lucky finding any Pyrex this week. I'm usually the woman dragging a dirty blonde five-year-old boy around who's almost as tall as me. LOL.

Erin

Fretless and Fearless

I just learned that bass player Mick Karn died this month after a battle with cancer. He famously played bass with Japan and had a solo career of note, as well as playing with many other artists. His style was unique and hard to describe. You just have to hear him. Below is one of my most favourite songs that shows how melodically he played.

In memory of Mick Karn 1958 - 2011 RIP

LYRICS:

"Buoy" - Mick Karn/David Sylvian

Underneath a burning sun
There's always work to be done
We take much more than we care to give away

You'll be the moth, I'm the flame
I'll bless you and keep you safe and sound
Until sunrise comes around again

I’m like a mountain made of stone
I’m like a new day dawning
I’ll be here every morning, close to you

We'll sail on a river, way out to the Baltic sea
Love will keep us together
And the tide will draw you close to me
(Never words so true, never words so wise)
Love will keep us together
'Cause there's more to this than meets the eye

I burn a candle in your place
I picture the passions on your face
Feelings that rise on a wave and fall away

All the pleasures have returned
All of the lessons I should have learned
Return again to light, for us to see

You're like a map of buried gold
I search for treasures in your soul
And when I'm gone, you'll know I will come back to you

We'll sail on a river, way down to the salty sea
Love will keep us together
And the tide will draw you close to me
(Never words so true, never words so wise)
Love will keep us together
'Cause there's more to this than meets the eye

I’m like a mountain made of stone

Viva Vivienne Westwood

Has it really been ten days since my last post? Three words: report card writing. I'm trying my best to counter the bureaucratic side of work and sub-zero winter days, with creative projects. In our class, we've started a huge unit on the history of communication: from cave art to tweets. My brain is a thirsty sponge. As Anthony Bourdain says in the intro to No Reservations: I'm hungry and I want more. No kidding.

Inspiration comes from so many places and so it was a great surprise when my husband told me last night, "I'm recording a show at ten o'clock about Vivienne Westwood's London. Are you interested?" Well, I was so interested that I couldn't wait to watch it later. I'd sit through it, commercials and all.

Westwood made this travel documentary with the intention to make people see the importance of culture. She's on a mission and it was great to watch her riding her push bike around London, stopping through neighbourhoods south of the Thames and the East End, which has become more gentrified than when she used to frequent the markets three or more decades earlier. She took us into art galleries and discussed oil paintings that have inspired her. She is massively interested in classical art and watching the show, you can see how she borrows from previous centuries to create her original designs. I think she's amazing and she looks really cool these days. She kind of looks like how I imagine Queen Elizabeth I in her sixties with her hair down.

I couldn't find the exact documentary to upload, but I did find a clip that was taken from the same filming in an art gallery for Vivienne Westwood's London. Watch and then go to an art gallery.

Winter doldrumily yours,

Erin

P.S. I will aim to thrift and blog this week. Stay tuned!