The Toronto Years

I moved to Toronto in November of 2015. Here are my stories of living in the Big Smoke. View photos I've taken while living in Canada's largest (and therefore best) city on Flickr.

No Bell and the Brakes Were Hilariously Loud

Posted by Richard on Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Today was my first Bike Share Toronto commute, and I made as many blunders as possible. I added a few extra minutes by figuring out how to take a bike out, walking (not biking) from King to Adelaide, dodging trucks parked in the bike lane while properly crossing old streetcar tracks, turning into a one-way street, and getting turned around at least once, maybe twice. Next time I'm just going to turn right onto Church.

The actual cycling time of 15 minutes is about half the amount of time it takes to walk to work and about a third the time it takes by transit (the streetcar is sooooo slooooww, but at least I can read or zone out). The bike I rode has no bell and the brakes were hilariously loud. At least now I know what's involved, and the actual time door-to-door next time will be a lot shorter.

Thanks to Average Joe Cyclist for the timely post about using Strava, which noted that today was Strava's Global Bike to Work Day. That's right, I did it for the badge.

Free Comic Book Day, May 2016

Posted by Richard on Saturday, 7 May 2016

Comics collected during Free Comic Book Day in Toronto

My excellent haul from Free Comic Book Day, from Hairy Tarantula and Silver Snail Comics (both on Yonge), plus a cameo by the ad for the photo gallery opening I attended later in the day. I saw Captain America: Civil War the other day, and have a lot of blanks to fill in as a result of that. I'm not a big comics guy, but I did read Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud just recently, so I'm determined to get a glimpse of the medium. This'll be a start.

I overheard a guy say "Most of what's in comic book stores isn't comic books," and he had a point. Both stores had the majority of their floors dedicated to games and collectibles, not the books themselves, though really, there's a lot of crossover. I have my eye on a small card game that would fit my interest, and shared with Karen a card game that might interest her. I've found enjoyment in the collaborative card games, and in whichever one involves not knowing which character everybody else is.

When I went to Comicon earlier this year, I wanted to get a photo of me with Captain Canuck, but couldn't screw up enough courage to do it. I'm giving myself a second chance by getting a Captain Canuck comic with a blank cover. Maybe I can pay someone to draw him and me with our arms around each other's shoulder, as if we were good pals. Wouldn't that be hilarious?

3D Me

Posted by Richard on Wednesday, 4 May 2016

I met Douglas Coupland! I had known for a while about his project to 3D scan and print each and every Canadian (minus those who couldn't make it to their local branch of a Quebec-based fashion retailer) for an installation he will later make. I was finally able to do it this weekend. I know one of his collaborators, John Biehler, so it occurred to them to scan me both wearing the Blue Jays cap I showed up in and one without. Everybody who gets scanned will get a copy of themselves, and, lucky me, I get two. It'll be weird seeing a 3-dimensional version of me without my glasses, but like Doug (I'm allowed to call him Doug) said, maybe I'm a different person without my glasses anyway.

I didn't get a selfie with him, same as with Drake. That makes it two Canadian celebrities I decided not to get a selfie with in the same week.

It was a pretty slick operation, with demo units of 3D printers and waiver forms to sign. I saw one tweet snarkily ask "Are people getting paid in 'exposure'?" not reading the part where you get a totally cool 3D printed bust of yourself. (And a t-shirt. That part I didn't know.) Totally worth spending two hours on transit to go to Mississauga and back. Would go again! In fact, to pick up my busts, I will, won't I?

Later: John sent me a photo of the two copies of me. I love 'em both!

Two 3D printed copies of me, one with a ballcap, one without

Euphoria

Posted by Richard on Sunday, 24 April 2016

At 5:06 PM I saw a tweet by Drake (the rapper) that he was doing…something at 5 PM at 567 Queen St. West.

"It started already, it'll over by the time I get there," I thought. Still, it was a few short blocks away from where I live. I walked there, and the line was long but sure, why not? The line's this long, it's got to be good!

While in line, I pieced together that it was a pop-up shop, and that people were getting t-shirts promoting his new album. OK, free t-shirt, cool. Four guys ahead of me didn't want to wait an hour for a t-shirt (or something?) and didn't know what would have been in store for them. I hung out, trying not to eavesdrop on the conversations in front of me. One woman was told by someone she knew that they had run out of t-shirts, and was almost convinced to leave the line. She stuck with it, and I ended up in the alley with a bunch of people, listening to some Drake tracks, when all of a sudden someone said, into a microphone, "What's up?" Euphoria as Drake, the man himself, stepped out the door, smiling and winking at everybody. This was a dream come true for a lot of people! Since I'm tall, I offered to take photos for the family behind me, who couldn't see over everybody. I also let them go ahead of me. It was a bigger deal for them than it was for me.

Drake

Lots of people gave dap to Drake and some got selfies with him. The guy is the master at the well-timed flash of the "six" and smile just as people clicked their selfie. No selfie for me, though. I just shook Drake's hand. I think he wanted to lock thumbs with me but I am definitely not at all cool enough for that. At least he looked into my soul, oh so briefly.

Did the people ahead of us not get to meet Drake? Are they now thinking "All I got was a t-shirt?" For me, it was another thing that happened that was only possible because I moved to Toronto.

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