Lenticular Fright

Location: Riverside neighbourhood

Date photo taken: 21 October 2020

The Halloween display at this Riverside home filled their yard and incorporated a nice mix of store-bought props and home made elements. Among the former were some engagingly frightful lenticular pictures of small girls that changed from pleasantly perfect to perfectly fiendish as you walked past them. This is the first year I've noticed these, and while I came across several houses displaying them, I loved that at this house they put them right out at the sidewalk where I could fully appreciate their creepiness without feeling like a creep myself.

St Michael slaying the dragon

Location: Courtyard off Nicholson Lane
Date photo taken: 16 September 2013

This sculpture of St. Michael slaying the dragon, by 19th century French sculptor Emmanuel Frémiet, sits quietly in the corner of the Max Tanenbaum Courtyard Garden. Unless you're an opera fan, or fond of exploring the city's laneways and back alleys, you may not yet have discovered this space. The courtyard sits behind the Canadian Opera Company's building on Front Street, and faces the rather unimposing Nicholson Lane. The lane is so mundane that stumbling across this green and leafy space for the first time, with its decorative fencing and charming gazebo, felt quite magical. Fans of the series The Umbrella Academy may recognize the courtyard, and this statue, from the opening episode.

Eaton Mausoleum Decorative Glass

 

Location: Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Date photo taken: 14 July 2019

Stained or painted glass windows may not be the first type of ornamentation that comes to mind when thinking about cemeteries but they are a fairly common feature in mausoleums. If you're brave (or brazen) enough to walk right up and peer through the doors, you might just be rewarded with some colour and light. Mount Pleasant Cemetery has several beautiful examples, which provides just one more reason to visit this National Historic Site.  This particular window adorns the private Eaton family mausoleum which serves as the resting place of successful early Toronto merchant Timothy Eaton and 17 members of his family.

The Big Social: AR Edition

 

Location: Natrel Pond, Harbourfront Centre, Queens Quay

Date photo taken: 6 October 2020

If the fine fall weather that is about to hit the city entices you outside and you find yourself in the vicinity of Harbourfront Centre, make your way to the Natrel Pond to experience THE BIG SOCIAL: AR Edition. Using your own tablet or phone you can access a series of dance presentations brought to life on the pond right in front of you, thanks to this augmented reality experience presented by Fall For Dance North. I had initially intended to use a screen capture for the image here but decided that would be a spoiler! The show is available from dawn til dusk until October 18th and it's a great way to enjoy Toronto's arts and culture scene while socially distancing.

Gardiner Rehabilitation

 

Location: below the Gardiner Expressway

Date photo taken: 30 August 2020

The Gardiner Expressway, named for Frederick G. Gardiner, the first chair of the former Metro Toronto Council, was constructed between 1956 and 1965, making parts of it over 60 years old. Regular wear and tear combined with weather and the effects of road salt have taken their toll and in 2019 the first phase of the Gardiner Expressway Rehabilitation Strategy was implemented. The focus for this first phase is the section between Jarvis and Cherry Streets, at the eastern end, and represents approximately 1.5 kilometers of the elevated portion of the expressway. The deck is being replaced using a new method known as accelerated bridge construction in which replacement sections are pre-fabricated elsewhere (in this case, in very large tent-like structures just to the east of the site) and then transported  and lowered into position. Work on this section, including repairing the ramps, is expected to be completed in 2021.

#DYK that the expressway is 18 kms long, with 11 km at grade and 7 km elevated? For more facts, and some great early photos, check out About the Gardiner Expressway on the City's website.

The Boa

 

Location: 100 Wellington Street
Date photo taken: 15 February 2018

I just love these elegant yet fun bike racks, which can be found in various lengths around the buildings of the Toronto Dominion Centre. I even love their name, The Boa. This rack actually consists of 5 shorter segments arranged together. And guess what? They're made in Canada, the work of Dobra Design, based in Vancouver.

Creativity is contagious

 

Location: 95 Wellington West

Date photo taken: 20 July 2020

The building at 95 Wellington Street West between Bay and York Streets is getting a face-lift and to help distract from the fuss and bother, the street level columns along Wellington have been outfitted in colourful artworks and quotes about creativity. The work started in 2018 and is expected to be completed sometime next year.