October 29, 2009
comments 9

Something’s happening here, but you don’t know what it is….

do you, mister anchovy?

For some reason I haven’t been able to figure out yet, yesterday this island in the sun received about double the usual number of visits. While I would like to think the universe is finally twigging to my sparkling writing, clever photography and excellent musical selections, I suspect that is highly unlikely. I don’t think it was a full moon either.

Whatever the reason, if some of you have stumbled over here inadvertantly, welcome.

I’ve noticed that in general, since Mister Anchovy’s moved to 27th Street, there have been more visitors here. It could be a coincidence.  In any case, I’m always happy to have visitors. Feel free to make a comment or just say hi. I only bite when absolutely necessary.

October 27, 2009
comments 7

I have a hankering for a little fiddle music…

So, let’s hear a Ward Allen tune called The Old Box Stove, played by two fellows named Tom and Charlie.

maple_leaf_hoedown

Ward Allen, Composer of the Canadian classic Maple Sugar

That sends shivers down my spine. Here’s the same boys playing Mr. Allen’s fantastic Maple Sugar. I’ve posted this before, on my old blog, but this song makes me so happy I need to post it again. It’s great to hear players keeping this music alive!

Here’s April Verch on Canadian fiddle styles. I’ve seen Ms. Verch play live and she’s a fine fiddler and a great step dancer too! Check out this piece!

Finally, here’s the late Jerry Holland. Mr. Holland was born in Boston to Canadian parents. He made his television debut as a child on Don Messer’s Jubilee. What a great player!

October 27, 2009
comments 10

Changing doctors

For a long time, I didn’t have a family doctor. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve been fairly healthy, but recently with the problems I’ve been having with my knee, I’ve realized that I should find a doctor I can see over the longer term.

I started searching around a while ago and found a doctor, who was associated with a sports/physio type clinic. He took a look at my knee and sent me off for x-rays and ultrasound. It was important, he said, that I go to a particular x-ray clinic, and that I could go same day or perhaps next day. It turned out there was a wait of a week and a half for an appointment. No matter. Off I went.

Next step was to make a new appointment with my doctor to review the findings. I called the clinic. They put me on hold twice, then transferred me to a voice mail. I was less than amused, but I called back later and made an appointment. When I mentioned what happened, I was told, “sorry, we must have been busy”.

I showed up for my appointment with my doctor, but he wasn’t in the building. They didn’t know where he was, but he had told reception that he would be back in half an hour. I guess my time wasn’t so important that he would arrange his personal business around his appointments. Maybe it was an emergency. When he showed up, we had a rushed appointment, because I had other business after.

The doctor requisitioned an MRI for my knee since the x-rays and the ultrasound didn’t reveal my problem. He told me that some places take a long time to get an MRI but not this clinic. No. He would have one for me in 6 weeks. He told me if I wanted anything for pain and discomfort he knew of an herb that would give me good results. They use it in some places in Europe all the time. He didn’t tell me the name. I suggested we get the MRI done and talk about herbs later. I took the requisition to reception and they processed it. Someone there reiterated that it was taking about 6 weeks for an MRI. The doctor also wanted me to have a test called an EMG which was administered at this clinic by the physio folks. OK. I made an appointment to have that done as well.

In three days I got a letter from the hospital telling me that my MRI was scheduled 6 months down the road – that’s months, not weeks. Yikes. The day of my EMG I got a call from the clinic. They had to cancel my EMG, but they would reschedule. OK. I rescheduled for the following week. They canceled that one too. I made a third appointment.

Meanwhile, I have had no diagnosis and no treatment. I’ve decided that I’m in the wrong place.  I made an appointment with another doctor for tomorrow.  He comes recommended. I’m somewhat frustrated to be starting over, but I’m sure I can have my x-rays and ultrasound sent to the new guy from the old guy. I simply wasn’t feeling the love. Even in the medical business, client service counts.

October 26, 2009
comments 15

Goodnight Bandit

Back in April 2008, I made the following post on my previous blog:

I heard this fellow interviewed on the radio, who goes into Toronto neighbourhoods at night with garbage bags and spends the night picking up trash. He also makes a point going into areas where junkies hang out and cleans up there too, making sure there are no needles around that kids might get into. He typically spends from 9:00 pm until 9:00 next morning cleaning and fills about 10 bags of trash each night. He calls himself the Goodnight Bandit and leaves a “calling card” on street posts.

It makes me think that if all of us did just a tiny bit towards making our communities better, how much better they could really be.

The other day I was driving behind a woman who threw a tissue out her car window. It flew back then swooped over my car and off to the side of the road. Then she opened a pack of cigarettes and threw the plastic wrap out the window. I honked my horn but she seemed to be oblivious to having done anything wrong. How difficult would it have been for her to keep her trash in her car until she could deposit it in a trash can? I would have liked to see that driver spend a night cleaning up a neighbourhood!

There is also a post about this fellow on Torontoist

Today I received an email alert for the following comments on that post, which I’ll also share with your here:

Anonymous said…hello every one I am the good night
bandit I just found this site I have been working on church street to help give halloween A clean start I dont get payed to do this and I dont work for the city of Toronto yet I just wish you people could see the smiles on peoples faces aww its so great I well be doing church and maitland area just come say hello and smile thank you all love and peace every on

Anonymous said…I am just A volunteer trying to help give Toronto A helping hand on litter clean up I come from bad schooling and I dont have gread 12 I dont think the city would give me A job with not having gread 12 so I am just showing them what good work they would get if they just tryed me out for A year at $10.00 an hour to start if they like my work then after one year full time job I found A job am good at and I just love to see smiles I love doing what I do its been A year now and still going I do have an idea in my mind if I could get sponsership I would get some of the homeless people to work with me and help them get off the streets I talk with some of the homeless people if they would work with me to help them get off the streets they have told me yes so I told them I well let them know more about working with me when I find out more info so not only I am I trying to help clean up litter I am all so trying to help get the homeless off the streets

Anonymous said…this is the good night bandit again if any one would like to meet up for A coffee some time and talk about Ideas on to help clean up this city if Toronto if the word gets out to the rest of the world then may be others will try and help clean up this world I do go for coffee on church street by the bmo and I go to 2 cup on young street let me know friends at peacefull_jamie_@hotmail.com your friend the good night bandit

October 25, 2009
comments 6

Blast from the Past

Today, we visited two old friends, painters Stan Repar and Peter Dunn. I’ve known them for many years. I shared a studio with Stan for a while and later, lived in the studio next to Peter the Painter for several years. We share a lot of stories. The building is at 89 -109 Niagara St. Once upon a time, it was a casket factory, but it has housed artists for many years since.

Billy's

Billy's

I remember when I first started sharing a studio with Stan, we were on the west side, the 109 side of the building with a view of the Quality Meats abattoir, and the restaurant just across the street we called Billy’s because it was run by a really nice guy named Billy. At lunchtime, you could see the workers from the abattoir on the picnic benches out front enjoying chow mein and chicken wings. They were dressed in their blood-stained work clothes and had bright blue hearing protection, usually around their neck, since they were on lunch. It was quite a sight to see. The sign is still there for the restaurant, but Stan tells me it’s been closed for years.

DSC01714

We enjoyed a visit with Stan in his studio and saw his new paintings. The studio is smaller now than it once was. Back in the day, before it was divided up, it was a big space. Stan would always have three others to share it with. When I was there, we had four artists working in the studio, but only two of us were there with any regularity. It was a good situation. I enjoyed working there, and I enjoyed working with Stan. I enjoy his unique perspective and inventive, beautifully crafted paintings.

Peter Dunn with a painting by Anthony Stagg

Peter Dunn with a painting by Anthony Stagg

Our second visit of the day was over to the 101 side of the building to the studio of Peter Dunn. We hadn’t seen one another in way too long, so this was a welcome reunion. While we were over there, Peter mentioned that just that day he had been looking at a painting given to him by our pal from Chicago, Anthony Stagg. I couldn’t recall which painting he was referring to until he reached into a dark corner and pulled out a large rolled up canvas.

It’s been many years since I was Peter’s next door neighbour, but in no time the stories were flying as if it were yesterday. We laughed about the time Peter was making wall-mounted sculptures out of plywood that was ripped in layered chunks and reassembled in various configurations with other materials. Peter would stay up all night delaminating plywood, ripping layer after layer off. The ripping sounds woke me up one night. I couldn’t figure out what was going on over there. He made a fabulous series of wall pieces out of that wood. We have one here at Anchovy World Headquarters. It’s hanging in my music room.

It was fun visiting the old building on Niagara today, and we had a great time visiting Stan and Peter, and seeing that old Stagg painting too.

I’m sending this post out to old friends….

October 25, 2009
comments 6

Tuffy P. Spots Mushrooms

There are two trails which run parallel. We took the other one for a change, the one by the rough grass. I was watching Memphis, but Tuffy P. spotted something in the grass. “Mushrooms”.

Shaggy Mane

Shaggy Mane

And so I was incorrect a while back when I published what I claimed was the last mushroom post of the year. Tuffy pointed to these bullet-shaped mushrooms poking out of the grass. They turned out to be Shaggy Manes. Even on the youngest ones, the gills had turned brown. My brother tells me that for edibility, you want to pick them while the gills are still white. There were some in the grass that had already started the curious process of self-digestion, turning the fruiting bodies into black ink. Even though we may have missed these mushrooms in their prime, Tuffy has discovered a “spot”, a place where these mushrooms will fruit again, possibly again this week or this season, but certainly again next fall – so we’ll be sure to look there for them. Finding spots is bread and butter for the mushroom hunter. As fun as it is to pick a forest and wander about to see what there is to see, if you want to forage for mushrooms for dinner, it’s good to have specific places to go. I know a few of these places now, where I can target certain species at the right time of year.

DSC01692

Hiding in the grass

Hiding in the grass

The mushrooms are perfectly visible in the grass and leaves, and yet hard to see because of the variety of shapes and colours on the ground. When Tuffy saw these, at first I didn’t see them where she pointed, but once them became visible, I could see there was a significant patch of them in the immediate area.

October 24, 2009
comments 5

Playing Frisbee

Memphis and Scout

Memphis and Scout

Memphis may have the frisbee in this picture, but it was a momentary fluke. It is Scout who is the expert frisbee player. If the toss is flat and true, Scout will grab the disk in the air. He only has trouble if there is a sharp angle involved. Memphis would rather wrestle than chase a silly disk any day but she’s a good sport and so joined in the fun. This photo was taken at my sister’s place near Hockley Valley.