Daily Prompts – The Wanderer

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Mama Cormier

……name 5 places you’d like to visit

1. The west and east coasts of Canada. I’ve lived in Canada pretty much all of my life but I’ve never been to any of our coastal areas. I’m very much drawn to water and that’s one of the reasons I’ve lived in Toronto in the same house for over 35 years. I live right next to Lake Ontario and in the summers I spend a great deal of my time at the cottage on Georgian Bay.

2. Italy, the entire boot. I’ve wanted to go to Italy for awhile now. The rolling hills of Tuscany, the history of Rome, the romance of Venice, the mountains in the north and the rugged coastlines tug at my wanderlust. I love the food, the wine and the art and of course the beautiful scenery. What more could a person want?

3. New Zealand and since I’ve travelled so far I might as well hop on over to Australia. I love reading about both countries and I follow several bloggers from ‘down under’.

4. New York City. The last time I was in NYC I was a mere child of 5 years. We drove down to pick up my Oma from the ship that she travelled on from Germany. Everyone should experience this iconic city at least once in their life and take in the shows, the great restaurants, Central Park, Coney Island and of course the Statue of Liberty.

New York City Photo courtesy of http://i.factmonster.com/images/brooklyn-manhatten-bridges.jpg

5. Iceland. My daughter and her partner just came back from Iceland and the rugged scenery intrigues me. The entire country has no more than 300 000 people so the roads are never busy and they are easy to manoeuvre.

Iceland – photo courtesy of http://www.fredolsencruises.com/Places_We_Visit/Iceland/Iceland_2_original.jpg?nid=cf86d55c-3498-43be-acd5-7b3bff02ea48

Share Your World 2014 – Week 16

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….it’s almost scary how quickly these challenges come up

How many places have you lived? You can share the number of physical residences and/or the number of cities.

• born in Frankfurt, Germany

Garmisch, Germany

• lived in Garmisch, Germany for about a year

• moved to Canada when I was 20 months old

• lived in Toronto until I was 5

• moved to Oakville when I was 6

• moved back to Toronto when I was 10 and have stayed here ever since

• for 4 years I went to school in Guelph but I always came home in the summer

Photo courtesy of : http://compsci.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/university_guelph_campus.jpg

• after I got married my husband and I moved three times – for one year we lived in uptown Toronto, then moved to the High Park area and lived there for two years and finally we bought our house down by the lake in the west end of the city – we’ve lived in the same house for 35 years

What type of music relaxes you the most?

Most music relaxes me. When I was at the concert last week, even the music by Shostakovich put me to sleep. Music that doesn’t relax me is punk, heavy metal, rap, goth and grunge.

If you could instantly become fluent in another language, what would that language be and why?

I think I would pick French. I’m surrounded by it every day at school and just once I’d like to surprise everyone by answering back in perfect French. All my children went to French Immersion school and I’ve taught in two French Immersion schools but on the English side for more than 25 years. I just assumed that I would pick it up by osmosis but sadly that didn’t happen.

If you could fly or breathe under water what would you prefer?

I would prefer to fly. There are too many predators under water and I think It would be safer in the sky.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful that the snow has finally all melted away and that the garden is starting to show signs of spring. This week I’m looking forward to a short week at work (we had today off) and spending time with my friends on the weekend.

For more Share Your World posts check out Cee’s Photography.

A Good Friday at the Farm

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..visiting my sister and brother-in-law

After checking into the hotel in Chatham, my husband and I drove to the farm. My brother-in-law was excited about showing off his new ‘man cave’. We were greeted by numerous cats, barking dogs and one sheep and the cows that were in the enclosed pen outside the barn. A few seconds later my sister stepped out of the barn and D approached us from the opposite side of the property.

The new ‘man cave’ isn’t finished inside but the structure is up and the water and electricity are hooked up and working. We listened to the plans as to how the space will be used and D hopes that he can have his ‘man cave warming party’ in the fall.

It was a warm, beautiful day so I decided to take a few pictures of the livestock in the yard. When we go back tomorrow we will check out the sheep and horses in the new barn. My sister’s place is a photographer’s delight….lots of old farm equipment, weathered knick knacks and yard ornaments and of course animals.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Juxtaposition

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Mama Cormier

This classic old building “The Flat Iron Building” in downtown Toronto was the focus of this shot but one can’t help but see the modern skyscrapers that hover behind it.

This is a quirky coffee shop in Queen St. West. Part of the decor includes a wall of art with old classroom desks used as tables and a hobby horse for added measure.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/photo-challenge-juxtaposition/

The One of a Kind Show in Toronto

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..just a few images from our annual trek to this fabulous show

One of my favv

Winter is at our Doorstep

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..cold temperatures and a dusting of snow today (yesterday)…..hit published….looked like it went through…..discovered this morning that it hadn’t…..sigh…..by the way we got another covering of snow last night

An image of what’s to come in the next few months. Brrrr!!!!!!!!!

What a perfect day to do a little Christmas shopping and check out the Winter Arts Fest at Neilson Park Creative Centre. I met a great artist who makes beautiful jewellery with glass imbedded with copper, a retired principal who creates gorgeous wooden boards and boxes made from different types of coloured wood and an author who wrote a novel about Toronto’s history.

I also ran into my former art teacher, LZ, whose classes I took for a couple of years at Neilson Park Creative Centre. She told me she’s been thinking about me lately and hopes I’ll come back to one of her classes in January. She says she’s including collage and more printmaking lessons to the class. She must have been channelling my thoughts of late because I’ve wanted to do more of both, especially collage.

An earlier attempt at collage.

Printing on Gelli plates.

After doing some shopping at the craft show I headed over to the mall which is close by. The kitchen store had some great sales and I picked up some small items for stocking stuffers. I then went to one of my favourite stores and treated myself to a couple of new tops.

What’s up for tomorrow? Well I keep saying I’m going to reorganize my bedroom but there’s an interesting arts and craft show at my old alma mater in Guelph that I might check out. It all depends on whether someone is willing to go with me. I’m all about living in the moment.

Cheers!

Persian Breakfast

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….celebrating my oldest daughter’s birthday

My daughter, A was away on her birthday last week, touring wine country in Prince Edward County. She did, however, want to celebrate with the family and she expressed an interest in having brunch at a very trendy Persian restaurant in the west end of Toronto. Tavoos doesn’t take reservations so they suggested that we arrive at 10:00 when the restaurant opened on Sunday so that we wouldn’t have to wait.

My sister was in town on the same day and she was hoping to spend some time with me so we invited her to join us at the restaurant. In total there were six of us in attendance. Arriving early turned out to be a very good idea because when we left the line-up went out the door.

This unique little restaurant is located on College Street just west of Dufferin. When you walk in you are greeted by a warm, inviting atmosphere with a very Persian decor. There are a couple of areas that are covered with exotic carpets and cushions and you can enjoy your meal sitting cross legged on the floor. Luckily, A requested the small room at the back of the restaurant with regular tables and chairs. I’m not so sure I could get up gracefully from the floor after sitting for any length of time.

The menu offered some very unusual breakfast selections. One of them was a soup made with a goats head and hoofs. We all passed on that item. A ordered the porridge with lamb which was quite delicious and surprisingly sweet. My sister played it safe and ordered a Mediterranean salad and the rest of us had Persian egg dishes. Traditionally the dishes are baked with the eggs sunny-side up on a spinach or onion potato base. With coffee and or tea and tip the total cost came in under $65.00 for our party of six. Pretty good for the city of Toronto.

After brunch we went back to A and J’s house. My sister hadn’t seen their home and it gave us more time together. Of course there was birthday cake and more coffee. We didn’t need to eat again until dinner time.

My sister with ‘my three girls’.

Cranberry Festival in Bala

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Mama Cormier

….. rain, hail and wisps of blue sky

The Cranberry Festival in Bala always falls after the Thanksgiving weekend. My friends L and B and I decided to drive to Bala on Sunday. The entire weekend was cloudy, rainy and cold all over southern Ontario. It was really a last minute decision to drive to Bala at all. We wondered if we had made a wise decision when hail started to hit the wind shield but in the distance we could see traces of blue sky.

The drive in was uneventful and traffic was light. In years past the flow of traffic would slow down to a crawl as cars and buses approached the town of Bala. We found a parking spot easily and with umbrellas in hand we started our walk through town. One of the first things I did was buy a pair of gloves to keep my hands warm. We checked out some of the vendors that were outside and then we made our way into the arena where more vendors were set up to sell their wares. We picked up some stocking stuffers for Christmas, sampled some yummy chocolate and tried on some trendy designer clothes.

When we headed outside the sun finally decided to make an appearance and it warmed up considerably. A vendor selling hot sauce looked at us as if he recognized us. He asked if we were teachers and if we’d ever taught at a middle school in Etobicoke. Well it turned out that all three of us had been at that school but it was our friend B whom he recognized. What a small world. He must have been one of her first students because he was already well into his late 40s or early 50s. He got very emotional at meeting her again after all these years and told her that she had made a huge difference in his life. Talk about making your day!

As we made our way back to the car we stopped and picked up some fresh produce from one of the stalls. Our bags were so heavy with our harvest vegetables and apples that we decided to take advantage of the school bus that transported visitors to and from the festival. When we unloaded our parcels we decided to go back to the church by the falls and have some lunch before heading back to Toronto.

Lunch was a bowl of homemade turkey soup for each of us and a Canadian bacon sandwich cut into three pieces. For dessert L bought one cranberry crepe (it was the cranberry festival after all) with chocolate sauce and whipped cream that we shared as well. We took a few more pictures of the falls and the rushing water and then walked back to the car. Just before we left Bala for good we made one more stop to purchase some more twigs with red berries. The urns outside L’s and B’s places will look very festive this Christmas with those red berries adorning a bouquet of evergreen boughs.

Thanks ladies, for a very enjoyable day!

Ai Weiwei – Part 2

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..one week to go

If you live in Toronto or are visiting this is your last chance to see the Ai Weiwei show. Last week I posted some of the installation pieces at the show. Featuring photographs, sculpture, installation art and audio and video pieces, Ai Weiwei: According to What?examines how the artist spotlights the complexities of a changing world and probes such issues as freedom of expression, individual and human rights, the power of digital communication and the range of creative practice that characterizes contemporary art today both in China and globally.(as cited in the AGO newsletter).

China Log 2005

This sculpture is made from 8 pillars salvaged from Qing Dynasty temples that were carved at the centre and when joined together they formed an opening through the entire length of the ‘log’ in the shape of China. The China log implies that present day China is made up of a variety of cultural and historical elements.

Kippe, 2006

This sculpture is made with parallel bars as the frame for a three dimensional puzzle of tightly fitted pieces of wood salvaged from Qing Dynasty temples. Ai Weiwei’s memory of childhood school yards that were equipped with a set of parallel bars and a basketball hoop were part of the inspiration for this sculpture. The other part came from the beautifully stacked firewood outside his family home that was openly admired by the people in his neighbourhood.

Wenchuan Steel Reebar, 2008-2012

Ai Weiwei uses rebar recovered from the rubble of collapsed schoolhouses following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. It is a large physical work, designed to remind people of the individuals in danger of being forgotten.

Forever, 2003

These 42 Forever bicycles were dismantled and reassembled to form a circular sculpture. The Forever Co. was established in 1940 and became the largest manufacturer of bicycles in China. In recent years with the onset of modernization the bike is disappearing from city streets but many Chinese still cherish memories of their bicycles that will last ‘forever’ in this work.

Coloured Vases, 2007 – 2010

This series consists of Han Dynasty vases dipped in industrial paints covering the patterned surfaces of the jars with bright modern colours while maintaining the original forms.

I love this man’s work and I discovered today that we share the same birthday. The show will be leaving Toronto this coming weekend and will move to Miami, Florida to the Perez Art Museum (November 28, 2013 – March 18, 2014) and then moves to Brooklyn, New York to the Brooklyn Museum (April 18 – August 10, 2014).

Cheers!

Things Didn’t Go As Planned

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Mama Cormier

…..but the concert was fabulous

Before I left the house this morning I gathered up all the documents I thought I would need to get my new health card. The only thing I couldn’t find was my passport but I had a photocopy of it.

I headed over to the x-ray and imagining lab to have my bone density checked. There was no waiting and the procedure was painless and went without a hitch. I picked up a cup of lemon jasmine tea from the French baker on the corner and a couple of loaves of day old bread, rye and muesli. Next stop, the medical lab for my blood work. When I got there, however, the waiting room was so busy that there was at least a 30 minute wait. I was told if I came back before 4:00 I wouldn’t have to wait.

Plan B …..I made my way to the government office to get my new health card or so I thought. When I got there I showed the receptionist my papers and she told me that the photocopied passport couldn’t be used but I only needed two pieces of ID and the other two items I had would suffice. She gave me a number and I took a seat. There weren’t a lot of people there but it still took 30 minutes before my number came up. I no sooner got to the counter when I was told that I needed three pieces of ID and not two like I had been told. The clerk could see that I was visibly upset so she gave me a special pass so that when I returned with all my documents I wouldn’t have to wait.

I didn’t have time to drive home and get downtown in time for the concert. Luckily the offices were open till 7:00 tonight so I rushed to the subway station to catch a train into town and meet my friend, CL. When I got to the platform, one train had just left and then the sign came up saying that the next train was delayed. Fortunately it was a short delay and the next train arrived in three minutes. I arrived about 10 minutes late and CL was waiting patiently for me outside of Tim Horton’s. The lecture was starting in 10 minutes and we hadn’t had lunch so we decide to forgo the talk and grab a bite to eat instead.

The concert was sold out and the auditorium was already packed when we arrived. The only seats left where we could sit together were in the front row. When I read that we were seeing a piano duo I thought that meant two pianos and two pianists but there was only one piano on stage with two benches. The piano duo was one piano with four hands.

Bax and Chung have been described as a musical love story. Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung are married in real life and when they play together there is a sensuality and connection between them on stage that doesn’t go unnoticed by the audience. Today my favourite numbers included Stravinsky’s own four hands transcription of his ballet Petrushka and the duo’s own transcription of Three Tangos by the great Argentinian master Astor Piazzolla. After a standing ovation and three curtain calls, the audience was treated to another tango duet for their encore presentation.

I found an awesome video on Youtube that shows the couple playing Piazzolla’s Libertango. The camera is situated above the piano so that you can see the interaction between Bax and Chung. It is a great way to see the complexity of the piece and the difficulty of playing with four hands on one keyboard.

I didn’t get back in time to have my blood work done but when I got home, I found my passport and returned to the government office to have my health card processed. It should be arriving in the mail in a couple of weeks.