Dee-licious

The old saying of you don't know what you have till it's gone? Well I am here to say that the truth rings true in this cliche. My beloved Mini Cooper was sold a few months ago before exiting stage left from California. The California car culture is so tied to peoples' persona's that it's a cliche in and of itself. Of course a few of my favourite people on the planet don't even own vehicles, so I suppose cars and the charisma of automotive muscle is lost on some folks. Not me.

Enter stage right, Zipcar. The stateside phenomenon sweeping the urban set as an option to the unwanted burden of car ownership. Think time share. Think no-tell-motel by the hour set...yeah baby. This is the perfect mix of ease, accessibility and gas fumes all coalesced into a bit sized sampler box: Drive a Mini,(my ride of choice today) an Audi, a Honda... whatever wherever your little heart desires. Did I mention how easy? A credit card from the Zipcard folks unlocks the car. You simply walk up, swipe the card against the windshield. The car unlocks and the key is on a zipline next to the ignition. Adjust your mirrors, apply lipstick and most importantly turn the radio up really loud and off U go! (ipod aux- in available for those too groovy for radio.)

No fuss, no worry about door dings or even where to park.. Grow weary of the car? Drive something else next time around. It's like being single again. Variety IS the spice of life, and Zipcar is a lot like a fling: fun, fast, and on the fly....How can you not be smitten with the frivolity of that?

Did I mention that a gas credit card is included? Yes, cocktails are on the house (it is sort of like that..)

All in all it was great fun. I'm hooked. It's the best of all worlds. Next time you feel up for an afternoon of city driving angst or a quick hop to the beach look no further than Zipcar.

Now if they only offered a surf rack for my windsurf gear-

Drip Drop

Enough of this rain already.

The romantic notion of misty evening city walks washed down the rain gutter after the third downpour today. What's up? Where is the hot weather, since this is after all almost August... The meteorologist had this to say this morning "We have found summer and it's vacationing in the North." Yeah, and did it happen to mention that it might swing our way east?

I love the calm cool demeanor of the Canadian Culture. What I am not liking, at least at the moment is the lack of summer. Northern California has not really enjoyed a good soaking in a few years. I for one really missed this, as the smell and taste of the air is altered. The ozone and smog washed away and clear sky's beam as far as the eye. I suppose the grass really is greener right now this moment in time. Mean while I have windsurf gear collecting dust as I await the sultry summer season, wanting to be drinking Vino Verde on a beach blanket here along the water front.

Wishful thinking reins as we wait out the rain in Toronto. Maybe Cuba is balmy... I can get there from here. Hmmmm....

And For What........

A sigh of communal relief was breathed last night with the news that the strike here in Toronto may be ending this week. Friday will be the day of reckoning when the city council votes.

Well that was so civil. So Canadian. Civility IS the strong suit here, but don't mistake my poke as that is indeed worth a lot.
What makes me wanna pick a fight? Suppose it's the lack of a fight. The seeds of political discontent here in Canada seem planted almost hydroponically- no deep roots. Nothing to really dig your heels into here. The lack of political activism is weirdly missing in such an urbane environ. Did I mention how smiley Torontonians are?

Maybe you can't have it all, but how do things get accomplished if everyone sort of grits their teeth while sporting a smile and agrees affably? The last 33 days of stinky garbage piled to the sky with playgrounds closed (because playgrounds here have become the make-shift dumps.)
Good luck trying to read up on editorials- No really angry opp ed pieces in the paper. No sign of in-your-face opinions from either side. None. Snoore...............

Then just like that....snap snap.... big wordy battles ? Guess not. Never to materialize. No real newspaper coverage unless you count the small one column piece buried on page 4 yesterday, page 2 on Sunday. Apparently all concessions seemingly met (at least that's the early word on the street.)

Soo the question looms: why bother with 32 extra days of discontent? Wouldn't it have been easier to just let the union arm twist and the Mayor and his minions bend over. Posturing?
Not even. Political instincts non existent in Toronto, this is one mayor that will be a casualty of natural selection.

Nice.

The losers? The city of course. Taxpayers will pony up in the end to honor the sick days banked by municipal employees. Never mind that the numbers don't add up. The Mayor will be long gone but his lasting legacy will be the red slimy trail he leaves behind upon the city' spreadsheets, garden slug that he is.

Uggh. What a waste.

I know what your thinking? Why do you care so much, Ms.California transplant? My serious case of American ethnocentric political angst shining through like the sun.

Yep. Stir the pot. Maybe I can teach my Canadian neighbors a thing or two about activism, American style. I will, in turn practice good manners and tone down the rudeness.

Pinky promise.

J'Adore Contador

Who doesn't love the underdog? The final push of the Tour de France is spinning it's way through the streets of Paris. Ahh, the best bread and by far the best people watching. Cycling at the helm, that cutie pie Alberto Contador. What's not to love- a Spanish (Madrid) mad-dog on wheels. When word was out that the other stud muffin of yellow jersey fame would be sharing the spoke-light of team fame, why was the drama not dished as high as a paella pan full of arroz?
Lance Armstrong announced that he was returning to professional cycling with the express goal of participating in the 2009 Tour de France. Team Astana manager Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's former mentor and sporting director, said that he could not allow Armstrong riding for another team and later signed him. The announcement by Armstrong clashed with the ambitions of Contador, who insisted he deserved the leadership of Astana, and hinted at the possibility of leaving the team if he was given a secondary role supporting Armstrong.Contador was later given assurances by Bruyneel that he would remain team leader and decided to remain at Astana for the 2009 season. Was this a mistake? Contador later claimed the situation on the team could be sorted out on the road. The yellow jersey never looked better than upon Contador.

I like that kind of drama-rama, especially from boys! Add expensive bicycles, media coverage non stop against the backdrop of the Pyrenees it's hard not to be the moth to the flame.

Can't get enough? Me neither... Toast a glass of Cava s'il vous plaît to the yellow Jersey-wearing drama clad madrileño who makes all of us proud rooting for the underdog.

Day 26

Walter Reuther must be turning over in his grave.
Why you ask?

The striking union workers here in Toronto resemble picnic-ers vs picket-liners. What's wrong with that? A lot. First off, the union has a very staunch stance on workers rights. My very first indoctrination with political strife came from the unionized autoworkers in Detroit. Such strong impressions from that angry vocal crowd of unionized workers left an indelible mark upon my elementary school psyche.

Flash forward today: the garbage strewn park in my Toronto neighborhood (day number 26 of the garbage strike.) It's not awful by any stretch but it's evident that something is amiss. My bigger concern or question comes from the lack of anger, angst, in your-face-signs that spell out a list of what the city workers seek. Instead you find a picnic table of people gathered 'round maybe reading, having some coffee. You might think that it's a family gathering or just a few friends out enjoying the day but no, it's a picket line. Or a picket picnic table. I would have taken a picture but I was on rollerblades and at an age where I can't walk and chew gum let alone rollerblade...

So what are they asking for, these non-picketing picketers? Well in this day in age we go to the source: no, not the president of the union or the spokesperson for the union...or even the bottle-blond dork of a mayor. Go to the website. Sure enough, there it is... The mayor and the unions are equally responsible, as the little bit of budge from either side is negligible. What is impressive? The city has strike information available via pdf in fifteen languages.

Question is will we drown in a sea of garbage bags since the end of this strike looks unattainable.

Love The Look

North Carolina welcomes it's newest neighbor: Bernie Madoff. Leaving behind the Frette sheets, Irish linen pj's and cashmere socks Mr. Madoff now sports the polyester-blend prison jumpsuit. He's in good company in Butner NC as the following high profile inmates share the pilates studio at this posh medium security federal penitentiary; Adelphia Communications own John Rigas and son Tim, who were convicted on multiple charges,including securities fraud and concealing $2.3 billion in liabilities from corporate investors. Jonathan Pollard, an American who spied for Israel and Omar Abdel-Rahman, the "blind sheik," who is serving a life sentence for trying to kill Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and blow up the United Nations. This is like the all-star squad. Do you think they may form a secret investment-ponzi club? I imagine a marketing idea from the bad boys of Butner to be "Invest all of your snack stash with us and receive an unbelievable 12% return on your ritz crackers." At the very least a prison book club or writers salon to kibitz about memoirs/tell-all books. Evening cups of tea drank together discussing strategies to off-shore amazon booksales proceeds. It just seems like old habits die hard.

What's odd is that many a cottage industry has sprung up around these white collar criminals: prison coaches are the new personal trainer. With all of the security fraud and big fish like Bernie, it's easy to see how a little advice on what it's like inside the big house would garner press and business opportunities for all parties on either side of the bars.

I just wonder if they have to share yoga mats. It just seems wrong for them to have such a posh and privileged penitentiary pad as well as federally subsidized organic bamboo yoga togs.

Potato-Potatoe

It's been said that Canadians are simply dis-armed Americans with health care. But there is more than just the coveted care system. Canada has very little dialect diversity compared to the United States. The phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax for most of Canada are similar to that of the midwest. Differences abound with simple communication.

Annunciation, pronunciation and syntax of the local lingo takes some practice. Is it Spadina or Spadeena? Que, Quay or Key... The easiest key to this lock on the local language of course is local radio. Between weather and traffic one can pretty much guarantee a spot-on spew of the Canadian scene. There is a reason why Canadians get the elbow jab and snicker delivering the EH- routine. Each and every social interaction with a real live Canadian will elicit this. The farther north one travels you can count on conversation peppered with Eh, Aye, Eye, and 'Dayre. String em all together and you have the friendly form of a hello or at least an informal introduction. I have yet to find my self in a formal setting so I can't be sure that the salutation would be any different. Sure it's cute in an aw shucks kinda way but where did it come from and why is it so damn en grained, even within the urban lexicon?

Enquiring minds wanna know, or at least this inquisitive busy body so here is the drill down on the small but fascinating differences.

• The Canadian 'accent' can be heard most easily in the following words: out, about, house, and others with 'ou'. For example, canadian pronunciation of the word 'out' is like 'e' as in 'pet' followed by 'oot' as in 'boot', sounding like 'e'+'oot'. American pronunciation of 'out' is more like 'ow' as in 'cow', sounding like 'ow'+'t'. Other words often pronounced differently are 'pop', and 'roof'. Of course, the trademark 'eh' at the end of a statement is a dead giveaway.
• Canadian spellings can also cause confusion: colour vs color, cheque vs check, centre vs center, etc.
• Canada uses the metric system, although canadians quote their height and weight in feet/inches and pounds. Industry, for the most part, uses imperial units.
• For measuring temperature, Canada uses Celsius (rather than Fahrenheit).
• Although there are many differences in prices of things between US and Canada, two that stand out are the after-exchange lower prices of electronics in the US, and the far lower prices of CDs in Canada. Also, there is a pricing inversion for CDs such that in the US the older CDs are the cheapest, while in Canada it is the newest releases that are usually on sale.
• The drinking age in Canada is 19 in most provinces, and 18 in Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec. Note that the provinces where it is 18 alternate as you go west to east. Coincidence?
• Soda/pop is made with corn syrup in the US, and sugar in Canada---this changes the taste significantly. Maybe this is why American soda drinkers look cornfed.
  
• Football rules: size of our footballs, football fields, and one less down
• Canadian inventions: ski-doos, jet-skis, velcro, zippers, insulin, penicillin, Zamboni, the telephone, short wave radios, robertson screws (square hole)

More than you ever wanted to know about Canadians? Thought so.

Allergy Free:

Soft and fluffy. No, not the family pet but the news coverage here in Canada. Is it wrong? A small sociological study could be scripted on how the delivery and non inflammatory nature of how information and news is disseminated ala no glitz, no glamour just a happy face spin on the world doom and gloom. Civility and grace. No scary breathing from the talking head who can't raise an eyebrow due to all that botox. Small wonder HD tv has done wonders for the cosmetic giant corporate king pin Allergan and it's stock price. Canadian news lacks the glam and the glitz and botox so it's all good.

As a news junkie, this is a new and delicious find for me. I had sworn off the talking heads of the state side news machine corporate conglomerate (sorry for the redundancy) spewing a seamless thread of doom followed with a dash of gloom. Even the packaging: split screen stories separated by rapid-fire teletype cutting stories and news smut not given video into a Mondrian print sans the color. Catering to the knat like attention span/ADHD in all. . I gave up watching this drivel after CNN, FOX, and even CNBC began sporting the same copycat look. BBC Canada and OMNI news have added the scrolling teletype to the bottom of the screen but I will cut them a bit of slack because I love the BBC. Strong words yes, but the correct adverb for this instance.

So how does Canadian Media do it? Keeping the glitz and ambulance chasing stories to a minimum is a strong start. The station CTV has only a slight nervous twitch detected in it's voice when discussing H1N1. Currency reports are even optimistically delivered with a wide-eyed woo-hoo of a full one cent gain for the Canadian currency. These stories would not be a big deal stateside, not even late night worthy on Bloomberg. So maybe it's the simple ending to the news snippet that makes it all palatable and civil: "Thank you for welcoming us into your homes today and hope you will join us again" the closing salvo to today's news cast how can I not return tomorrow? Artificial sunshine has never felt soo good. All star baseball anyone?

The Simple Thngs

One of the first things on the to do list when relocating to any new city : the quest for decent Za.

Call it pizza, a slice or pie: all roads lead down the same path.
In a town the size of Toronto (2.8M) one would think that it's a slam dunk...
The usual suspects of Yelp, Chowhound, and Craigslist all point to one gaping whole the size of Italy. The question looms: where oh where do I find such a seemingly simple culinary request?

I have a list of the don't bother: Pizza Pizza (the Mediterranean arrived with Broccoli) Madanto was a solid C- as a quick slice in hand as I dashed down the street last week. Dino's was less than memorable but worth a second try in the near future. Amico's with a decent online shopping/ordering experience is supposedly en route as I type.

Pizza is subjective. Subjective as art really. I sort of consider a good pizza an art form. Not a Degas or a Cezanne but more Picasso. Interpretive of crust as the medium, much like oil or acrylic begs a certain appetite pizza is really no different. The creative process for me is typically a thin crust with pepperoni or a true Marguerite with nothing but basil and fresh mozzarella. Purist pursuits really.
The great thing about the simple beauty of a simple pie is the sanctity of simplicity meeting fresh ingredients but I digress into food porn.

The other problem with ordering pizza to be delivered is well...it's delivered. Pizza should be eaten properly ala fresh from the oven directly to my plate (preferably not paper plate please) but alas kids change the pizza equation. So delivery it is.. but when it arrives it will come out of it's cardboard coffin and into a hot oven if just to burn off that awful delivery box after thought.

Yes, I have probably spent too many years in California but Chicago, another great pizza town is part of my lineage too. I can't even bring up the Michelangelo of pizza cities, NYC so I will stop this train now.

T-minus 35 min and counting. Oh...music to my ears, the door man has called to alert a delivery person. Keep your fingers crossed..btw any suggestions forth coming always welcome.

If It Barks Like A Dog

The good bad and the ugly of Craigslist. My glass slipper got stepped on and broken yesterday as a dose of reality stepped in and squashed my unrealistic ideal of nirvana when it comes to all things Craigslist. Canadian Craigslist has been my beacon for local minutia of what's happening politically, entertainment bent, and just-getting-settled-into a new flat bent.

Why the long face you ask? i-phone woes. My phone won't work here in the great white north without a little technical intervention. I know boo hoo hoo, but wait: the local fido phone I purchased is a complete piece of crap, thank you Motorola.. what I needed: to find a person to jailbreak and unlock my phone, swap out the SIM chip and restore my social life. A bit of elegant technology goes very far when you've danced with a dog like Fido.

Easy enough, Craigslist swarms with tech wannabee entrepreneurs so how did my experience take such a left turn? Unlucky luck of the draw I suppose. My jailbreak jailbait (2o something Uof TO student) arrived looking the part of hacker/slacker, but after three hours of futzing my iphone was still dead and jailbait looked befuddled. Sad but true, Craigslist IT services leave a bit to be desired so perhaps I will head down to Chinatown and find a band-aid solution with a unlocking expert who only speaks Mandarin but has the techno savvy to make things right.

Fear not, I still adore Craigslist. A little reality check is always a good thing and who knows perhaps someone out there wants this Motorola fido phone for free. Craigslist posting IS the only way to go.

Blissed Out

Have you ever had one of those days when it seems like everyone is in a good place- good manners flow effortlessly, a helping hand is available at the deli counter, smiling happy subway inhabitants who don't push and shove?? Yeah, me neither or at least until yesterday. If this is a trend ( and I certainly hope it is) then my time spent in this fair city on lake Ontario will be a pleasant one.
Of course I have to question why. Is it prozac in the water, the sunshine, the warm summer weather or perhaps a combination of all the above. What I do realize is that inhabitants here in Toronto seem to share a common knowledge of inner peace-even the transit authority drivers of trolleys, subways and trains. Good news abounds as good manners and civility are in fashion here along with dark unwashed denim jeans of a pencil straight variety and did I mention how well it's worn?
Yes that would be the denim but also the kindness and general good natured-ness that seem to abound. Fresh breath of air really. My shopping for rose colored glasses is on hold as I bask in the glow of my new found love...this town. So what's a little garbage on the street? At least it's not like my old love, San Francisco where people use the street and service elevators, Muni train stations and just about anything with a corner as a place to piss.
Just a heads up- I'm trying on this nice thing for size, so we'll see how it fits in a few days but so far I like the "Just be Nice" agenda and may adopt it as my own. Boring, I know. The dark pencil slim denim I shall leave to the <25 age demographic.

Sweet Smell Of Summer

Hey...what's that smell? Piles of trash adorn the cityside here in Toronto. The city workers are on day number 15 of a strike. So imagine as a welcome beacon to this fine city...an aroma greeting you. Not a nice summer time freshly -cut- grass smell but something all together different. Huge piles of garbage. Nice and befitting welcome really- since all is quaint and pleasant here among the Torontonians. Welcome to the neighborhood! Just what I like to find: political intrigue meets union angst, voila- a sweet municipality mess with a Mayor acting like a primadonna and a union acting well, like a union. Political football anyone? This might be an interesting summer after all.

Save The Extra Vowel

As a newby to the Canadian scene, it's important to share with the class my fascination of all things foreign. Foreign as the subjectively applied: anything new to me at the moment. Traveling is the easiest way to shake up your world. True, coming to Canada isn't really a shake up as say Azerbaijan might be but hey-traveling with kids and an american passport = pedestrian fun.
Food is the biggest motivator for me when the idea strikes to tally forth into the world. The seek and you shall find mentality always rewards those with enough patience. The hole-in- the wall taqueria in Huatulco, or Pinky-toe crab in the West Indies arriving upon your dinner plate can make up for so very much that goes array when traveling. My current state of mind at the moment is to shun the tedious and tepid seeking instead a twist on the day to day. Safest yet most exciting way to achieve this heightened sense of self while still clothed is the dining experience.
A toast to all things Toronto. The tendency for me to whine about the wine found here may get old quickly but rest assured I promise to keep that in check. My bigger concern, will be toning down the teasing when it comes to the grammatical anatomy of the english language here in Canada. Just between us girls: Harbour really doesn't benefit from the added U, nor does center deserve the added e on the end. Picking my battles here will be fun, pedestrian but fun. Kinda like how I find Canada thus far.