Weekend Reflections

Posting at Weekend Reflections.

August 2012 - Vernon France

Weekend Cooking

Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.

July 2014 - Toronto ON

Trendy condos on Queen St. W repurposed from factories.

Dating back to the 1930s, this warehouse is located west of downtown Toronto in the West Queen Street neighborhood. It previously had been used as a Ce De Candy Company factory, the makers of Rockets called Smarties in the States. Ce De Candy's Canadian operations were first established in Toronto, Ontario in 1963, and were later moved to Newmarket in 1988. The Canadian Smarties go by the name Rockets to avoid confusion with Nestle’s candy coated chocolate Smarties

The six-story post and beam loft building now houses 121 loft units. Some of the amenities enjoyed by the residents include 24-hour concierge service, a party room, a guest suite, fitness room, roof terraces and wide hallways.

The Chocolate Co Lofts, formerly the Patterson Chocolate factory was converted in 2004 by Plazacorp. The building houses 144 lofts. 

Image and Source

John Patterson and Robert Wilson launched the Boston Candy Company as a retail store on Yonge Street in 1888. Soon after Wilson’s retirement in 1891, Patterson bestowed his name on the company and expanded into manufacturing with a successive series of plants along Queen Street West. Among the company’s claims was the opening of Canada’s largest soda fountain on Yonge Street in 1911, which promised patrons “the most delightful cooling drinks you’ve ever tasted.” After Patterson’s death in 1921, his sons William and Christopher took full control of the company. They sold the business to Jenny Lind Candy Shops owner Ernest Robinson in 1947, who maintained the Patterson brand for at least another decade. At the time of Robinson’s purchase, it was noted that many of the employees had long tenures with the company, possibly due to benefits like a cafeteria, music during working working hours (not specified if it was live or piped in), paid holidays, and a generous health plan. Judging by the number of Patterson-sponsored athletic teams mentioned in the sports sections of local newspapers, and sizable donations given to the YMCA, it appears that the company was very interested in the physical health of their employees or wanted to prevent them from suffering the ill-effects of overindulgence on the production line.

The most enduring legacy of Patterson Candy is the plant it built at the southwest corner of Queen Street West and Massey Street in 1912. After an expansion in 1928, the five-storey plant included a printing plant and paper box manufacturing equipment amid its 60,000 square feet of air-conditioned work space. Full O’ Cream and Wildfire bars may be long gone, but you can live sweetly in the old Patterson premises in its current incarnation as the Chocolate Company Lofts.

Friday My Town Shoot Out

I'm posting over here this week.

This week's theme is SURPRISE - Share with us something you came across in your town that surprised yourself; or something that might surprise visitors!

Toronto ON


In the heart of downtown Toronto, steps away from City Hall and the Eaton Centre is Campbell House.It only took me 20+ years to visit this historic spot that I'd walked by a million times.

It is the oldest remaining house from the original site of the Town of York and was built by Upper Canada Chief Justice Sir William Campbell and his wife Hannah in 1822.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Fontana CA

November 2008 - Fontana CA

We did some Route 66 side trips on our vacation in Palm Springs CA that year.  We used this book to guide us.

Bono's Italian Restaurant was opened in 1936 to supplement Bono family farm revenue. Both the restaurant and orange stand are on Foothill Boulevard, which is old Route 66 in Fontana. The restaurant appears locked in time as many of the original plates, utensils, chairs and tables are still visible through the windows. It is as if the restaurant was closed normally one night and just never opened again.

Our World Tuesday

Our World Tuesday

July 2014 - Toronto ON

On Saturday my BFF and I went to the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art, a free museum.

Here is a link to the magnificent mural painted outside.
THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN ART

An intimate portrayal of gay male sexuality and beauty in the face of mortality is on view in Par amour / Paramour. From Stephen Andrews’ iconic Facsimile drawings that memorialize men lost to AIDS-related illnesses in the early 90s, to Robert Flack’s ornate depictions of the male body as a vessel of tantric power in response to his own diagnosis as HIV+, the exhibition features drawings, prints, photography, and an ambient audio soundtrack by Andrew Zealley that together etch a moving and emotional record of a community that came of age through its adversity in the face of loss. The show takes its title from Jean-Luc Verna’s work that subverts an emblematic Hollywood studio name and logo to reference the existence of a “paramour,” an illicit lover, as well as to an act done “par amour”: by love.

Stephen Andrews, Robert Flack, Jean-Luc Verna, Andrew Zealley

I was especially drawn to the Robert Flack display as the colours were so vivid.

My photos are not the best, I was surprised I was even allowed to take any, as the overhead lights and reflections were getting in the way.

Anatomical Garden - Ascent - Circle

Circle - Vitality - Portal

 Passage - Warrior - Crown

i Heart Macro Monday

 

  

Sharing at Macro Monday and I Heart Macro.

July 2014 - Toronto ON

Along Lake Ontario on the way to the Saturday Farmers' Market.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. For this meme, bloggers post what they finished last week, what they're currently reading, and what they plan to start this week.

My comments are not meant to be recaps of the story lines as I include a link to Goodreads for their synopsis of the book. I am merely stating how I felt about the book without giving any spoilers.

66 COMPLETED READS TO DATE!

1 ABANDONED

1 not finished as it expired so I will have to borrow it again. The Nightmare

FINISHED:

Synopsis here.

Loved this, the third book of the series the most. At first I was put off about the amount of flashbacks to Jacques

Cartier but then it got me totally suckered in. As a former Montrealer who grew up there in the late 60s the 

history reminded me how little I really remembered about the october crisis. I loved the intertwining of real

politicians such as Trudeau, Drapeau, Houde, Levesque. I was so intrigued I have reserved some books on Trudeau from the library.

From prizewinning Bangladeshi novelist Tahmima Anam comes her deeply moving second novel about the rise of Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh, seen through the intimate lens of a family.

Pankaj Mishra praised A Golden Age, Tahmima Anam's debut novel, as a "startlingly accomplished and gripping novel that describes not only the tumult of a great historical event . . . but also the small but heroic struggles of individuals living in the shadow of revolution and war." In her new novel, The Good Muslim, Anam again deftly weaves the personal and the political, evoking with great skill and urgency the lasting ravages of war and the competing loyalties of love and belief.

In the dying days of a brutal civil war, Sohail Haque stumbles upon an abandoned building. Inside he finds a young woman whose story will haunt him for a lifetime to come. . . . Almost a decade later, Sohail's sister, Maya, returns home after a long absence to find her beloved brother transformed. While Maya has stuck to her revolutionary ideals, Sohail has shunned his old life to become a charismatic religious leader. And when Sohail decides to send his son to a madrasa, the conflict between brother and sister comes to a devastating climax. Set in Bangladesh at a time when religious fundamentalism is on the rise, The Good Muslim is an epic story about faith, family, and the long shadow of war.

This is the second book in the trilogy and I have not read the first one. I think I might like to read the third one.

It read well as a stand alone novel.

Maya, the main character, left me feeling very exasperated with her. 

Her moodiness with her small nephew annoyed me.  She just didn't  feel likable. 

As for The Good Muslim, I'm not sure who that refers to.

STARTED:

The compelling story of a forbidden marriage, a baby lost, and a love triangle gone horribly wrong, Love Child centers on Bill, a South African woman whose life has been defined by the apartheid-era, class-riven society in which she lives. Under pressure to make her will, Bill is forced to think about the momentous events and decisions that have made her an extremely wealthy if somewhat disillusioned woman. To whom should she leave her fortune? As Bill relives her past, we learn that this is a simple question with a complicated answer. In elegant, sensual, and nuanced prose, Kohler skillfully explores the space between our dreams and our reality, between our hopes and our disappointments.

Monday Mural

I'm linking up at Monday Mural hosted by Oakland Daily Photo.

July 2014 - Toronto ON

Outside the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art.

Last year there was a different mural on this wall, click here to see it.

 You can find more information at Jim's website.