Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader
November 2024 - Toronto ON
Hockey Hall of Fame Toronto
Saturday was fun. I prepared lunch for John's granddaughter and friend, who were arriving by train from Montreal for Taylor Swift. Then we picked them up at Union Station and gave them a tour of the area around the stadium and where the pick up spots would be after the show.
Spotted while waiting for their train, which turned out to be filled with Swifties!
Back here, we checked them into a suite and then fed them. They then went and got ready.
We did some photos in the lobby before dropping them off at their zone for the show.
Sunday the girls were ready for breakfast at 10 and regaled us with stories and details about the concert.
We dropped the girls downtown to wander and then brought them their bags around 2:45 for their 3:15 train back to Montreal.
Monday John golfed, booking himself, by error, on the hilly course which played havoc with his back. Most likely the last game of the year.
I went to the Eaton Centre to see a photo show of Taylor Swift by a Canadian photographer, click here to read about her.
I grabbed lunch at Beauty's Chicken in the Eaton Centre Queen's Cross food hall.
The tree is up in the Eaton Centre.
Gotta remember this place, the prices are very good.
Other than both of us going for pedicures and I had a manicure we hung around home. I baked oatmeal raisin cookies as John finished off the lemon curd cookies.
As we can never remember how much cash we need (therefore no taxes!) I took a photo!
Wednesday John went to Metro.
I took the 10:30 bus to meet my cousin (19yo) at the Bata Shoe Museum.
“What is art?” This question has sparked debate for centuries, and today, the boundaries of what defines art are being pushed further than ever. One significant shift is the growing trend of artists engaging in commercial collaborations, particularly with sneaker brands. These collaborations blur the lines between art, fashion, and commerce, offering consumers the opportunity to buy and wear creations by some of the most revered figures in the art world. Many of these sneakers are also finding their place within traditional art spaces, such as museums and auction houses, where their rarity has elevated them to a status similar to limited edition artist prints. The cultural significance of these artist-sneaker collaborations is contributing to the ongoing discussion of what defines art today.
This was our main objective as she is studying Criminology at TMU (Toronto Metropolitan University).
This exhibition examines both the development of footwear forensics as a means of solving crime and the social constructions of criminality from the nineteenth century to today. It also considers how clothing and footwear play roles in cultural ideas of criminality informed by assumptions and bias. This exhibition will take visitors on a journey to sleuth out the central but complex role of footwear in crime, policing, the judiciary system and our cultural ideas of criminality.
English, 1930s “The butler did it!” is a longstanding trope in detective fiction. Butlers were prized for their ability to inconspicuously serve their employers often wearing shoes with flat, smooth soles that let them move noiselessly through the house.
Before DNA evidence and fingerprinting, footprints were a key way to identify and convict suspects. The distinctive nails and nail patterns of each shoemaker and region made hobnail boots worn by working-class men in the 19th and early 20th century especially useful evidence.
Invented by John Gardner, an Oregon prison warden in 1866, these heavy leather boots with metal shackles were designed to prevent escape and could weigh up to 28 pounds. They were also effective in permanently disabling wearers, who often limped for the rest of their lives.
Enlarge the photo to read about a Canadian train robbery as I cannot find any information online.
Flannelfoot (on loan from the Crime Museum of New Scotland Yard, London, UK)
The first ever loan of this burglar’s kit made by Scotland Yard, Flannelfoot has been dubbed London’s most famous house burglar. The elusive ‘Flannel Foot,’ known for wrapping his feet in flannel cloths or socks to muffle and mask his footsteps, Henry Edward Vickers, was finally caught in 1937 by Scotland Yard police after a notorious 25-year career of petty crime. His kit included tools to cut glass windows, gloves to avoid fingerprints, a flannel sock, and rubber galoshes with distinctive soles to keep his shoes clean of suspicious mud.
American, 1965–1967 This US Army boot was designed during the Vietnam War to leave the sandaled footprints of a Vietnamese National Liberation Front soldier.
Historically, female criminality was often linked to a love of finery and seductive behaviour, with dress playing a central role in how women were perceived. Heels that were too high and clothing in lurid colours that exposed too much skin were often used as proof of immorality. It was believed that women might be driven to crime from shoplifting to murder because of an uncontrolled desire for fashion.
Item 1 - Two-toned Spectator
Worn by Bela Lugosi who played the original 1931 on-screen Dracula, these shoes were originally associated with leisure and play, but by the 1930s, were seen as flashy, the footwear of playboys and gangsters. In England, this connotation was captured by their alternate name, ‘co-respondents,’ a term used in divorce cases to identify the person who committed infidelity.
The reason we have to take our footwear off at the airport - The Shoe Bomber.
Then we had lunch at the Kimpton Saint George Hotel. I had the chicken lettuce wraps (I prefer ground chicken in my wraps) and a kale chicken salad for my cousin.
Thursday, after lunch, we went to go to College Park Farm Boy.
The Swifties are back in town! But it was a rainy cold day for them.
Ah, such fun, the alarm went off. We got dressed in case we had to leave. Better safe than sorry!!
At 9:48 p.m., November 21st, 2024, we experienced a Fire Alarm activation:
• B2 – Level Sprinkler Activation in the #2 Squash/ Basketball Court.
Staff and the Toronto Fire Services (TFS) responded to the Fire Alarm incident, and it was found to not be a real Fire incident. The sprinkler system in the #2 Squash/Basketball court was activated when a sprinkler head was damaged by a basketball.
After investigating the concern, the attending TFS Captain gave the All Clear and all systems were returned to normal today after Dunwell Fire Services replaced the damaged sprinkler head.
Please be reminded that the staff will NOT silence or reset the Fire Alarm Panel, until instructed by the TFS Fire Captain to do so.
Friday and the plan was to go to the Reference Library and see an exhibit and then go to Eataly for a few items. It was a damp, dreary day (pity the Swifties) and the 1:10 bus hadn't arrived by 1:20 so we decided to come back in, of course, I looked out the window and he was turning the corner once we were upstairs! Oh well, John made popcorn and we watched Cross.
COOKING
Saturday lunch and dinner ham, colcannon, mashed turnip and carrots
Sunday leftovers
Monday bay scallops and fries
Tuesday ham and au gratin potatoes
Wednesday we ordered Swiss Chalet chicken
Thursday cheeseburgers and chips
Friday (all cooked by John) ribeye (Market) steak in duck fat, baguette, sauteed peppers, onions and shitake mushrooms. We normally buy cremini but we are experimenting.
WATCHING
I finished the grand finale of My Kitchen Rules Australia season 14 and am very happy that my team won!!
We watched the English crime drama mini-series Joan. Sophie Turner plays real-life character Joan Hannington, a figure known as "the Godmother" by certain aspects of the British criminal underworld. The series features Hannington's journey from housewife and mother to petty offender, diamond thief and criminal mastermind in 1980s London.
Irena's Vow was an excellent movie. It was a little disconcerting to see Dougray Scott (Scottish actor that I know so well from Irvine Welsh's Crime series) as the evil German commander. Equally disconcerting as I watched Irena and thought I recognized her. She is Sophie Nélisse Canadian actor) who appeared in the American thriller drama series Yellowjackets.
Through the eyes of a strong-willed woman comes the remarkable story of Irena Gut, and the triumphs of the human spirit over devastating tragedy, as she risked her life to save a generation of Jews from the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Spoiler Alert!! There is one scene that John and I will never forget!
Landman is a 2024 American drama TV series. Landman is set within the world of oil rigs in West Texas, where "roughnecks and wildcat billionaires are fueling a boom so big it’s reshaping our climate, our economy, and our geopolitics.
We binged-watched Cross season 1, NOT for the faint-hearted!! Series adaptation of James Patterson novels about the complicated and brilliant detective, Alex Cross. It was mainly filmed in the Toronto area. I spotted this scene, that is right up the street from us, Tom's Ice Cream, they didn't even change the name although it was supposed to be in Philadelphia!
I grabbed this from the TV.
We also started The Helicopter Heist, is a reality-based and character-driven suspense series in eight parts about the drama behind one of the most spectacular heists in history, a grand and fast paced Icarus tale about winning, or losing, it all.
I started watching Leonard Cohen If it Be Your Will but then decided that we should watch it together. A cinematic celebration of Leonard Cohen's music, life, and legacy through the eyes of his son Adam and tribute performances by musical icons.
READING
Pet peeve - people who spell Santa Claus as Clause!!!
I read Gone by Morning and I enjoyed it enough to subjecting John to a long-winded detailed summary of the plot!
A suicide bomb set off in a Times Square subway station nearly claims the life of 68-year-old ex-madam Kathleen. Then a woman is brutally murdered, her body dumped on a marshy beach in Queens. The woman, Sharon, was last seen by 26-year-old Emily―a Deputy Press Officer working at City Hall―getting into a car in front of the building where she and Kathleen both live in far upper Manhattan.
I started A Simple Lie, there is no such thing.
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