ReNe: mac failing on me...

Argh. I think I will have to boot to Windows after I post this.

Occasionally a program will hang, but as that used to be rare, I thought nothing of it. However, programs have been hanging a lot more frequently. Also, I have noticed a definite slow-down in many system processes and I often see the spinning beachball...

I think this system is in need of a complete re-install, but I'm reluctant to do so now as I really don't have the time to be stressing if something goes wrong, or even if everything goes right, the time to install the array of programs and configure the system. I guess having a 'backup' system in the form of windows is also tempting.

Even as I speak, gmail refuses to log in and just shows a white page... I'm starting to think I've extremely bad karma with computers; today, my Linux box in the lab utterly failed. It had been giving problems over the past few weeks, with seemingly random problems with paths and system permissions, and yesterday there was a moment of screen panic when I rebooted... lines flashing by, basically screaming 'error', and today, the machine just died, refusing to boot into X windows.

Well, time to log out. I haven't used Windows since leaving Singapore, except for the occasional Acrobat file that needed editing. Feels like I'm bailing ship, and that the ship's slowly starting to sink...

glug glug

ReNe: so freaking dry

So it's been cool recently, temperatures hovering around 15C. That's nice.

What's not so nice is that the humidity has plummeted as well. It's about 30+% relative humidity now, and this brings up problems I guess I would have to get used to. Previously, I had travelled during winter but that was only for a short period of time; I could suffer dry skin knowing I would be back in humid Singapore shortly.

Now, I guess I have to ramp up my skin care routine. My apartment looks a little messy, with open pans and containers of water in the corners. Even though I have a heater, I hadn't used it yet because it's extremely drying -- instead, I simply put on more clothing. I don't know... what's an environmentally friendly, and yet tasteful way to humidify a room?

And the really irritating thing? Carpeted floor... the number of times I've been shocked after walking across it... I even get a shock when I touch running water from a tap.

MiKE: a better pic.

Ok, I admit, I saw this site, and was inspired to take a similar picture.

Evidently, I don't have as much skill and equipment as that guy. Canon EOS5D? EF17-40L? wow. And he does a lot of photoshopping too, to increase the visual appeal.

Here is a stolen picture, which I hope I do not get prosecuted for copyright reasons on the grounds of fair use:

MiKE: Some more beautiful pics...

Seems like my life here has settled into a rather monotonous, if somewhat stressful, routine. As in, study, study, sit back and relax a bit, study, go for classes, study, study, buy groceries, study, study... you get the idea. Oh, but don't be misled into thinking that I am in some sort of prison or something. I don't know where I read it, or who wrote it, but I am pretty sure that one very famous prisoner has ever written to the effect that his body could be imprisoned, but never his mind. The corollary, of course, is for people to be thinking - if one were to be in a cage, even a gilded one, could one know it?

So once in a while, when the body feels cooped up too much (I am not in a jail, anyway) I give myself a treat by going out to a meal. This time, I went to Sai Gon Palace; yes, it is the place I blogged about in the first week when I was here in Toronto. But what to do? It serves really good Vietnamese food. For people who would visit me, I would bring you here for a meal. Well, something's gotta be right - they have been in business for more than 15 years (cannot remember the year i saw on the signboard). They are on Spadina avenue, and walking south from my apartment, I will pass by this interesting junction with College street:


And after that meal, since the weather was turning cold, I had decided to go get a 'car jacket' from the Gap; the gap sells clothes which are on a relative budget for the boutique-ness they represent. In other words, they are much like G2000/U2 or maybe even Esprit, but somewhat cheaper than the latter. I got a woolen jacket that stretches up to mid thigh, though not quite yet a trenchcoat, for about $150. Yes, it is expensive (I think), but I am thinking that some times, we have to spend the money - because we cannot take it with us, if you know what I mean.

The Gap store is on Bloor Street, east of OISE, about 1 km or so. Given the nature of city traffic, many people walk around downtown. I know I do, it gives me my cardio workout; and it is not the slow saunter that people living in tropical singapore are used to, due to the effort to try not to perspire. Here, people do fast walks, in a bid to warm up as much as possible; and even so, I often get overtaken by people. On the walk back with my new car jacket and feeling warm except for my neck and face, I caught sight of this and just had to take a picture:

This is Bloor Street, looking west to the sunset. In the distance along the road is a church, which was in the picture in the previous post, but at a closer distance. The tall building on the left side of the road is just opposite OISE.

It is in moments like these that remind us, that we are not imprisoned.

MiKE: Autumn is here. Don't believe?

Hard not to believe that autumn is here, and winter is actually approaching. The sun has now been setting no later than 7, and most of the time anyway, the heavy clouds make sure there is no direct sunlight even at 4-5pm, like now as I write. The temperatures have been maxing out in the teens, though there have been a couple of days, especially last weekend, where it was unseasonably warm at 25 or so. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures that I thought to upload before i accidentally delete the project folder, which i did twice(!):

Bloor Street West, looking west. This is the street along which I have three 24 hour grocers, where I get my food from. I happened to have the camera in the bag this particular grocery trip, and had to stop and take a shot of this.

and also this picture. Same scene.

On the way to OISE this morning. This is looking north at Spadina. I am actually on the road median, and the streetcar actually runs underground to Spadina subway station, just under where I was standing.

Someone probably had to walk home barefeet that day... These trees are outside the U of T department of sociology, which shares the building with the University of Toronto Schools, a gifted education program run by the U of T. If I were a betting person, my money would be on the teenage kids that did this.

A wider shot of the same scene. As you can see, it was pretty sunny. Trees have really turned colour, and it is starting to look really pretty.

On other fronts, work is getting pretty interesting. I remember writing someone and saying that I'm actually happy to be this busy. There is a certain aspect of being happily engaged with work that is satisfying, and I'm experiencing that right now.

Ok, gotta go. Have to work... :)

ReNe: drive from st louis to toronto

Realizing that this blog hasn't been updated in a while. Well, that's because there's a lot of things happening. Mostly work-related. But there was an interesting event a couple of weeks back I should write down before I forget the details.

This post is about the awfully long trip between St Louis and Toronto by car.

On the Canadian thanksgiving weekend, a couple of guys and I drove up to Toronto. Well, to be precise, they drove, because I don't know how to (yet). The guys were going up to visit their girlfriends in Toronto as well, so it was literally a conjugal visit for all of us.


We left Friday afternoon, 5 Oct, 2pm, taking the I70 towards Indianapolis. Weather was dry and sunny, the scenery was fairly boring, mostly withered cornfields. At Indianapolis, we took a bypass to avoid the city and turned up to I69 towards Fort Wayne. The scenery got a bit better, more trees, less flat grounds, but still very open and empty. Traffic was moderate and smooth, mostly averaging 80mph (120kph). No reckless speeding or weaving here; police here, apparently, are very strict about speed limits.

After a non-stop 5.5 hour drive, we pulled into Fort Wayne at 8:30pm (by then, we had already crossed into Eastern time) for a quick top-up and dinner at Macs. Gas in the US is cheaper than gas in Canada, and gas in some states in the US, like Missouri, is cheaper than other states, so the guys were careful to top-up before heading into Canada.

Change of driver and 30 mins later, we were off, continuing along the I69. The guys said it was best to avoid Detroit for 2 main reasons: that's likely to be much busier because the truckers go through there, and more importantly, it's not really safe in Detroit. So we went through Sarnia instead. I can't remember what time we reached the border but it was around midnight.

Going into Canada was pretty easy. No queues at all (it was midnight after all). There was a toll (your choice of CAD2 or USD1.5, and given the current exchange rate, it was cheaper to pay in USD), the Canadian customs officer asked the usual questions about our nationalities, where we're going, what we're bringing, and so on. But it was all pretty fast, just a few minutes (they didn't check the car) and then we were in Canada.

We stopped over at London, Ontario for that night. From the border to London, it was about 1.5 hours and from London to Toronto, another 2 hours the next day. In all, the drive from St Louis to London took 14 hours, including breaks, and it was within the itinerary the guys had planned.

On the way back, we left Monday afternoon 2:30pm, 8 Oct, with the intention to drive throughout the night. The traffic out of Toronto was very heavy, I suppose because it was Thanksgiving, and often, we found ourselves packed bumper to bumper on HWY401. We stopped at London for an hour, partially to give one the guys a break (caffeine headache) and also to let the traffic clear up. By the time we left London, it was almost 6 but at least the roads were clear, and we made good time to the border. As expected, entry back into the US was harder, especially since my I20 form was new and there was no stamp on it yet, we all had to get out of the car and queue up. After my form was duly verified on some database and stamped, a 20 min procedure, we were back on the road again.

Well, nothing much to report on the drive back; it was the same as the drive to Toronto, only even more boring and dark. Everyone was tired and a bit down. We finally pulled into St Louis at about 4:30am.

In summary, it was a smooth, if awfully long, tedious and tiring drive between St Louis and Toronto. The drive takes about 12 hours on the road, if there is no heavy traffic, at an average speed of 80mph (120kph), so with breaks, I'd say 14 hours in all, each way. Cost of gas both ways was US$156 and split three-ways, that was really cheap.

ReNe: a later fall

Just a quick comment to Mike's last post about the falling temperatures.

It's getting colder in St Louis as well, and the weather's really excellent right now. It's like air-conditioning, but more bracing. Right now, the temperature outside is 17 degrees Celcius.

While in the summer, it would be cloudless and extremely, extremely sunny most days, these days, the morning starts off a little cloudy and gray (it's rather nice in a soothing sort of way), and gradually gets sunnier as the day progresses.

Interestingly, locals have commented that the kind of temperatures we're getting this October should have arrived in September; the summer this year was unusually long. Moreover, when Fall did come, it came rather quickly too. One guy was saying that's why the leaves don't have time to change color through the reds and yellows and eventually fall; a lot of the leaves are just turning brown quickly and dropping. That's quite a pity.

News are also forecasting for a slightly colder than average winter this year. That... would also be interesting.

MiKE: sorry for previous false alarms...

...regarding the weather that is.

Seems like the previous pronouncements of coldness were, as the title says, false alarms. Short term cold snaps, that were most likely induced by temporary fluctuations like Hurricane Humberto (i think), and short term weather changes.

This one is for real now - the sun has begun to set progressively earlier, from about 7:45 - 8:00 when I arrived in late august, to about 6:45 - 7:15 this week. And the clouds have become the main feature of the sky, looking generally grey, and making the sun seem to have set earlier than it really has. Trees have also started to turn yellow and red, and there are lots of leaves of the ground.

And the forecast has been, consistently for about a week now. a maximum temperature of not more than 20C, and a minimum temperature of around 10C. People have started to wear at least 2 layers, it is not unusual to see people wearing scarves, there are fewer cyclists outside, and those that do, do wear long tights, the heating has been turned on in OISE, and even in my room (they turned on the radiator in the kitchenette, but NOT the main living room?!), and i hear fewer sounds of thundering Ducatis and Harleys outside my window.

The ABC news webcast did say however, that this year's cold season is long in coming; they even featured a particular beach, where, in September, most would be in triple layer. This month, they could still spot people out in bikinis. And what about the Boston Marathon that had to be canceled half way because of the heat and the organizers' inability to provide sufficient water for the runners? Serene says that she read somewhere a forecast that this winter is likely to be much colder than other years though. Wonder how that will play out.

Myself, I still find the indoor temperature rather comfortable. Either my thermometer is stuck, or somehow, the apartment manages to maintain a steady 20-23C despite the outdoor temperature being close to 15C or less. Once in a while though, I really like to open the windows full wide, to take in the considerably fresher, crisper outside air, and get used to the cold. When that happens, my thermometer drops to about 15C, and I can take it for about 20 minutes before I need to close the window.

Wanna know something possibly disgusting? I have not cleared my trash in about 2-3 days. No, it is not so bad! You see, what happens is that there is no trash chute in the building, not even a floor level communal one. To throw trash, one has to bag it, and bring it outside the building, braving the cold. Try to imagine doing that when you are indoors, warm, and comfortable, in your shorts and t-shirt. I mean, I have done it before, it is not that bad - It's not as if there is any risk of hypothermia, but the thought of putting on clothes just to throw trash is quite off-putting. So, I have been timing my trash disposal with my trips out of the apartment, and in the first place, my trash generation is not that rapid - Even if I cook for every meal (and I do, btw), I hardly generate more than 1 plastic bag per 1-2 days. And I meticulously tie up my bags, so they do not stink. At all. Really. What I'd be interested though, is how I am going to clear trash in -10C winters...

Ah well. At least one thing can be said though - summer is offically over.

ReNe: care packages

(sorry, a little late in blogging)

I'm was pleasantly surprised to discover a package of notebooks and pens on Tues (2 Oct), and more delighted to discover that there were TWO packages! At the same time! One was from Jessica and the other from Li Ching -- thank you very much! =)

MiKE: Nuit Blanche

So Toronto copied Paris and some other European cities, in having "a free all night contemporary art thing" (so it says in the Nuit Blanche blurb) on the first weekend of October. From 7:03 pm (Don't ask me the significance of that) till the next morning, many art galleries venues would be open for guests to come in and take in the art. And there was a crowd. Everywhere!

I met Erica and Federico at 9:30pm, as they had reservations to go up CN Tower at 1 am. I had initially declined their invitation to go, so I did not have any reservations, but it eventually turned out alright - I put my name of the wait list and was able to get up 30 minutes after them. Art was everywhere downtown, centred on several zones, one of which was actually the University of Toronto, where we were, and then, at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD). I'll let the pictures help me tell the story:

As I mentioned, we started at the U of T, this is near Hart House (the large student recreation and activity centre) looking south. CN Tower forms the focus for many pieces of architecture around the city - you'd see lanes like this aligned toward it.

No, I did not have a religious conversion. Just found the texture of the bricks sticking out in the side of this cathedral quite pretty. By this time, we were just idly walking around town, headed in the general direction of CN Tower. We passed this cathedral on McCaul Street, walking south, in the direction of OCAD (but we did not know we were headed there).

Another shot of the cathedral, this time the doors, which look very much like it could have been used in the shooting of Batman or something - you know, the final scene where Batman has the Joker trapped in the cathedral, and something bad is going to happen. Anyway, imposing stairs and doors. Nice.

A shot looking south along McCaul street, with the OCAD building in the foreground and CN further back. It's a very interesting building: an entire floor (more? dunno - did not go up) suspended on its corners. And i think it got some kind of special lighting just for that night. As you can see (or maybe not), the streets were pretty crowded, and there was a real carnival atmosphere.

We went inside to have a look at the art being created. It seems like it was an open house of sorts, I think part of it was in the interest of recruitment of students, actually. Here is the textile workshop - they are working on silk screening.

And this is the metal jewellery workshop, where, according to the guides, some of the 2nd years were working on a copper solder project, and the 3rd year students on a silver ring project.

Walked out of this workshop, and on the hallway, we saw something rather bizarre, that led us to question if we were at an art school or museum. On the display case, there were a few artifacts; rather innocuous, but upon closer examination, were actually historical copper cervical caps, a copper IUD (which looked nasty, by the way, in the sense that it looked like it could cause real pain), and the used sheepskin condom of Giovanni Giacomo Casanova. Apparently, it had been used, and washed, and re-used, and, uh, hung up for all to see now. Weird.

Interesting exhibit, don't you think? A bricked up doorframe, some pieces hacked off with a sledgehammer, and chalked up writing declaring "no art here" (move along now, nothing to see). You see, I like 'clever' pieces like this, where there is a joke/ hidden message behind the art piece.

We went next to the ceramics studio, which organized a throw-a-thon: they were throwing clay the whole evening from 7 to midnight or something - and apparently quite a few pieces were done, including a HUGE flower pot like , err, thing. You can see below that visitors were also welcome to try their hand at throwing clay - the people with no aprons/overalls were visitors.




Then we went into the main gallery, and looked around. You can see I am no huge art fan. To me, the social phenomena of people going around appreciating the art is of more interest than the art pieces; well, for some of the pieces at least...

Except for these few. This one caught my eye because it looked like really old parchment paper. If you look closely enough (and i hope the camera and compression leaves enough detail), you'd find what this is actually made of - used coffee filters!

And this one. Nothing special about the materials, I think. The message is quite intriguing to me. What do you think the message is?

The main entrance lobby of OCAD. They had this eerie red lighting cast up the walls reflecting into the lobby.

Then we left the OCAD building, and walked on to Grange park, where we saw the source of the light beams that had shot long, distinctive shafts of light into the night sky (read: Toronto air sucks). I am not sure, but this light must have had a power rating of several kilowatts. These beams were visible from a great distance, and I guess it was a very effective means of advertising the locations of the exhibition zones.

Then we stumbled onto a gallery which was closed, but through the window, we saw this aluminium foil corn field-let. Once again, I wonder what the meaning of this is. Yes, I know, sometimes art need not have meaning - it is all down to what it moves one to feel at the point in time. But I'd be the first to say that I am not particularly happy with that interpretation.

We walked on some more, till we got to University Avenue. If you are wondering why there are so many shots of the CN Tower, I guess I was carried away by the idea planted on the Nuit Blanche website - to take pictures of the tower from all over downtown, and also from up the tower.

Another shot at the same location, this time with a portrait orientation. The tower was actually being lit up by very interesting architectural lighting; when I saw it close up, I found out that it was actually high power LED lighting panels all over the tower, synchronised by some central controlling device, which painted the tower with lights to make it look as if a beam of coloured light was running up the tower, and round the circular viewing stage. And since they had R/G/B LED panels, they could make the tower appear in any colour they wanted, and they did.
Another shot of CN tower (if you can find it!) This one along Front Street, the business district. It is not for no reason that Hollywood loves to shoot films in Toronto, especially shots which need a city skyline. It's beautiful, it's nearby, the city is (largely) cooperative, and it is cheaper due to the exchange rate (not at this time at least), and cheaper to rent - definitely cheaper than New York at any rate. Oh, and apparently, the Hulk was being filmed all over Toronto in August, including the U of T. Did I see any stars? Do you think I care?!?

A shot of the city, looking North West from CN Tower. These images are quite magical to me; containing a feeling of flying and floating - I am always reminded of aircraft landing approaches near to town when I see images like this; although, of course, if I were in a real airplane, I'd really hate to see the city centre so closeup (cos it means we're due for a rough landing - or are there actually cities out there so close to airports? Kai Tak?)

Another one. This one looking north. You have just to take my word for it, or have some idea of the city geography to know that OCAD is in the picture, and if you look closely enough, the U of T St. George campus (where we were), St. George Street, and Spadina Avenue, where I stay. Unfortunately, there is not enough resolution to make out my apartment block. This shot was taken by resting the camera right up against the glass of the window.

Another shot, north facing again, with the similar view as the one above, except that this one has the camera resting on a tripod, and pointed downward, so you see a lot of the city below and near the tower. This and the last photo are presented here in full resolution, so I would recommend opening it in its full resolution to have a look. Really, it's pretty.

A shot facing east. Again, this one is full resolution.

And then we went back. By the time we were done, and I said goodbye to the couple near the International Student Centre, it was about 2:40 am or so. I made it back home at about 3:10, and then got to sleep at nearly 4, thinking about the night. Given that the CN tower had free admission overnight, all the way till 7 am the next morning, I guess it would have been ideal to have gone there at dawn to capture the sunrise. Well, some people did, I saw the images, and unfortunately, it was foggy.

MiKE: I eat vegetables...

Bought kale recently. I don't like it. Bitter tasting. Dont know what to cook it with. Ended up slicing it finely like this, and stir frying it with oyster sauce, tomato, and a bit of shrimp:


I guess the portion size was also a bit much.