August « 2008 « gor[b]

25Aug/082

The stuff I live for

"Daddy! I'm glad you're home - come play. Our toys are having a never-ending-party on Rainbow Mountain!"

15Aug/080

Signs of the (Mari)times

I just returned from a relaxing week in rural Nova Scotia, and thought I'd do a Maritime edition of my Signage of the Apocalypse series. Also available on my Flickr set. Enjoy!

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Spotted at the parking lot of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs, on the Bay of Fundy - the rocks may be old, but the thinking isn't. There were several of these spaces near the entrance to the interpretive centre (right up front, by the wheelchair parking.)

No vehicles parked in them, though.

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Seen outside the Union Church in West Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. You know, in case the meaning of "church" isn't clear.

I suppose they eventually they meet in the cemetery, too. Or in heaven. Dual purpose sign.

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I just can't get excited about this place.

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Nothing funny about this, just quaint and rather true. Though I would have paid good money to adjust the frickin' rain clouds.

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OK, this is really cool. My friend works at the Jost Winery, in Malagash, N.S. Not only do they have a good website, but they have the largest URL you've ever seen. They hired a surveyor to map out JOSTWINE.COM on an unused field behind the winery, and they plough it a couple of times a year. The letters must be a couple of hundred feet high each; above is a photo I took from the bottom middle tip of the "M" in ".COM". Despite the rural location, there are now quite a few jets flying overhead on their way to the posh Fox Harb'r Gold Resort & Spa. And of course, it can be seen from space via Google Maps. Behold below:

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4Aug/080

Useless fact for your long weekend

Today is a civic holiday for most Canadians, with the day going by different names in different provinces - British Columbia Day, New Brunswick Day, Saskatchewan Day, etc. In the ever-practical Nunavut and Northwest Territories it's just "Civic Holiday". In Quebec it's called Another Day of Work and Simmering Anger.

In Ontario, municipalities use different names for the August civic holiday, honouring historical figures Colonel By, Joseph Brant, Samuel McLaughlin, Alexander Mackenzie, John Galt and James Cockburn. Until his death in 2002 the residents of Cobourg, Ont. mistakenly believed the day to be named after James Coburn, and screened The Magnificent Seven on the side of City Hall every year. The practice has been discontinued.

Here in Toronto, it's Simcoe Day, named after John Graves Simcoe, who founded the city, and for good measure abolished slavery and introduced trial by jury, freehold land tenure, and "European-style" lapdancing.

His wife Elizabeth Simcoe, however, the second-best name in Canadian history*:

Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim

To raid Wikipedia some more:

- Yes, the townships of North, West and East Gwillimbury that you pass through on Highway 400 on your way to cottage country are named after Ms. Gwillim. Gwillimburies may sound very tasty, but they give you the trots.

- The deliciously dark middle name Posthuma was chosen because her mother was buried the day baby Elizabeth was baptized. It is the same reason my middle name is Sprained Ankle.

The Magnificent Simcoe