http://www.gorbould.com/blog Paul Gorbould: Words and Pictures Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:29:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Our cat, "Miranda Hobbes", showing off her ungodly array of whiskers."][/caption] I've been playing around with a Nikon D90 and a couple of SB600 flashes, trying to learn how to do lighting - this "studio" shot is just my basement with a piece of black ... http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/whiskers/ It's hatching time. Well, it was last week - and now our kitchen is full of butterflies. My wife is a kindergarten teacher, and one of her yearly activities is hatching butterflies in the classroom. She orders a few dozen painted lady butterfly larvae (caterpillars) from a science supply place called ... http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/butterflies-in-the-kitchen/ My sister, who often works late, takes some joy from the clowder of alley cats living near her place. (Yep, "clowder" - alt. "clutter" - look it up.) So last week, she decided to give back some joy. She had come across some catnip growing wild in another part of town, ... http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/alleycatnip/ For Doors Open Toronto, I visited Osgoode Hall, home of the Law Society of Upper Canada and several appeals courts. Among the most impressive rooms were the Hogwartsesque Great Library, and the enormous Reading Room beside it. Among towering stacks of reference books of all kinds (and one hell of ... http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/ah-just-google-it/ Last week I took a photography workshop that was held at an old auto yard - an amazing place that had been used as a car graveyard for more than 50 years. I'm still sorting through my images, but this seemed like the one for today, the day they announced ... http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2009/04/they-built-excitement/ Apparently my unhealthy fascination with signage is rubbing off on my kids - but their commentaries are much funnier than mine. Here's a sampling of their comments on signs in our neighbourhood: Daughter: "Daddy, look. A frying pan with a smile!" ------------------ Daughter, walking past this untitled tattoo parlour on Queen St. (its ... http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2009/04/leslieville-signs-via-my-kids/ CBC Toronto has gone sticker crazy. You know those giant, peel-off vinyl graphics you see everywhere these days? Well, CBC has bought in. It seems every flat surface of the Broadcasting Centre, inside and out, is in the process of being tarted up with giant ads sporting CBC personalities and shows. ... http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2009/04/stuck-on-cbc/ So, all morning I've been ranting (quietly - this is me, after all) about CBC's funding mess: it appears there will be no extra money, no bridge financing, no carriage fees, no guaranteed CTF envelope... no help at all to deal with a potential $145 shortfall. And now the CBC's ... http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2009/03/facebook-freaks-me-out/ At times like this, I like to glance over at this photocopy I found during my archival work. Almost exactly 60 years ago. http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2009/03/all-of-this-has-happened-before/ If you live in Toronto and take the TTC, you'll no doubt recognize this poster for a singer called Ali Slaight - they were plastered throughtout subways and streetcars for months. I'm always a little suspicious of artists I've never heard of that take out massive print advertising campaigns - smacks ... http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2009/02/promo-copycats/