Power-down

I can't say I'm a big fan of the Starbucks Coffee Company. They often figuratively and literally leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Lights out

However, on this night, at Earth Hour, they're setting a good example. Here in suburbia, every other business seemed to be lighting up the night sky. Certainly downtown, it was much more obvious.

Although there was a city-wide drop in power consumption of some 8%, the main point of it all is awareness. For my part, on Saturday night I would normally have just one lamp and the TV on in the living room, and maybe one kitchen light. So it didn't make too much of a difference for me to head out for a walk.

I'm not sure how many of my neighbours were participating, or if they just weren't home. In one non-representative row of 16 homes, I counted only two with lights on during the event (one with seemingly all lights on, as if in protest). At the end of the one hour, five more were lit up, leaving nine which were probably empty all evening.

In the Drink

It's been a long winter, with much more snow fall than in recent memory. I suppose I've been fortunate to have been out of town during the major storms of the season, and also to have someone contracted to shovel my sidewalk and driveway.

No Parking

Even managed to avoid the chaos at the airport, although there were massive snowbanks which dwarfed the regional jets.

Snow Barrier

Now that the snow is finally melting away, I've been thinking a lot about water recently. Also been reading more about it in the news. Not sure if I or the media are just paying closer attention, or if we're now seeing more and more indisputable signs of a true global crisis, as many have warned before.

Beating a Retreat

The solution will not be a technological quick-fix, but much more difficult, massive societal change. And flying jets on biofuel won't cut it either.

Taxiway

It's a miserable day to be driving. More miserable than usual if it's your living. A recent study makes startling claims about the life of cab drivers - 77 hour work-weeks at $3 an hour [Minimum wage in Ontario is currently $8 an hour].

I'm hearing some awful stories today. A lot of time is spent idling in the "holding pens" I've seen at the airport, waiting behind hundreds of other cars, for a fare which may be far out of your way, and take many more hours, for not that much money at all. The pricing model is also geared towards cheap customers or small groups. Crazy runs to Montréal or Ottawa are actually a lot more common than you'd think.

Rising fuel costs can only be making things more difficult, especially with antiquated city by-laws which forbid using small cars such as the Prius for taxis and limos.

Starstruck

Q. Which is the largest city in the world without a planetarium?
A. Probably Toronto...

Gas Giants

To top it all off, the University of Toronto is now shutting down the historic David Dunlap Observatory. Granted, the facility has limited scientific value now, surrounded by the big city. Let's just hope the university doesn't completely sell out to developers. We've already lost the Canadarm in recent months. We could really use a proper, dedicated Space Museum.

"Let's go burn down the observatory so this will never happen again!" - Moe Szyslak, The Simpsons

Adler Planetarium

Once again, Chicago just seems to do things better. Maybe all we need is a dictatorial, despotic mayor.

Copernicus

Without a local option, I've been wanting to visit the newer Hayden Planetarium, in New York City, but the Adler in Chicago will have to do for now.

Liberty Bell 7

One thing about being in the U.S. is that sometimes, you get to see the original equipment.

Ecliptic

All Rights Reserved

Hmmm. Already a second photo credit. Except this one didn't come with a request form for permission.

At least there's attribution. Not that I would be looking for compensation or anything. I wouldn't even have noticed if not for Technorati.

It's also not like I booked a studio, expensive models, or rented equipment. Anyone with a camera walking by the same area (or one of the other 400 across the country) could easily have taken the same photo.

Still, this feels wrong to me. IANAL (or a professional photographer either), but I assumed that I retain all rights to my photos by default. I did consciously set my Flickr licensing to "None (All rights reserved)" after all. Had I been asked, I would gladly, and freely, have allowed this photo to be used with attribution, like the other one.

I'd just like to know about it. The Web makes it too easy to "re-use" someone else's "work" and people seem to have assumed that if it's out there in the wild for all to see, it's public domain.

That brings up the issue of taking photos of someone else's artwork. Do they not also retain the original copyright? Even if the piece is in a very public place?

Earthbound... Unbound by Ingo Maurer

Eclipsed

It's not that easy to take a photo of the moon. When it's near the horizon, and appears to be much larger than usual, the camera proves that's definitely an optical illusion. However, to see any detail requires serious telephoto, even with a 1.6x DSLR crop factor.

Regular Moon

One good rule of thumb is to set your camera aperture to f/11, and the exposure to 1/ISO (e.g. 1/100 s for ISO 100). This seems to work well, but only for a full moon.

Umbra

While a lunar eclipse is the poor country cousin of the solar, at least you don't need special glasses, or to travel to Mongolia to see it.

Totality

It's a bit of a struggle to get the exposure (and even focus) just right, in order to capture fine detail, as well as the proper reddish colour. Probably need some better equipment. With the next lunar eclipse not due for another 32 months, I have time to save up...

Normality

Family Day

It's an unusual, but pleasant, feeling to have a long weekend in the middle of winter. Too bad we lost a floater holiday in the summer to get it.

Unfortunately, while still fighting off the remnants of a nasty cold, it is not a good time to be visiting family. Instead, I get to put my new travelling companion through its paces. I like it!

But is it art?

The Art Gallery of Ontario is closing this weekend, for the completion of and transition to the new gallery space designed by Frank Gehry.

The AGO has the largest collection of Henry Moore works in the world, as a result of the artist's fortuitous experiences in the city of Toronto, during the 1960's. Included are the hand-made plaster original (called a maquette) and also the working model for Nuclear Energy, which is installed at the University of Chicago.

Nuclear Pile

Nuclear Energy

Parity

It occurs to me that many recent immigrants have probably never seen a two dollar bill. Similarly, some of my younger colleagues would never have spent a one dollar bill.
Somewhere, I've got a U.S. two dollar bill lying around. Received it as "souvenir" change when paying for an $18 Chicago River cruise. Poor Thomas Jefferson got short-changed...

The last time the Canadian dollar was worth more than the U.S. dollar, I had no money to spend. This time, I'm hitting eBay, where the CAD amounts in parentheses are now smaller than the USD equivalents. Probably should take a few screenshots for posterity.
Kind of like the time all the gas stations had to quickly add a digit to all their signs, and the dollar counter started spinning faster than the litre counter.

Arrived

The Arrivals area is probably the happiest part of the airport. Certainly more fun than the Departures entrance, and definitely better than U.S. Customs or security.

I actually don't often meet people at the airport, and even more seldom get met on arrival. Most of the time, I'm that lone traveller, marching purposefully towards the rental car shuttle. It's still a new enough experience for me, to see the nicer side of travel: the anticipation, sudden recognition, short run and embrace; the looks of joy, as well as relief.

Home for a Rest

It's nice to be home for a while. To be able to buy more than a couple of apples and oranges, and a pre-packaged salad at the grocery store - milk in 2L cartons, yogurt, bananas (even green ones). Time enough to gather up boarding passes and claim all those missing Aeroplan miles.

The Terminal

It seems scarcely believable, but there have been cases where people are forced to live in airport terminals for extended periods of time. In the ultimate extreme, it was enough to
drive them mad.

My own greatest air travel fear is being trapped, on a plane sitting on a runway, for hours on end.

Some airports are better than others in which to spend some extended "air time".

The new $5 billion dollar Taj Mahal at Toronto Pearson for example, is rather nice.

Toronto Pearson (YYZ) Terminal 1

So is the new International Terminal in Dallas. The last time I was here, it wasn't ready yet, and I never got to ride the Skylink before we were forced to flee (a long story).

Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Terminal D

Others are not so sparkling new. As hordes of travellers wear down the facilities, year after year, they take on the 1970's malaise of the now defunct Pearson Terminal 2, or the 1980's vibe of Terminal 3.

Pittsburgh International (PIT)

Even in Denver, which experienced one of the first problem-plagued overnight switchovers to a new site, there is a dated 1990's feel.

Denver International (DEN)

Even though no travellers plan to spend too much time in the airports, there are some quirky things to make the visit more interesting. Like a space tunnel.

Chicago O'Hare (ORD) Terminal 1

And Back Again

Rapscallion

I was shopping for groceries this evening, when a woman comes up and asks me if I know what a "scallon" is. After a brief pause, we both tentatively ask the same question: "Scallion?"

From vague recollection, I venture that it's long and green, possibly with a bulb on the end. In my mind, I'm still trying not get it confused with a shallot (or at least what I think that is). We walk over to the herbs section. Leeks and chives abound, but no scallions. Finally, I venture that it's like an onion - a green onion - and wish her well in the herb quest.

On the walk home, I kept mulling over the question, and wondering just how different scallions are from green onions. I've used scallions in a recipe once, many years ago, but they were handed to me in a cooking class. As soon as all the groceries are loaded into the refrigerator, I have to run upstairs to look it up right away. The answer is: they are the same thing. To further complicate matters, the answer changes depending on which country you're in, where they may variously be called shallots, or eschallots, or even escallions (pronounced with a silent e!).

Downtown

When you're alone, and life is making you lonely
You can always go
Downtown

When you've got worries, all the noise and hurry
Seems to help, I know
Downtown

I've been working downtown for a few days this week, rather than the usual places in suburbia. For 13 years, I commuted downtown for high school and university. While I never really took full advantage of the location back then, I often do miss being there.

Part of my daily commute includes Toronto's underground city. A land formerly of ice and snow has also spawned the Plus15, and la souterraine. These now also serve as refuges from the blazing summer heat and humidity.

Few people speak, but nods and glances are exchanged, and there are also certain other unspoken customs. An endless stream of people, passing through a corridor between buildings, will gravitate towards the automated/accessible doorway, with various people periodically pressing the button as they go through, to keep the door open. There is a certain rhythm to everything, as people all around head about their business. After a while, it must all blend into the rat-race, but for the moment, it's a refreshing surge of energy.

We can forget all our troubles; forget all our cares, and go
Downtown -- things will be great when you're
Downtown -- don't wait a minute more
Downtown -- everything's waiting for you...

Spoke too soon...

I had hoped today would be one of leisurely travel. An early afternoon flight, avoiding all the crowds, and leaving lots of time to rest up and prepare for the working week. Maybe even spend some time in the hotel gym or pool. Instead, another long-haul short-haul.

It all started innocently enough - the 14:00 flight delayed to 14:25, which we boarded approximately on time. Once the doors closed, the captain announces that O'Hare flow control has assigned us a wheels-up time of 15:26, so we prepare to sit at the gate for another 50 minutes.

Time enough to start flipping through the enRoute magazine. By 14:50 though, they announced the cancellation of our flight due to thunderstorms in the Chicago area. We had to wait another 10 minutes for the gate agent (agent de sol) to come aboard, just to explain that we need to make our own re-bookings.

Luckily, with no checked luggage (see below) or duty free, I was allowed to go back into the sterile zone of the airport, rather than out through Canada Customs, luggage carousel, back to the Air Canada check-in counter, and then in through US Customs again.

Of course, the "white courtesy phones" are only on the arrivals level, so I have to use my cell phone to call Air Canada Reservations, but can't get through. Now it sounds like a situation for the American Express Travel emergency line. The next flight is in 90 minutes (16:40), but it might also get cancelled. Otherwise, it'll be the 17:30. I'm now seriously inquiring about going into Milwaukee (17:50). I'm feeling lucky, and choose the earliest flight, but make sure to get the name of the agent, in case I have to call back.

Then it's back to the lounge again, for wine and cookies. While there, I see we're delayed yet again, until 18:00. Time for another bowl of soup.

When it's time to try leaving again, I find myself seated next to a prominent national newscast personality. Some interesting observations:

• She's left-handed. Scribbles lots of notes into a coil notebook.


• Able to slip back and forth effortlessly between English and French, when speaking to Francophone colleagues.


• Very fidgety (or else deathly afraid of DVT.)


• Highly attached to Blackberry.


• Flies in economy class, yet doesn't seem that familiar with Air Canada policies and service. Probably takes most trips on government or military aircraft.


• Not too certain on time zones and flying times. One wonders how she fared while reporting from Afghanistan.

A switch to runway 06R, plus a ground radar fault delays our actual takeoff until 19:00 ET. As promised, the flight is turbulent, but lands early at 19:15 CT. By the time I'm finally settled in to the hotel room, I stop the clock at 21:00, for a grand total of 10 hours travel time.

Orange Alert

There is a constant tension at airports these days, maintained by endless pronouncements of threat level orange, and about what will happen if you leave your baggage/car/children unattended. At some locations, at least they're providing paper slippers to wear, while unshod. No slippers at the transborder terminal in Pearson airport though, where there are now permanent signs ordering shoes off. On the domestic side, no such requirement.

Heading through security this morning, the CATSA agents pulled aside my backpack for additional screening. They were trying to identify two "microphone" like objects. After putting my shoes back on, I started taking out all the various power supplies and cables. They weren't satisfied. I took out my magic umbrella (guarantees it will never rain). Still not the object they're looking for.

They show me the X-ray image on screen. That's not my bag. Somewhere in the terminal, someone may be wreaking havoc by making a recording...

Waterways

Although Toronto lies on the shores of a Great Lake, it doesn't have a very strong maritime feel. In fact, decades of apathy and political infighting have left the waterfront a mess of industrial wasteland or concrete jungle, which may someday require a Big Dig to remedy. One need only go to Chicago to see how it should be done. The one saving grace is Toronto Island.

Chicago Skyline

I find a certain appeal in cities on rivers or the ocean. Perhaps because I never grew up with long ferry rides or driving along bridges and causeways that are miles long. I did live in The Beach neighbourhood, but for most of my childhood, entering the water was at your own risk.

When I was in Tampa, there were jetski rentals at the edge of my hotel parking lot. I could see powerboats go back and forth from my window. Even if I had brought appropriate beachwear, I think I'd still prefer a nice tourist cruise on a river.

Welcome to De Swamp - AAAIIIEEEEEE!!!

There are many creeks and streams in the Toronto area, but no majestic rivers you can sail down. Nothing which cuts through the downtown core, with many grand bridges across it. Unless you include the hidden and often forgotten Taddle Creek.

Three Rivers

Even Pittsburgh, a city crawling out of economic recession, is making a good run at waterfront re-development. But nothing compares to the rivers and canals of Europe.

Copenhagen, Denmark

A great way to quickly see the sights, and highly recommended if you're pressed for time.

View from the Riksbron - Stockholm, Sweden

The old architecture and palaces along the water only add to the mystique. The ABBA soundtrack on the English narration (for the benefit of the tourists) does not.

Stockholm is situated on 14 islands - AAAIIIEEEEEE!!!

My favorite estuarine city though, still has to be London.

Tower Bridge

So much history, and so many bridges across the Thames, including the initially-wobbly Millenium Bridge.

...is falling down

Engineering marvels for their age.

Passing through

Bon Vol, Bad Flight

I learned a new French word today - amerissage - the maritime counterpart to atterrissage. As in "dans la situation peu probable d'amerissage..."

On the earlier flight this afternoon, two passengers were moved out of the exit row, when they could not speak or understand English (or French). The flight attendants looked a couple rows forward for grateful volunteers willing to switch seats, and willing to help out in an emergency, but didn't get as far as mine.

Of course, the "safety information card in the seat-back pocket in front of you" uses no words at all. Much like automobiles sold in Canada which use dashboard indicator icons that are comprehensible in both official (or any) languages, instead of text.

I find it interesting how the in-flight editions of CBC Newsworld and Radio Canada RDI usually have completely different content. If you only watch one, you're missing out on a lot. The only commonality between the two are the Stanley Cup Playoffs/Matchs Eliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley and the Weather/Météo.

And now, I am stuck in the transborder wing of Calgary International Airport, waiting for a delayed flight (mechanical) to Las Vegas. There is no lounge and no Internet access in this part of the terminal...

View from the Lounge

[Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Toronto Pearson T1 Domestic]

Just can't beat these lounges. Spending a few hours here is like a vacation. For all the hassle of business travel, it'll be hard to give this up, especially considering the alternative. Head and shoulders above the United Red Carpet Club, and now it's in print.

Holding Pattern

Q. How do you turn a one hour short-haul flight into three-and-a-half hours?
A. Fly from Chicago O'Hare to Toronto Pearson, with the slight possibility of rain.

If you're lucky, the plane will have AVOD and you can actually finish an entire movie. It appears the Thales i4500 system does sometimes experience bandwidth issues, when absolutely every passenger is trying to load something to watch. Good thing it saves your last location before it... unceremoniously resets (crash is not the best choice of words while on board). That way, you can simply resume your video after it comes back.

Some of the approach vectors for Pearson (presumably for runway 24L) pass over my neighbourhood. On these flights, I can look down longingly and identify my home during the descent. Then I can get back there an hour (or more) later.

Recently, the severely under-staffed ground crews at Pearson have made the delays worse than usual. One time, they even spent over an hour trying to move the new jetbridge into position, trying first one door, then the next, and back again.

Tonight, there just isn't a crew available. One is busy trying to push back a departing flight, while gates sit idle on either side. Our plane sits on the apron, blocking the path of a Cobus 3000, packed to the brim with hapless passengers, shuttling in from the hapless East Satellite Terminal.

Finally, a minivan with emergency blinkers (so that's what they're for!) arrives with a ground crew. They ready the gate, and a small CRJ sneaks in practically under our left wing, and up to the jetbridge. A collective groan is heard. But at least we all have relatively comfortable seats, unlike the poor, poor passengers on the shuttle bus, who probably disembarked their short-haul plane close to an hour ago. By the time we get our gate, all passengers can't wait to get into the terminal building. For everyone involved, it's been an unnecessarily long haul.