JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

Spent some time at the Ikea in North York earlier this week, helping my friends Paul and Sheila take home a new coffee table and other goodies for their place, while I pondered future additions for my apartment. One of the first items we saw was this lovely fold-out chair. Makes one look like the honoree at a funeral. Other items were much better for diving into. A little known fact: the shelving department is home to one of the area's finest selections of high-quality Scandanavian literature. Can anyone provide a translation of the title of this fascinating book? Left : Checking out the VIP kiddie slide, which provides a very slow descent for adults. Hard to resist the cool kids stuff they have, including wall lamps I've seen in more than a few adult dwellings. Right : a quick conference to assess the state of what to look for downstairs. Before heading down, we put little Octy to bed. When we saw him attempt to perfect his Alien facehugger imitation by j...

Before driving back to TO last weekend, I decided to check out the progress on the ongoing demolition of White Woods Mall . Quite a bit had changed since Christmas ... In the back, two new rows of retail are nearing completion. A couple of businesses, such as First Choice and Eye on Video, have already moved into the north set, even if their storefronts are incomplete. The white storefront on the right will be the new home of the Royal Bank. The northwest mall entrance still stands, though you can see there's little to its left, as the old movie theatre/bingo space has been cleared. On the right is the west row of new stores. My grandmother lived in the brown apartment building in the rear in the late 1980s - she was on the top floor, with a great view of town and Boblo Island. A sign of businesses still in the mall cleaning up. Over on the front side of the mall, a sign indicating that a few businesses are still operating. Note the "Road Closed" sign....

"Hmm, what do I want on my pizza...tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, anchovies and a fixed-rate mortgage." This would be a fairly old bank building, as the Standard Bank of Canada was absorbed by the Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1928 , one of the many bank mergers that led to today's CIBC. Photo taken on Hwy 12, Brechin, Ontario, March 11, 2007 

Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present to the public the exciting new fall 1948 Burns tinned meat fall lineup! First the tender goodness of Burns Meat Balls, so special we have the can under wraps until we come up with a design that does these regal treats justice. Housewives note that Burns Meat Balls are the perfect accompaniment to those rice and pea rings pictured in every general purpose cookbook! Second comes Burns Bologna, a space-age wonder that provides versatile convenience. Place it between your favourite bread and vegetables for an elegant sandwich. Cut into long round sticks for Baloney Dogs children will love. Serve with pickles as shown here to make you stand out as a sophisticated host at your next party. You'll need more than two cans - try Burns Bologna in triplicate! Finally, you will be a smiling chef too when you open a can of Burns Pan Fried Hamburgers. It takes a monster pan to provide you with these economic edibles. Why risk food poisoning fr...

Don't say I didn't warn you ... A salad plate consisting of chips, slaw (depending on what was in the dressing - surprised there's no bacon), mayo-topped aspic and Spork...not sure if this strikes the right nutritional note 60 years on. We move on to a scrumptious plate of tinned sausage with "deep fat" mashed potato balls rolled in cornflakes. I guess the "Campfire" name makes sense, in that they wouldn't go rotten during a long sojourn in the wild. Finally, Speef gets to strut its stuff after a fleeting appearance last week. Very odd presentation, like a low-end roast beef given the trimmings usually associated with baked ham (glazed and studded with cloves?). The Burns chef couldn't get pork off their mind. Anyone else think the "sweet potatoes" look like neon-dyed pear halves? Source: National Home Monthly , May 1948

Photos taken between Lake Dalrymple and Sebright, March 11, 2007

I like it when the library surprises me. Yes, I could look for books in the catalogue, but there's something to be said for the thrill of the hunt, for hitting the stacks with a vague notion of what you're looking for and being amused or amazed by what you find in different branches. Recently, I stumbled upon found a 1970 textbook about our region, Graham Lamont's Toronto and York County: A Sample Study . It appears to be a textbook aimed at upper elementary or high school students. It includes many period pictures of the city, including this one of Bloor east of Avenue, just as high-rise building was kicking in. Tell-tale sign this is a textbook? The margins are full of questions to ponder. Several don't have answers any clearer than they were nearly 40 years ago(i.e., "what in your opinion is the best use for this waterfront land?"). Here are a dozen for you to answer. You choose whether to answer from a modern standpoint or with 1970 blinkers o...

Ever since soldiers on the battlefield and rationers on the homefront were hooked on Spam during World War II, tinned processed meats have provided inspiration for advertising artists, cookbook editors and comedy writers. With their compact shape and long shelf life, Spam and its many imitators offered convenience for harried homes. Kam. Klik. Prem. Treet. Spork. The names cemented tinned meat's comedy potential My eyes popped when I noticed Spork's "companion meat" - Speef! Is it "spiced beef"? Dog food brought up to human standards? Pressure-cooked meat loaf? Trust me folks, this ad is only the tip of the tinned meat iceberg... Links : A guide to Spam and its knockoffs . Also found a site with tons of info about Spam , even if it hasn't been updated since 1996. Source: National Home Monthly , June 1947

Met up with a dozen other foodies down on Queen West Friday night to try Seoul City . It was the first time in a few months I'd gone out for an organized dinner like this, a chance to sample different places and chat about food for hours. Even if the meal is iffy, the company makes up for it. I made the wrong choice off the appetizer list. Oxtail Ravioli Soup sounded intriguing, but turned out to be one of the blandest soups I have ever tasted. The broth was tasteless and loaded with salt, while the oxtail, while tender, needed spice. I finish the ravioli, left the broth. This was balanced by a French Seoul martini, containing soju, chambord, lime and pineapple juice, whose only fault was how quickly I downed it. What I should have ordered was the Kimchi Crab Cakes on the right (Grilled Octopus Salad is in the background). Right texture, good taste. For the main, I went with the Bulgogi Rice Bowl. The meat was nicely marinated, but the rice/mushroom mixture could have...

While walking back from the gym along Mt. Pleasant last week, I noticed a book lying near a snowbank south of Eglinton. It was one of my childhood favourites, The War With Mr. Wizzle , part of Gordon Korman's Bruno and Boots series of private-school hijinks (though I think Beware the Fish was my favourite of the bunch). Even now, I occasionally make references to things like Upside-Down Scrim-Cake and can dredge up lines from the back pages of my brain. Alas, I didn't rescue it - don't need to bring every piece of my past home, tempting as that might be. Hopefully it wasn't swept away by a garbage crew. Picture taken Feb 21/07 - JB

Previously... (parts 1 and 2 ) The Pelissier side of the Capitol Theatre ( Archives of Ontario feature ). Opened in 1920, it was divided into three screens by the time Dad took me to see my first movie there. His pick to introduce me to the world of moviegoing? Oh Heavenly Dog , starring Chevy Chase and Benji. One problem: as a kid, I didn't take any human transforming into another being very well, even if the transformation wasn't fully shown. On Friday nights, when I heard the Dallas theme come on, I knew it was safe to go back into the living room because The Incredible Hulk was over. Naturally, this later developed into an interest in special effects makeup and a large collection of Hulk comic books. As for Chevy and Benji, when the switch between characters was made, I lost it. We left the theatre and never saw the rest of the movie until it was on TV years later, by that time a family joke. Roger Ebert wasn't crazy about it either . It was probably several m...

1980. A crowded field in the US presidential race. For the Democrats, president Jimmy Carter, whose popularity was sagging badly in the wake of inflation, the Iran hostage crisis and other bumps in the road. For the GOP, Ronald Reagan, former movie star and governor of California. On the independent side, John Anderson, a moderate Republican who had lost in the spring GOP primaries. For the children and department stores, Edward Bear, aka Winnie the Pooh, Disneyfied classic children's literature character. Things were going well for the Pooh campaign, with polls suggesting he might be the spoiler. However, when Pooh's nationality was discovered to be foreign, any votes cast for him were tossed out. But seriously...is anyone else mildly disturbed by the colour of Pooh's eyes, or the hypnotic effort he has on most of the children in this picture? Only the boy to Pooh's right shows the slightest sign of skepticism/resistance (it's hard to tell the expression on t...

Is the monkey deciding whether it's worth the risk to test out this couch? More wildlife, along Rue Roy. A slight plumbing problem. Just off of St. Laurent, near Schwartz's, a cameo appearance by Alfred Hitchcock.

Taking advantage of the recent Arctic blast, I headed down to High Park on Sunday to check out frozen-over Grenadier Pond with the Psychogeographers. A highly effective sign. Skaters weren't cheek-to-jowl as they would be at Nathan Phillips Square (which proved a relief to one member of our group who was adjusting to being on skates). The long laneway cleared out to connect the main skating area with a smaller area to its north. Several shovels were left on the pond to clear out areas, creating new lanes, snow islands and oxbows. Not being a proper rink, the ice was on the choppy side. Walking on boots proved no problem, even if I did fall on one slippery patch. Still, you could shoot a hockey puck around, such as this one from the rare "Famous Communist Dictators of the 20th Century" series. The main skating area. I imagine the view would have been fantastic from the houses in the background. Also note the blue skies and reflection of the bright sunli...