JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

From the nearly 24 hours of deputations in front of Toronto City Council's Executive Committee at City Hall (which ended shortly before this post was written), one of the first clips to receive media play was a satirical jab by North York taxpayer Mary Hynes at how far some people could implement suggestions from KPMG in the Core Service Review. We first heard her speech last night on As It Happens while driving little Haruki across the city to weekend kitty daycare. There was a momentary risk of driving off the elevated section of the Gardiner Expressway while we laughed. It is reassuring to see that the antics of the Mayor and his allies are starting to rouse Torontonians out of their stupor and prove we're not just the anonymous "taxpayers" he claims to respect. Priceless bit: note stony expression on Mayor Ford's face when Councillor Adam Vaughan asks Ms. Hynes if she is Margaret Atwood . - JB

This window was an attention-grabber - several fellow bypassers marvelled in disbelief at the fashions on display. As I placed my camera back in its case, a couple stopped for a second, exchanged stares, then uttered in unison " Herb Tarlek !" Photo taken along Boylston Street in Boston on June 11, 2011 - JB

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has made battling graffiti/graffiti-style art one of his priorities during his reign of uncompetence . This week, Mr. Ford suggested that the good citizens of our city should call 911 if they spot anyone "causing graffiti" (which led to the #new911calls hashtag on Twitter ). Though the message above was photographed before Mr. Ford urged Torontonians to tie up emergency phone lines, the words seem like even more of a dare. Can Mr. Ford and his cadre on City Council up the ante by sending Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti out with a camera to document taggers in action? Set aside funds once allocated to useless things like child care and trees to create a crack anti-graffiti black ops squad? Keep trying Rob. Keep trying. Photo taken June 30, 2011 - JB

Any Detroit historians know where, despite the fuzzy background of the picture, this grim sign was placed to keep "autoists" safe and sound? Source: The Evening Telegram , February 26, 1929. - JB

One of the joys of buying used books is finding mementos left by previous owners. A greeting from the author. A note hoping the recipient enjoys the gift they received. Recipes for upside-down cake. Business cards for neo-Nazi organizations. A bookmark from a long-gone bookstore. Photographs from over a century ago. And postcards such as one found in copy of Spadina: A Story of Old Toronto , a study of the residents and neighbours of the various homes that lent their name to one of downtown's main arteries. A postcard of a French chateau sent to friends or family who resided near the home profiled in the book. The writer had a wonderful time in France visiting old acquaintances and soaking up the local lifestyle... "I think Canada is an idea in the mind of God" - now there's a quotable line. We also learned that 35 years after the postcard was written, the ink smudged as if it was laid down 35 seconds ago. - JB

This is a friendly public service announcement to those in the world who find any kind of art, fine or not, unworthy of public support. Perhaps the cold-hearted, controversy-seeking executives of Sun Media (whose coverage of a play about a terrorism suspect assisted the federal government's last-minute decision to pull funding for Summerworks and whose TV channel went off the deep end its in attack on arts funding ) had parents who determined that "you gotta have art" was a dangerous message to impart onto their budding shapers of public opinion. Based on the song "Heart" from the musical Damn Yankees , the "You Gotta Have Art" campaign was a Detroit television staple in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Marvelling at the Diego Rivera frescos on your way into the Detroit Institute of Arts might make you dance too.

Another odd item about my hometown discovered while researching an unrelated topic... Source: Upper Canada Gazette , May 17, 1797 - JB

New England Clam Chowder: once upon a time I liked ready-to-serve canned versions whose texture was similar to wallpaper paste. Along with my taste for most tinned soups, this liking went by the wayside (Manhattan-style seems better suited for long-term preservation in the cupboard). Condensed versions were usually suspect thanks to the transparent gelatinous blobs that never mixed well with milk. These days I make my own with a little help from Better than Bouillon's clam base . Noodles Romanoff: synonymous with Noodle Roni in my mind. Fancy mac n' cheese-ish side dish. Haven't eaten Noodle Roni or its relatives Lipton Noodles & Sauce/Knorr Sidekicks in years - either my tastebuds changed, the recipes changed, or my organs finally recognized there was nothing remotely natural in these products. Onion Rings: for sheer size, unless a restaurant is gunning for a spot in the Guinness book, no onion rings will ever top those Dad and I shared at the Holiday Inn French...

BBC election coverage, 1970 Monty Python skit, 1970 Given some of the swings predicted for Monday night's election, shouldn't one of the broadcasters following the results resurrect BBC's swingometer?

Illustrated by Betty Maw. Originally appeared in the April 1942 issue of The Canadian Forum . - JB

Back in the mid-1960s, Dad played hockey in a recreational league in Leaside. He seemed to have enjoyed it, though I did wonder why I had never seen him strap on a pair of skates. He occasionally talked about the experience, including stories of other players who'd had a cup of coffee in the NHL. But one story stuck out. The way I remember him telling me the tale, someone in the league got their hands on a pair of skates Detroit Red Wings star Alex Delvecchio left behind at Maple Leaf Gardens. The future Hall-of-Famer's skates were passed around either Dad's team or the league and whoever was able to fit into them gave them a go. True? Hard to say. Dad was full of tall tales that proved to have a grain of truth in them. Or my memory is fractured for having paid half-attention to them rather than etching them in full detail on my brain. Not sure what the trophy that Dad is holding in this picture from early 1963 was awarded for. It might related to his lifeguard dut...

"Mirror of Your Mind" appears to have been a syndicated piece of filler that tackled the tough social (and social perception) issues of the day. Source: Weston Times , January 3, 1969 - JB

When you have nine-to-five schedules, making a tasty, healthy homemade dinner can feel like the worst chore in the world, especially if it's been a rocky day at the office or a busy night looms ahead. The eating out option is fine occasionally, but your waistline and wallet will complain if you do it too often. You want something speedy yet nourishing. That's when cookbooks like Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express have come to our rescue. After successfully testing a few recipes while we borrowed it from the library, we knew we had to have our own copy...which would up under the Christmas tree. Organized by season (a structure we've ignored), the cover promises that any of the four hundred plus recipes inside take twenty minutes or less to whip up. Of the dishes we have tried, Bittman's Lemony Red Lentil Soup with Cilantro has made the most return appearances on our table. Cook a chopped onion in olive oil in a saucepan until soft; add one cup of red lentils and f...

Note that the meal pictured, a footlong sub loaded with lettuce, tomato and cheese, is not accompanied by a recipes on these pages. Perhaps a hearty sub was considered a manlier dish in 1970 than a cold vegetable soup favoured by the likes of Lisa Simpson ? Also impressive: that the sub does not appear to have been crushed while stuffed in the businessman's suitcase. Maybe subs were all he carried in that particular suitcase (the papers on the side were coupons for his favourite sub shops)...which reminds me of a story I read the other night. During the first decades of the 20th Century, the president of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team was a colourful local politician named August "Garry" Herrmann . According to Donald Dewey and Nicholas Acocella's book The Ball Clubs : Even for a business renowned for its outsized personages, the new Cincinnati boss seemed like a character out of Dick Tracy . Called a "walking delicatessen" by some, he seldom ventur...

Photo taken on Augusta Avenue, March 20, 2011. - JB

Found on King-Vaughan Road a week ago, these signs would have been leftover from the Vaughan federal by-election back in November. Given the reaction of the opposition parties to today's federal budget, this supporter of the current Minister of State for Seniors may as well leave them up. Though not officially declared, it's all-but-certain now that Canada is heading into a full federal election campaign by the end of this week. Picture taken March 14, 2011 - JB

No illustrations to accompany today's first batch of recipes. Though stroganoff has many elements I like in a dish (saucy beef, mushrooms, a bed of egg noodles), it's never been a dish that's tempted me to order it in a restaurant or make it on my own. Possible reasons: 1) One of my favourite dishes as a kind was Mom's sauerbraten (aka "steak and noodles"), which is a distant cousin. Main differences: instead of mushrooms and sour cream, brown sugar and worcestershire sauce were key ingredients. 2) Any Noodle Roni/ Lipton Noodles & Sauce sidedish marketed as stroganoff tended to be crappy (Romanoff noodles on the other hand...). 3) Seeing students down mass quantities of stroganoff at Creelman Hall during my university daze. Blue cheese dressing? Back in the early 1980s, Malibu's Le Grand Cochon restaurant served up a tasty, extra-creamy version...and plenty of it! Sample some chocolate cake prepared by the chefs of Crowded House. ...

One of the highlights of going to the Elora Festival's book sale every spring is surfing through the tables of formerly-loved (or never-used-despite-all-good-intentions) cookbooks. For as little as a quarter, dedicated browsers will find flip past every Better Homes & Gardens cooking guide ever published to find recipe books ranging from local women's institutes to collections of Len Deighton's swingin' Sixties cookstrips . It was at one Elora sale that I discovered Betty Crocker's vision of the diet a North American male should enjoy, complete with the cutesy illustration style beloved of book designers and board game makers circa 1970. It's interesting to contrast the cartoony style used by artist Murray Tinkelman in this book and the work he has done for clients like the New York Times . We'll keep the table of contents under wraps, so that every dish comes as a surprise (this series needs an element of suspense to keep readers coming ba...

It was a serene winter Friday afternoon. Bellevue Square Park was quiet, perhaps the quietest I've ever seen. Perhaps it was due to my visit happening on a workday. Maybe regular visitors were seeking refuge from the snowy landscape in one of Kensington Market's shops and eateries. Or maybe people were afraid of the recent change in one of the park's landmarks. At first it was the odd bird or two found drained of all of their blood. Then larger urban animals were discovered in the same state. You might think a raccoon is a nuisance, but nobody wants to see one, or any other creature, drained of their life fluids for no apparent reason. All of the deceased animals were found within the immediate vicinity of the Al Waxman statue on the west side of the park. Was there a secret ritual going on at night under the noses of the residents around the square? It was after the third report of foul play that investigators noticed something odd about the statue's head. Th...

The last in a series of testimonials from famous, semi-famous, and not-at-all-famous users of Vidal Sassoon products which, unlike the others, was printed all by its lone self. Guess the non-user had to be isolated to strengthen the punchline. Not that we mean any disrespect to Mr. Holder , whose half-century artistic career has encompassed acting, choreography and painting. He may be best known for two roles: James Bond villain Baron Samedi in Live and Let Die , and the white-suited 7UP pitchman who extolled the virtues of the non-cola during the 1970s and 1980s. Holder didn't see doing commercials for as a comedown. "I'm no snob," he noted in a 1975 interview with People magazine . "The commercial is an art form unto itself. After all, you are seducing people." View all of the ads we've found in this series . Source: a 1985 issue of Rolling Stone (forgot to note the date) - JB