JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

Because the only way to teach American children of the late 1970s/early 1980s about good dental exercise is to employ a Fonzie wannabe. Speaking of Fonzie, while researching a recent Torontoist piece on the early days of CityPulse , I stumbled upon this picture in the Toronto Sun from the episode of Happy Days that inspired the expression "jump the shark" ( Wikipedia has a cleaner version of this picture ). Photo originally published in the September 1, 1977 edition of the Toronto Sun . - JB

During several recent visits to Meijer locations around metro Detroit, I've noticed that the grocery/discount chain is livening up their cart corrals with cheeky posters. Who would be the most likely grocery chain to take this approach in Toronto? Photos taken at Meijer on Rochester Road north of M-59, Rochester Hill, MI, January 16, 2010 - JB

Before reading this post, check out the original article on Torontoist . "Far be it for anyone to contradict the Pope's chef—but John Lickiewicz did just that." So began an article on the chef of the Sir Nicholas that appeared in the January 27, 1979 edition of the Globe and Mail . The article was prompted by a claim by Tadeusz Podbereski, the proprietor of the only Polish restaurant in Mexico, that it took three days and eight kinds of meat to prepare a batch of bigos (hunter’s stew) for Pope John Paul II the night before. Lickiewicz felt that Podbereski had put too much effort into the Pope’s meal (“I don’t know why it took him three days to cook. What for?”), as bigos could easily be made in a few hours. Here is Lickiewicz’s recipe for bigos, intended to feed six: Chop up 3 pounds of fresh cabbage and place in a four-inch baking dish. Cover and put in the over for 40 minutes at 300 degrees. Remove from the oven and mix with 1½ pounds of sauerkraut, 1½ pound

Thinking about my aunt prompted me to search on YouTube for the animated tiger graphic WDIV used for their Tigers broadcasts during the 1980s (she watched the game with Dad and I if one was on). If the Tigers won, the clip above was used as the broadcast drew to a close. If they lost, a whimpering tiger with an icepack on its head let out a sad meow, followed by a grumble worthy of Muttley/Mumbly . So far, no sign of the losing cartoon online.

My grandmother, Auntie Gladys and Aunt Shirley in our dining room on Second Concession (Fryer Street), mid-1970s. Who knows what mischief lurked behind Auntie Gladys's eyes in this picture, but it looks like a typical example of her amusing everyone else. She loved baseball, enlivening any situation and, as Gavin beautifully summed up in a post he wrote after she passed away on Monday night , "she loved her hugs." *** She was always "auntie"—"aunt" was too stuffy for her joyous nature. Mom says I always ran to the door if I knew she was coming in, likely knowing there was fun ahead. Though she didn't have any children of her own, she acted as if her army of nieces and nephews were. Even when I reached university age, I called her from far-flung places to update her on my latest adventure in London or New York. *** The last time I saw Auntie Gladys was on Christmas Day. I knew it was a matter of time before she passed on and her shrunken

While the seasonings and chemicals in the mix may give this meal a south-of-the-border flair, the photographer has not done this tamale pie any favours in the visual appeal department. The slick, shimmery hamburger mixed with bits of corn resembles the after-effects of a night of hard drinking and/or indigestion. As one commentator pointed out when I posted this ad on Flickr, it's possible that high-end cookware was used to lend an air of dignity to the slop on the spoon. Could this ad provoke well-off hipsters to prepare a batch of private label Hamburger Helper knockoff in a Le Creuset pan? There was a time when I was happy to eat ersatz Mexican/Tex-Mex prepackaged food, or any kind of Hamburger Helper apart from stroganoff. The most exotic flavour I liked was Pizza Bake, where the seasoned hamburger was layered onto a crust and topped with cheese. Powdered tomato sauces don't turn me on anymore, but occasionally I crave a cheesy bowl of Tuna Helper. Even then, a box

According to Spacing's twitter feed , a Bixi bicycle with a City of Toronto logo was spotted in the mayor's office last week. While visiting Montreal in November, Sarah and I almost tested out the city's Bixi system—fears about any mishap with the required $250 credit card deposit per bike gave us pause. Racks were plentiful downtown, with many running low on vehicles. If a system is ever implemented in Toronto, it would be useful for occasional riders, those with no space at home for a bike, or commuters who take TTC one way due to bad weather and bike the other. I could see myself using it for impulsive rides (scenario: we are on a leisurely stroll downtown and are overtaken by the urge to hop on a bike). It would also be ideal for visiting family and friends who might want to go for a ride along city trails and around the islands. While researching this post, I noticed a familiar figure standing next to the Bixi pay machine in the Wikipedia entry about the s

Timing is everything. For weeks, local media has mused on whether John Tory would enter the race to replace David Miller as Toronto's mayor in this year's municipal elections. As late as Tuesday, the Globe and Mail 's Marcus Gee was confident Tory would join the fray . Yesterday I posted on Twitter that it was surprising no media outlet had devised a graphic to measure Tory's level of certainty about running. I imagined what a "Tory-o-meter" might look like and wrote it down on my lengthy list of things to do. Murmurs surfaced the night before about his decision not to run, but I figured it was more speculation. Within ten minutes of posting, reports surfaced that Tory wasn't going to run , opting to chair the Toronto City Summit Alliance . Given Tory's crash-and-burn electoral track record, this was likely the right decision—we'll see how he does in the realm of civic advocacy. Still, I couldn't let the idea die, so here's a quic

Better delayed than never... Boxing Day 2009 started with a tradition Amy and I have followed for several years, dim sum at Wah Court in Windsor. We had barely sat down before making our first choice off the trays. I wasn’t sure if Sarah would enjoy her favourite dim sum accompaniment, steamed bok choy (the closest item on the online menu was “fresh vegetable with oyster sauce”), but not only was she able to order a plate without any fuss, she received her favourite sweet soy dipping sauce without having to give a thorough explanation of what it was. Amy and I thought the rest of our dishes tasted better than usual, especially the sticky rice.

Warning: pictures after the jump may disturb readers who don't want to see humans who resemble campfire treats.