JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

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

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...

Not long after the G20 summit, a wall was set aside in Kensington Market for anyone to relate their thoughts and memories about the events of the last weekend in June. Whether you were in or near the chaos downtown or at home glued to a blackberry or radio, it would be hard not to have a story related to the craziness that ensued. Here's ours.

Wandering through Kensington Market earlier this month, I noticed a recent installation at the north end of Augusta Avenue to welcome visitors to the neighbourhood. Photo taken July 2010 - JB

The morning after the night before is rarely easy, especially if you're a hard-partying snowman and the King of Kensington . Either this snowman has legs or some neighbourhood bowlers tested their aim. The party rages on... Photos taken in Bellevue Square Park, February 3, 2008 - JB

Augusta Ave, Kensington Market, September 15, 2007 - JB

Need to an an evil touch to statues of beloved local entertainers? Just make a trip to the nearest convenience store! While out on a Psychogeography walk a couple of weeks ago, we noticed that as we snapped pictures of group members posing with the statue of Al Waxman in Kensington Market, a weird red glow glared back at us from Al's eyes. It turned out that red gummy bears had been strategically placed on the statue. All that was needed was minilights to add a glowing, statue-come-to-life effect. Squiddity has a full write-up on this particular walk , which introduced many of us to parts of Kensington we didn't know (the rooftop CN Tower model? Ornate back alley gardens?) along with pictures . I've posted a set on ye olde Flickr site . Photo taken at Bellevue Square Park, August 2, 2007 - JB

Before diving in, here's Kensington Market as it was laid out 120 years ago (source: Goad's 1884 Atlas of Toronto , taken from Lucy Booth Martyn's 1982 book The Face of Early Toronto ). Note the many changes in street names: Kensington Ave was an extension of Vanauley St, Augusta was Grosvenor, Baldwin was Clyde, etc. We're interested in the plot marked "Col. Denison". Here's a current map. Denison St and Sq were named after the Denison family, who earn a brief sketch in the back of the 1966 edition of Henry Scadding's Toronto of Old (1873): DENISON FAMILY Descended from John Denison and his wife Sophia who emigrated from England in 1792, the Denisons have been active in Toronto political and military activities from the first, and have had more members on the city council than any other family. (362) As mentioned in previous entry, the Denisons purchased land previously owned by Major Edward Littlehales. The family home was Bel...

If you've surfed Toronto-based sites over the weekend, you've seen the pictures of a motorist and courier involved in a friendly tete-a-tete in Kensington Market (warning: diving too deep into the comments section may drop your IQ by several points. To me, the driver loses points off the bat for being a litterbug). While I manage to share the roads just fine with cyclists (usually giving them the benefit of any doubt, unless they are breaking rules at traffic lights), other motorists make me wonder why I was so eager to get my driver's license. Especially in Scarberia. Here's my TO road rage tale. *** August 1999. I've just been hired by my current employer and need to find a place to live in a hurry. The temporary commute between Toronto and Guelph is draining me, and I need to be out of my $140/month sublet by Sep 1st. I spend a Sunday afternoon looking a place, frustrated that there are no signs of life in at least two apartments on my list (one on Spadi...

The cans of worms one opens when they start researching the background of local street names. The laneway was named in 2000, according to this city notice (PDF - I have not found a copy of attachment #2 online). According to the document, the name derived from Major E.B. Littlehayes, "an aide to John Graves Simcoe, who owned land in the area". I've poured through half-a-dozen library books about the Simcoe era in Upper Canada and found no references to "Major E.B. Littlehayes". "Major E.B. Littlehales" is a different story. Edward Baker Littlehales (?-1825) was military secretary to Simcoe during the latter's tenure as governor of Upper Canada. His main accomplishment appears to have been a survey of the land between Detroit and Niagara in February-March 1793, which resulted in the recommendation of the site for London. Quoted in Henry Scadding's book Toronto of Old (1873), Littlehales found that site to be "a situation eminently...

Less than a week to go... Most Obscure Political Party Award Official campaign vehicle found this weekend in Kensington Market. Unverified rumour as to whether their campaign song is a reinterpretation of the Ramones' The KKK Took My Baby Away . Celebrity Endorsement of the Week When a race is as tight as the fight between Olivia Chow (NDP) and Tony Ianno (Liberal) in Trinity-Spadina, any endorsement will do, as in this sign found on Dundas across the street from the construction site formerly known as the Art Gallery of Ontario. Newsstand Watch A.S. Pryncesse looks at what the papers say... I think the Globe has developed a split personality… Just when I thought I had pigeonholed the paper as having jumped on the Smug Stephen bandwagon, it decided last Friday to front a large picture of Smug Stephen beside Ricky from Trailer Park Boys , along with the question ‘Evolved?’ While comparing Smuggy to white trash isn’t exactly a subtle approach to reporting, it’s ...

Continuing on in Kensington Market, the next stop is Kensington Place's twin to the south, Fitzroy Terrace. Before venturing on, care for a drink from this well-stocked, non-functioning fridge? The traditonal Toronto street sign marking the start of Fitzroy. Like Kensington Place, Fitzroy was built around 1888 to house English workers. Fitzroy shoots off of Kensington Ave north of Exile, a market vintage clothing fixture since 1975. Used clothing dominates the landscape south of Baldwin, sidewalks and stores crammed on weekends with shoppers thumbing through racks of t-shirts, costume materials, sport jerseys, ski vests, stylin' 70s threads and smart wear for the modern anarchist. Some streets are marked by arches, others statues. Here, it's a glittery piece of clothing. Wonder if this was snapped up by a last-minute Halloween shopper (all photo were taken on October 29th). Looking westward. Notice walls fully covered in murals and/or graffiti (it's up ...