JB's Warehouse & Curio Emporium

It's obvious that once upon a time there was a plaque in front of the atom-inspired fountain atop the Rosehill Reservoir. The only hint of the fountain's age is the centennial symbol laid into the surrounding stones. This salute to a water molecule was built after the reservoir was covered over in the 1960s for economic and environmental reasons (including fear of nuclear fallout). Rather than the glow of nuclear attack, the reservoir and the fountain find themselves bathed in a cool green light...or at least they did on this particular evening. This was my first visit to the site and it struck me as a place you could lie on your back on the grass, stare at the surrounding apartment towers or planes flying overhead and contemplate any crazy thought drifting through your head. More photos from an evening's stroll around the reservoir and the surrounding neighbourhoods and ravines can be found on Flickr . Photos taken April 22, 2010 - JB

Scene from a psychogeography walk last week: The display greeted the group of walkers as they emerged from a neighbourhood park onto Brock Avenue. Nearly every traditional and commercial symbol of the holiday season was present amid the carefully constructed carnival of lights. The jolly big elf, snowmen, penguins, gift-loaded trains, nativity scenes...little was left out of this west-end front yard apart from an illuminated thank you note from the beancounters at Toronto Hydro. It would have taken a supreme show of willpower from any bypassers not to stop and observe the display and find subtle touches that would be missed by others. Just as remarkable was the simplicity of the lights next door. Knowing there was no way to compete with the neighbouring display, the house on the right opted for simple yet colourful strings of lights to provide a cozy December glow.

It's been awhile since I've written about a psychogeography walk. Blame it on an inability to keep track of time—I've been lucky to post photos from recent strolls within a reasonable amount of time. Let's see if this entry will break the cycle...probably not, but it's worth a shot. *** Last week's walk began at Union Station, where I positioned my mini-tripod to snap the shot above of the Royal York Hotel. From Union, we headed to the new underpass on Simcoe Street south of Front. The abrupt truncation of the bike lanes at Front was noted. It's grey, spare and nothing that will invoke dramatic oohing and aahing. We stopped at Roundhouse Park to see if several vintage train cars destined to be displayed in the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre could be viewed. They were there, but under wraps. The roundhouse was a hive of activity, thanks to a raucous crowd that we initially thought was a film festival tie-in party at Steam Whistle Brewery. It tu...

An almost full moon. Its reflection shimmering on the waves of Lake Ontario. A local architectural gem. A fine destination for a stroll on a summer night. If only I had brought a tripod... I'll leave it to Squiddity to describe the evening's walk from Warden station down to the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant . Images that weren't 100% crystal clear, combined with the beauty of the site, provided an opportunity for fun with Photoshop. All images taken August 21, 2008.

With Toronto in the swing of Bike Month, it seemed appropriate to focus on two-wheeled transport in my Vintage Toronto Ads column on Torontoist . This week, a bike modestly promoted by its manufacturer . You can also catch my most recent Historicist column, covering the sole fatality of the Great Toronto Fire of 1904 . *** Last week, I headed down to the Bloor to catch a fundraiser for the Toronto Cyclists Union , a Rocky Horror-style presentation of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure . A valet lot for bicycles was set up in front of the theatre (alas, I took the subway down - I intended to finally get my bike on the road this weekend, but the weather gods had other ideas). I was surprised to find out how many people I knew in the audience who, like me, had never seen the movie. Can't say I was a big Pee Wee fan at the height of his popularity, nor were most of my peers - it was that age where you (temporarily, as it turned out) reject things that seem childish in nature, even...

Was a melting city hockey rink, too wet for any skates A net sat there waiting, for the next puck to come through Oh, won't you stay Walk around or play There are benches to examine (apologies to Joni Mitchell) Swansea was one of the smallest of the municipalities folded into Metropolitan Toronto back in 1954 and was annexed with Forest Hill into the old city of Toronto in 1967. Bounded by Bloor, the Humber River, Lake Ontario and High Park, Swansea is primarily residential with most retail lying along its northern edge (the Bloor West Village strip). Cue a late March stroll through the former village. On the way out of Rennie Park rink, we noticed a high treehouse. We meandered around the neighbourhood, walking up dead-end courts with views of the homes and Humber River below. Over in nearly-abandoned Swansea Plaza we discovered the loneliest novelty vending machine on this side of town in a former Shoppers Drug Mart, ( which I wrote about on Torontoist . Located...

Toronto Free Gallery launched its new space at Bloor and Lansdowne two weeks ago, opening with an exhibit focusing on creativity in urban activism, Creative Activism . The gallery was jammed, the common joke being you come to an opening for the food and booze and return several days later to carefully observe the art. A dog watched the goings-on from a safe spot underneath one of the pieces. Either the view was good or it was out-of-the-way enough to dodge the crowd. Some of the works on display, ranging from a collection of "bills" to an assortment of signs and photos from Streets Are For People . *** The opening also served as a starting point for that week's psychogeography walk. From the gallery we headed south along Lansdowne, past a block of front yards that belonged to members of the Adam Giambrone Fan Club... The signs stemmed from the Lansdowne Renewal Project , a reconfiguration of the street with measures to narrow the street incorporatin...

While I've spent a good deal of time driving along 401, exploring its underside usually means waiting for a traffic light to change. I suspect the psychogeographers were overdue for a look underneath Toronto's busiest road, as we did during last week's trek along a northern stretch of the Don River. One of the first stops was a lonely Info-to-Go pillar near Auberge du Pommier. Seems like an odd location, unless there was high demand from those walking through the valley, motorists whose broken-down vehicles barely made it off the 401 or smokers looking for reading material on a dinner break. From here we wandered down into the Don Valley Golf Course , which sees more pawprints than tees during the winter. The official city rules on how to behave while playing golf. At least the shirt restriction isn't so narrow that only polo shirts are allowed, as has been the case on my few outings to the fairway. Walking through the course wasn't a problem, as previous...

This post was made possible by the lobbying efforts of former mayor Mel Lastman. Without his dogged perserverance to have the Sheppard subway line built after the provincial government cancelled plans to build an Eglinton line , this might have a post about a psychogeographic walk that started at Caledonia or York Centre stations. I doubt I've used the Sheppard line more than twice since "Mel's Folly" opened in 2002. Both were out of curiousity, since I usually require a car for most destinations along its length (hi IKEA!). According to the TTC's 2005-2006 statistics , Bessarion had the second-lowest ridership of all subway/RT stations, with an average of 2,130 passengers a day (the bottom was Ellesmere, with 1,960). Spending half-an-hour in the concourse on a weeknight while waiting for other intrepid psychogeographers lent credence to the numbers, with more passengers depicted on the walls than live human beings passing through. Definitely not enough ...