My Toronto

[caroljane]

Within the Fordian murk of our civic life (please check out our sufferings in the Hockey thread and please, somebody out there, if there is any human compassion in your heart, please help us!) for me at least there is one small, shining beacon of hope.

The former Judy's Flower Shop, right next door to me, is being transformed into a McGuigan's Scottish Pub.

This corrects the one deficiency in my otherwise perfect downtown neighbourhood. There are no pubs in walking distance, except a dive inhabited by the local panhandlers that I cannot afford to go into.

I have become friendly with the renovating crew and often drop in on them to encourage them to work faster.

I predict a very happy Hogmonay for me.

[Selene]

http://www.shopintoronto.com/map.asp?mid=642614&subCat=

pretty big intersection...

[caroljane]

http://www.shopintor...=642614&subCat=

pretty big intersection...

http://www.shopintor...=642614&subCat=

pretty big intersection...

Wrong Judy's. Try Jones and Gerrard E. My little cross-street is, wait for it, Galt Ave. I did not notice this until I had lived here for 2 months.

You can run from Rand, but apparently never far enough.

[PDS]

I would love to live in the Toronto of Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany.

[caroljane]

Funny, I've always been a part resident of lthe Montreal of Richler's St Urbain's Horsemen, although Richler himself didn't like it much and it was long gone before I read my first Richler story at about age 13. Since then part of me has always lived at Tansky's Cigar & Soda, such was his art. Growing up in the Maritimes Montreal was my Mecca.

Nobody wants to live in Toronto, even its mayor who doesn't. No surprise we won the most hated Canadian city prize in the annual unpopularity contest, we always do. I never wanted to live here, and when I first did I hated it, although in fairness that was the fault of my then boyfriend and the weather, not the city itself.

There are various reasons for this constant in our national psyche. Hating Trona is as Canadian as poutine. It's the largest city for starters, we distrust sheer bigness. It is a true "world city", utterly multicultural, sophisticated, tolerant, full of public spaces where everybody can mingle in large numbers and do pretty much what they want except riot or say bad things about hockey.Who knows what those foreigners are getting up to on our hard-earned tax money?

It is cultured. One example,It has a great symphony orchestra and two world-renowned opera companies.Opera Atelier, my fave (check it out) is going from strength to strength on the integrity of its original vision. The COC regularly turns a profit, a profit I tell you, this is opera we're talking. How could anybody not hate that, especially when your grandson can't get his music career off the ground because you can't raisie the fare to the American Idol auditions.

It's a great place to live. Everybody lives in a neighbourhood even in downtownest downtown, you can walk between them and eat great food and have privacy and sociability all at once, you can wander the streets all night and feel safe (except from the police of course), you can actually leave your door unlocked and the worst that happens is your landlord wastes his whole day guarding the place and worrying that you have been abducted. It's exciting and peaceful and livable, and not everybody gets to live here, and that's just not fair.

I forgot to mention the libraries ... they might not be around for long, so if you're planning to visit better make it soon.

PDS, I know you are a lawyer. Is there anyway to set up a baseless harassment international lawsuit, say from Potential Tourists Victims of Ford We Hate Football, against a civic official here? I name no names.

[anthony]

Coincidence, I'm re-reading Richler's "Barney's Version" right now.

From him, you'd think Montreal was the only city in La Canade.

[caroljane]

Coincidence, I'm re-reading Richler's "Barney's Version" right now.

From him, you'd think Montreal was the only city in La Canade.

Are you enjoying it? I so much prefer his earlier stuff.. later he got so self-reflective..too Philip Rothian to my mind. I love Roth, but somehow felt Richler, not lost his way...don'tknow what I mean here , really. His first best books had a crude blazing beauty that spoke to me, a sheltered smalltown Anglo girl, and to everybody. His later books spoke to himself and his then world, friends who understood him, family to protect. This is just my feeling.. does it make any sense to you?

[caroljane]

It is so great to find you a Richler fan (I assume , since you are rereading him). Did you see the Duddy Kravitz movie? I loved it although it miscast the thin, sallow, wiry, ugly Duddy as irresistible cuddly Richard Dreyfuss. Dreyfuss made the part his own with hustler energy and oh yeah, genius acting talent. I'd love to see this movie remade. Nobody could be better than Dreyfuss, but they could try.

[william.scherk]

Coincidence, I'm re-reading Richler's "Barney's Version" right now.

From him, you'd think Montreal was the only city in La Canade.

I love Richler. Richler the novelist, Richler the polemicist, Richler the realist, the provocateur, the pin-prick to political pretensions. He had a huge talent and a huge love. He was a prick, a raconteur, an occasional boozer, a Jew ... and an opponent of bullshit, cant, dogma, the sullen and exclusive airs of pure laine Qubecois, the insular and impotent, the large of pride and small of mind. He was great, to my mind.

It is le Canada, Ninth. But your point is well-taken. I am one of those who was at home in Montreal during my years there. It is truly a marvelous, unique Canadian city, the Only French Metropolis in North America, rich in culture and cultures, style, individualism vs multiple collectivities, exuberant with 'latin' joie de vivre. I do hope you get a long sojourn there sometime, Doctor. I think even our Phil has a few good things to say about Ville Marie, Hochelaga, Moniang ...

One Montreal fact: does anyone remember Prohibition? Montreal does not, since the curb on booze lasted roughly three weeks from invocation to repeal. Even today you see the remnants of its glorious days of Boozathons, on St Lawrence Boulevard, where a bar on the main floor is topped by a bar on the second floor, only to be superceded by a bar on the third floor.

[caroljane]

Trying to edit through Bill's post, to hell with it.

Richler had an intersting heritage, orthodox plus total crazy, religiously and psychosocisexually all over the .lplace. Perfect petri jar for a writing genius.