Toronto Blue Jays 6, Minnesota Twins 4

When Gord and I started our subscription to the Toronto Star last month, they sent us a couple of Blue Jays tix for tonight. Gotta love free ball tix!

The seats were good ... we were in the 100 section, just past first base. There were quite a few foul balls out way. Scary! Here's the view from our seats:

Here's Vernon Wells ...

And Frank Thomas just before he hit his first homerun of the night (he hit two) ... btw, I was experimenting with the lighting functions on my camera so that's why the colour in these pix look different.

#502 of his career!

The CN Tower from our seats ... oh oh, looks like rain!

So they closed the roof. Here's the start of the closing. It didn't end up raining after all.

There's Gord in his seat! What a fan ... he's got a Jays' shirt and cap!

And here's the CN Tower after the game (I need a tripod so I can get a better picture).

Beefsteak Tomato Update

Remember the beefsteak tomato from my garden?

I made a toasted chicken and tomato sandwich with it for supper tonight.

Very yummy!

Book ~ "When Hell Freezes Over" - Rick Blechta (2006)

From Amazon.com ~ Michael Quinn is stopped at a red light one night when his passenger door is wrenched open and a woman jumps in. Three thugs are pelting down the street after her, so he races off into the night, but doing so sets in motion a chain of events, which ultimately turns his life upside down. First, a close friend is brutally murdered and then the girl disappears. He hires a private investigator who begins to discover she is not what she seems. The situation becomes deadly serious when the thugs come looking for Michael. Only by finding her can he answer the questions and maybe, just maybe, get out of a hole that's getting bigger with every passing moment.

What attracted me to this book was (1) it was a mystery and (2) it partly takes place in Toronto. As it turns out, Quinn lives a couple blocks SW of us (if he was real).

I enjoyed the writing style of this author. It was fast-paced and kept my interest. I'd recommend this book and am looking forward to reading others by this author.

PartiGras, Toronto, ON

Gord and I spent this afternoon and this evening at PartiGras in the Distillery District.

We sat in the Main Stage section when we first got there and watched RJ's Rhythm Rockers (from Detroit). They were bluesy and very good.

Gord in the Main Stage section

Then we went to the Pure Spirits Stage section for a while and watched KC Roberts (from Toronto). They played "cutting edge of modern hip-hop, funk and rock" and were entertaining, though not my kind of music.

And Shakura S'Aida (from Toronto). She was bluesy and very good.

Gord in the Pure Spirits Stage section.

Then we went back to the Main Stage and ate pulled pork and fried mashed potatoes (sounds weird but it was good) and listened to the Mississippi Hippies (from Toronto). They were also bluesy and good.

It's the first year we've gone but I'd definitely check it out next year.

Trinity Bellwoods Park, Toronto, ON

KC and I were up early this morning and headed to Trinity Bellwood Park.

It's a lovely park - KC loves it there! Lots to sniff!

My Garden Update

We've had a lot of rain in the last 24 hours ... and my tomatoes are loving it!

My grape tomatoes with rain dripping off the bottom

Look at that beefsteak tomato!
It's almost ready!!

Parkdale Festival, Toronto, ON

Gord and I went to the beer garden at the Parkdale Festival after we got back from the fencing championship.

We were pleasantly surprised to find Jack DeKeyser playing at the beer garden. I hadn't seen him in many years ... I used to go see him a lot when I first moved to Toronto in the late 1980s.

There were a fair number of people watching the concert ... 

and in the beer garden.

2007 Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships, Toronto, ON

Gord was in the the Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships this morning, in the sabre division.

There were about 50 people from across the Commonwealth entered into the event. There was a men's and a women's division. Gord fought guys from Canada, England, Scotland, Wales and Isle of Man.

There were two rounds of five bouts. Alas, though he put up a valient effort, he was elimated in the first disqualification round by a seasoned fencer from England.

Getting ready to fence

Warming up with his coach, Jim

Just before the first round with his opponents

Jim (their coach), George, Gord and Zolton after the first round
(members of the same sabre fencing club)
None of them made it past the first elimination round

Gord in action!

Parkdale Festival, Toronto, ON

Gord had to have his equipment checked for tomorrow's fencing tournament so headed up to do that around noontime.

I walked over to Parkdale to return some library books. The Parkdale Festival is happening this weekend so I checked out the craft tables. They'd shut down part of Cowan Avenue for the vendors.

There is also a beer tent with entertainment today and tomorrow.

I was getting hungry so had a roti at Bacchus Roti Shop at Cowan/Queen W.

My boneless chicken roti

The roti was okay but I much refer the ones at Island Foods (Dufferin/King W). The bikes in front belong to two guys who were sitting at the window table drinking Corona beer into which they'd dumped packages of salt. I found that strange.

It started raining while I was eating ... alas, shutting down the festival.

Book ~ "Chicken Soup for the Sister's Soul 2" - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery and Kelly Zimmerman (2006)

From Amazon.com ~ In classic Chicken Soup tradition, "Chicken Soup for the Sister's Soul 2" celebrates the profound relationship between sisters in its wild, wacky, poignant and inspirational glory. With real-life stories from women who share their experiences, chapters include A Sister's Love, Sibling Revelry, The Bond, Overcoming Obstacles and Insights and Lessons. Because in a world where women are constantly being pulled in all directions, it's nice to know they can always rely on their sisters to be there for them.

Sister Sarah gave me this book for Christmas and I've been reading a couple stories here and there between books.

I enjoy the Chicken Soup books and especially enjoyed this one because my favourite sister gave it to me.

Garden update

You know that I have three tomato plants on our terrace.

This cherry tomato was quite delicious!
I ate it right after I took the pic this evening.

There are still lots of grape tomatoes waiting to ripen.

This beefsteak tomato is starting to turn red.

2007 Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships, Toronto, ON

This weekend is the fencing weekend Gord has been training for for the last six months ... the Commonwealth Veteran Fencing Championships, which are held every two years.

There are people from all over the Commonwealth in attendance ... Australia, England, Isle of Man, etc. And to be a veteran, you must be over the age of 40.

In addition to the actual fencing tournaments, there are three social events:

• Welcome drinks - which we went to tonight
• BBQ in Thornhill tomorrow night - which Gord is going to
• Gala dinner Saturday night - which we are passing on since Gord has to fence bright and early Sunday morning

The welcome drinks were held in the Bank Vault, a bar which used to be the actual vaults of the Dominion Bank of Canada (King W/Yonge Street).

Kris and Rick (from Vancouver, BC) with Gord

Gord at the vault

TastyThursdays, Toronto, ON

Laura, Susan and I (we worked together at my last job) checked out TastyThursdays at City Hall today at lunchtime.

Every Thursday from July 12 - August 23, 11 am to 2 pm, a variety of prime Toronto restaurants will be featuring select menu items for $5 or less. In addition to the delicious international cuisine, which includes pad thai, empanadas, jerk chicken and jumbo shrimp, each week there will be a free noon hour concert, providing the perfect lunch hour escape.

I had a pulled pork sandwich from the Purple Pig ... yummy!

Susan waiting in the Kathmandu Restaurant line-up

Laura trying to decide what to get
(she ended up with a steak sandwich from Dangerous Dan's Diner)

There was a Calypso playing called Kobo Town. They were good.

Book ~ "Driving Minnie's Piano: Memoirs of a Surfing Life in Nova Scotia" - Lesley Choyce (2006)

From Goodreads: Novelist Lesley Choyce weaves together his real-life adventures living by the sea at Lawrencetown Beach on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. He writes of his love for the rugged coast and tells tales of the ordinary and the extraordinary. His story includes accounts of what it's like surfing in the Canadian North Atlantic through all four seasons including the frigid depths of winter. 

 Also threading its way through this narrative is the story of Minnie's piano. There is music here in word and spirit along with the lessons learned from the old and the young. Driving Minnie's Piano is an eloquent personal memoir about the precious and fateful moments that change our lives. It is an exploration of what makes us tick and prompts us to be both heroes and fools in the daily enterprise of living.

What attracted me to this book was the title - because Sister Sarah and I had seen surfers in Nova Scotia in May 2005. At the time, I thought it was an odd sight.

I grew up in Nova Scotia and remember how cold the Atlantic Ocean is even in the summer ... I can't imagine surfing in it in the middle of winter! But Choyce does and loves it!

I enjoyed Choyce's writing style ... laidback and down-to-earth. It's obvious he loves his home (he's originally from New Jersey), Nova Scotia, his life and nature. He loves fog and will do all he can to save another breathing being.