Heh, I used to hang out at Last Temptation, and friends went to the Sicilian Ice Cream Co. just the other day. Nice (but unusual) to see Lowther Ave. mentioned -- I was conceived in a house there. (TMI!) I *think* the ferry is actually $6 for a round trip, but have yet to make it to the islands myself. No doubt you'll find many other favourites of your own when you start exploring. Perhaps you'll even start spelling "favourites" that way ...
While you've been reading about T.O. I've been thinking about you as I reread Jack Finney's Time and Again. Have you read this novel? A New Yorker couldn't help but enjoy it, I think, if only for the descriptions and photos of the city more than a hundred years ago. (My fave is a picture of the Statue of Liberty's arm standing in Madison Square, before a site was chosen and money raised to erect the statue.)
I'm a huge Time And Again fan. I read and re-read it in high school, before the New York historical novel became the cottage industry it is today. I have a postcard showing Liberty's arm in Madison Square Park up near my desk - it's one of my favorite old NYC photographs.
I have a list of New York historical novels if you're interested. My favorite is Banished Children of Eve by Peter Quinn, about the 1863 draft riots.
Oh, cool! I was tired of being the only person in the world to know Time and Again. Have you read The Night People? It's actually my favourite Finney work. I didn't realize New York historical novels were all the rage -- don't know if it's my kind of thing usually, but T & A (hmm, perhaps not a good nickname for it) is an old friend.
I loved Night People! I read it a long time ago, but still remember parts of it vividly. Time and Again is popular these days, but no one seems to know Night People! Very cool.
Years after reading those books, I discovered that a short story I used to love was also by Jack Finney - The Woodrow Wilson Dime. A man bus a newspaper in Grand Central Terminal, gets a dime back as change. The dime looks odd - old. When he looks up, he's gone back in time 100 years. You can see the connection to... Ti&Ag? Maybe we'll use that instead of T&A! :)
Yeah, I have The Woodrow Wilson Dime in the 3 by Finney collection, along with The Night People and Marion's Wall. I guess I'll reread those next while I'm on my Finney kick.
Oh yes, I remember that now. I forgot all about Marion's Wall!
There was another short story I loved when I was a kid called The Third Level. A man goes to the third level of Grand Central, has some experiences, returns... and then finds out there is no third level. I should look up who wrote that. I always associate it with the Woodrow Wilson dime - though possibly only because I read them during the same time period.
Whistler Pilsner is one of the few decent Ontario beers. Graffiti's is a solid place. And if into music, no trip to TO is complete without visiting Soundscapes. Heck, a walk down College itself is pretty cool.
Some things not mentioned:
Royal Ontario Museam - always something fantastic and enlightening on display.
Molson Ampitheatre - one of the top outdoor concert venues in the world.
Ontario Place & Canada's Wonderland - fun for the whole family!
The Duke of York - simply put one of the finest pubs I've had the pleasure of visiting.
Someplace you might want to visit when you come here is Fort York, downtown. It was taken by the US in 1812 along with Toronto. The British fired the magazine just before retreating, and when it blew up, it killed (among others) Zebulon Pike of Pike's Peak fame. There's a plaque to his honour there. It's an impressive little bite of history if you're into that sort of thing; a friend of mine from New England insisted on visiting it a second time on his return to Toronto last year.
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Heh, I used to hang out at Last Temptation, and friends went to the Sicilian Ice Cream Co. just the other day. Nice (but unusual) to see Lowther Ave. mentioned -- I was conceived in a house there. (TMI!) I *think* the ferry is actually $6 for a round trip, but have yet to make it to the islands myself. No doubt you'll find many other favourites of your own when you start exploring. Perhaps you'll even start spelling "favourites" that way ...
While you've been reading about T.O. I've been thinking about you as I reread Jack Finney's Time and Again. Have you read this novel? A New Yorker couldn't help but enjoy it, I think, if only for the descriptions and photos of the city more than a hundred years ago. (My fave is a picture of the Statue of Liberty's arm standing in Madison Square, before a site was chosen and money raised to erect the statue.)
I'm a huge Time And Again fan. I read and re-read it in high school, before the New York historical novel became the cottage industry it is today. I have a postcard showing Liberty's arm in Madison Square Park up near my desk - it's one of my favorite old NYC photographs.
I have a list of New York historical novels if you're interested. My favorite is Banished Children of Eve by Peter Quinn, about the 1863 draft riots.
Oh, cool! I was tired of being the only person in the world to know Time and Again. Have you read The Night People? It's actually my favourite Finney work. I didn't realize New York historical novels were all the rage -- don't know if it's my kind of thing usually, but T & A (hmm, perhaps not a good nickname for it) is an old friend.
I loved Night People! I read it a long time ago, but still remember parts of it vividly. Time and Again is popular these days, but no one seems to know Night People! Very cool.
Years after reading those books, I discovered that a short story I used to love was also by Jack Finney - The Woodrow Wilson Dime. A man bus a newspaper in Grand Central Terminal, gets a dime back as change. The dime looks odd - old. When he looks up, he's gone back in time 100 years. You can see the connection to... Ti&Ag? Maybe we'll use that instead of T&A! :)
Yeah, I have The Woodrow Wilson Dime in the 3 by Finney collection, along with The Night People and Marion's Wall. I guess I'll reread those next while I'm on my Finney kick.
Oh yes, I remember that now. I forgot all about Marion's Wall!
There was another short story I loved when I was a kid called The Third Level. A man goes to the third level of Grand Central, has some experiences, returns... and then finds out there is no third level. I should look up who wrote that. I always associate it with the Woodrow Wilson dime - though possibly only because I read them during the same time period.
Some good choices made in the TO piece.
Whistler Pilsner is one of the few decent Ontario beers. Graffiti's is a solid place. And if into music, no trip to TO is complete without visiting Soundscapes. Heck, a walk down College itself is pretty cool.
Some things not mentioned:
Royal Ontario Museam - always something fantastic and enlightening on display.
Molson Ampitheatre - one of the top outdoor concert venues in the world.
Ontario Place & Canada's Wonderland - fun for the whole family!
The Duke of York - simply put one of the finest pubs I've had the pleasure of visiting.
Whistler?
Whistle Pilsener that should be.
Too much coffee and I can't type. But too little and I can't either. It's a tightrope, I tell ya.
Ah yes, a tightrope I walk every day.
I love a great pub, I am definitely noting that one.
Googling ... hey, The Third Level is by Finney too! Wonder if I can find that one.
I consumed many a chicken wing and pint of beer in the Duke of York, back in the day. It's a good pub all right.
Um, it's Steamwhistle, right, not just Whistle? Or is there another one?
You're kidding me! The Third Level is also Finney? How funny. I wonder if I knew that and forgot.
I love Google.
No, it is Steamwhistle Pilsener.
I just call it Whistle (not whistler) for short. :-)
Someplace you might want to visit when you come here is Fort York, downtown. It was taken by the US in 1812 along with Toronto. The British fired the magazine just before retreating, and when it blew up, it killed (among others) Zebulon Pike of Pike's Peak fame. There's a plaque to his honour there. It's an impressive little bite of history if you're into that sort of thing; a friend of mine from New England insisted on visiting it a second time on his return to Toronto last year.
Thanks, I put it on the list! I love stuff like that.
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