Kensington Market Toronto

Since I was in grade six and my parents let me ride the subway/streetcar to downtown Toronto I have been visiting Kensington Market. A collection of streets in the heart of what is called Chinatown but what would be better described as Asia-town it is a mishmash of vintage shops, natural food stores, bead shops, cloth shops, coffee shops, book stores, music shops and 'save the world' organization offices.
Originally the area know as Kensington Market was a land lot purchased in 1815, by George Taylor Denison. The Denison family are a significant foundation in the history of Toronto (see links below). In 1850 the estate was subdivided and houses were built to house the new arriving Irish and Scottish immigrants.
Many of the original houses still exist and have been expanded on by many nationalities of newly arriving immigrants.
In the early 1900 to 1920 an influx of Eastern European immigrants generated a cluster of settlement in what was then referred to the Jewish Market. The Jewish merchants sold a plethora of goods and services reminiscent of the ‘Old Country’ operating small shops, delis, tailors, schmatta businesses, furriers and bakers. Approximately 60,000 Jews lived in and around Kensington Market during the 1920s and 1930s and there were upwards of 30 synagogues in the area. Today only two exist in the Kensington area:

This is a photo taken in August of the Minsk Synagogue. (http://www.theminsk.com/index.html)

New waves of immigrants from the Caribbean and East Asia changed the community, making it even more diverse as the century wore on. The Vietnam War brought a number of American political refugees to the neighbourhood, adding to its Marajuana Legalization and utopian flavours to local politics. Many shops sell marajuana pharaphanelia and the sent of herb is part of the fish shop, veggie-fruit market,Jamaican beef patty smell.

My favorite shop which two decades later makes me as happy as when I first visited as a teenager is a store called Courage My Love. The vintage shop sells beads, army wear, and really cool gently loved clothes. The staff is helpful and follow a motto of: “tell the truth and make sure the customer is happy when they leave the store,whether they have bought anything or not.”
This is a really good read, written from the heart, by one of the founders of this store:
http://peanutbreath.com/courage/courageindex.html

Today the neighbourhood is a popular tourist destination and a centre of Toronto's cultural life as artists and writers continue to gravitated the area. Real estate in the area has increased sharply, but despite its increased appeal to professionals, Kensington still remains a predominantlyworking class, immigrant community.

George Denison

http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/154407

Family Tree Info

http://www.denisonfamily.on.ca/Documents/JFTaylor.html

Kinetic Art

According to the Tate glossary the word kinetic means relating to motion. Kinetic art is art that depends on motion either from wind, light, water or mechanical manipulation for its effects.
Artists have incorporated motion in art since ancient Egyptian times. In modern times mixing art with movement was explored by such artist as Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp and Naum Gabo. During a period where technology and machinery gained popularity so to did kinetic art.


Tim Fort



Kinetic art considers the way that art looks when combined with motion. Sculptures are the most typical expression of this art form. Three dimensional works which produce moving shadows or are actually in motion themselves are characteristic of the spirit of this form. Op Art is often compared to kinetic art and many artist produce works that are interchangeably defined in both categories.

Two of my favorite contemporary kinetic artist are Tim Fort and Yaacov Agam.

Led Zeppelin

I have liked Led Zeppelin since grade nine, slow danced to 'Stairway to Heaven', had mix tapes of their songs, bought a few CD’s and then didn’t listen to them for ten years.
Last year we visited our friend’s S and W in Costa Rica and Dr. S burned a bunch of their stuff. Part of that illegal burning session included our possession of Led Zeppelin’s complete Box Set and Box Set II.
Like most of the other musicians I love, they write poetry and sing it.

Here are some of the lyrics to:

The Battle of Evermore
The Queen of Light took her bow and then she turned to go

The Prince of Peace embraced the gloom and walked the night alone

Oh, dance in the dark night, sing to the morning light

The Dark Lord rides in force tonight, and time will tell us all
And what about D’yer Mak’er? Tangerine? Immigrant Song... I think they are genius poetry mixed with incredible adhesion of words to instruments to create music.
Led Zeppelin first played together in 1968 under the name Yardbirds and ten years later were winding down their tours and live concerts. Their song Stairway to Heaven is the most requested radio song, ever. In 1971 they released Going to California, a song about Joni Mitchell as well as Black Dog which was the first track on their unnamed album IV one of the most popular rock albums of all times.


The movie Almost Famous written and directed by Cameron Crowe is based on Led Zeppelin’s members Jimmy Page (guitar) and Robert Plant (vocals).

Here is a link to a great Rolling Stone article about the band:
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ledzeppelin/biography

This article discusses the bands lyric controversies
http://www.furious.com/perfect/jimmypage.html

Home Made Sushi

Poutine

Poutine is one of my favorite meals and the first thing I think of if anyone asks me what a fundamentally Canadian dish is. Made with thick cut whole potato fries, topped with white melty cheese curds and a dollop of thick brown gravy it is the perfect meal for 3am or anyother time of the day!

This dish originated in Quebec, Canada in the 1950’s and is popular in ‘diner type’ restaurants all over Canada. The name is reminicent of the American ‘Sloppy Joe’ and ‘ça va faire une maudite poutine’ translates as "it will make a damn mess".

The recognition of the dish in America surged during the 2000 election when a Canadian comedy sketch called “Talking to Americans” on the show This Hour Has 22 Minutes featured a reporter convincing then Governor of Texas George W. Bush, that Canada’s Prime Minister was named Jean Poutine and that he was supporting Bush’s candidacy. When Bush made his first visit to Canada as President, during his speech he said “There's a prominent citizen who endorsed me in the 2000 election, and I wanted a chance to finally thank him for that endorsement. I was hoping to meet Jean Poutine."

In-N-Out Burger has the closest thing to a poutine at an American Fast Food Chain, their off-menu item ‘French Fries Animal Style’ is french fries, grilled with special sauce, onions and cheese.

Dinner

We recently had dinner at our friends A. and D.'s place. A. is a fantastic professionally trained chef and was my neighbour at 420 Piccadilly Court for a few years. I was so excited to see that the stove in her kitchen is exactly like the one from my childhood.

I love stuffed mushrooms