Storms coming in.

Just a simple photo today of a storm moving south across the city and out over the harbour.

A Visit to the ROM

I went somewhat off the Waterfront Trail on Monday and paid a visit to the ROM which is currently having a Pompeii special exhibit (In the Shadow of the Volcano).  

There were many, many beautiful and sobering things to see there.  Here I have photos of just a few. 

This first is a statue of Isis, whose cult had spread to Greek and Roman areas.  As you can see, she's been Hellenized somewhat.

A Pompeii-styled Isis

Nearby was a statue of Apollo, which of course you had to see:

Apollo, from Pompeii

And next to Apollo was Venus:

Venus, from Pompeii

I really encourage you to go if you have the chance; it's a treat, and there is a lot more to see than I have pictured here.  I plan to return in the near future to spend a little more time with the exhibits.

Anyway, on the sobering side, there are also a number of the plaster casts Pompeii is famous for.  Just two are pictured here.

First a wealthy family who, in trying to escape, sheltered in a stairwell, but was caught in a blast of pyroclastic heat and died there:

An unlucky family of four, killed by the
heat as they sheltered in a stairwell.

And a guard dog, left chained to a garden gate, who had scrabbled atop the falling pumice and ash, but succumbed to the heat as well:

An unfortunate guard dog, left chained to a gate in Pompeii,
also killed by the pyroclastic blast.

Truly sobering, really - the tail end of the exhibit is much like walking through a cemetery that's even more sad than usual.

Safety First

Heading out to Ireland Park yesterday, I was disappointed to see that they've added yet more chain-link fencing.  That stuff's always ugly, and now the park is hemmed in by it on two sides.

The southern edge of Ireland Park.

I especially love that, as you can see in the above photo, there is still walkway along the edge of the water, but the lifesaving equipment is on the inside of the fence now.  Good luck if you fall in!

And, directly behind me as I took this photo, was this situation:

Fall arrives.

Just a couple photos from the Music Garden this week.  

I noticed this very pretty digitalis at one end of the garden:

Nearby it were some of the autumn-loving kales/cabbages.  I think they may have been here a while, and I have only noticed them now that some of the other plants have died back.

I sometimes have the urge to take some home for soup …

Early October...

I've been stupid busy lately, so while I've been snapping the occasional photo, actually uploading them and cropping them has seemed like a Herculean (Heraclean?) task.  Who has that kind of time?

Apparently, I still do!  So, without further ado, some photos from the past week.

Last weekend, I was out by the Western Gap and noticed that the planters that way had not dealt with the end of summer very well:

But in taking that, I saw a cluster of UN planes across the way — not something I notice every day over there:

See the excitement I live?

Early in the week, I decided to finally photograph some of the new work in the subway.  This is at the northbound platform on the Yonge line.  (The Spadina/University line is on the other side of the glass there.)

I've been regularly heading down King St. East in the mornings lately.  Now that the weather is getting chiller and gloomier, the gaslights add a surprising bit of cheer.

And, finally, at some point I wandered south of King toward Front along an arcade there, and this reflecting pool was down that way, steadily working itself toward murky.  It was still charming at this point, though.

Summer's Last Hurrah

The weather has been alternately terrible and fantastic this week, going back and forth from cold and rainy to bright and sunny with just a hint of warmth.

Most flowers in the Music Garden aren't taking it all that well, though some are still quite pretty.

But the sure sign of fall is here — the cabbages are being planted (no photos of those yet), and the red-osier dogwoods have their berries.

dogwood berries

An Te Liu: Solid States

Thursday, on the way home from class, I stopped by the Toronto Sculpture Garden which finally has some sculptures in it (it's been empty since last year some time — as many point out, it's quite small and frequently has one or fewer sculptures in it).

This exhibit is of work by An Te Liu.  Here's the blurb near the entrance:

Exhibition blurb near the entrance.

The sculptures themselves (and I'm hoping I got the labels correct — let me know if you know otherwise):

Remains of the Day

Meta-matic

Tourist

Ascension

Vegetable Mineral

Animal Vegetable and Vegetable Mineral with
the garden's water feature in the background.

Lately ...

So, been pretty busy lately.  I kind of detail that in my other "wordy" blog — you can check that out here if you like.

Meanwhile, I've been debating post-dating posts, but that seems a bit much at this point, so perhaps I'll just post a few random things and let you know when I actually took those photos.  Deal?  Deal.

The Music Garden has had a ton of berries doing their berry thing all over it.  This is from the far end, in the "wetlands" area:

Berries, August 31

My dog had taken to wanting to sleep on her back, on my desk, while I try to work.  I put down a little bit of blanket for her, but it mostly stops me from working.  Instead I talk to her and pat her belly.  It's all part of her evil plan, I'm sure.

Semi-conscious Chihuahua, August 12

What's this?  I dunno!  I took a photo of it for some reason, I'm sure:

Mysterious Slab, August 17

This is why I sneeze so much: the eastern end of the Music Garden in late summer.

Achoo, September 13

A bit further west of there are some neat-o crabapples in full ... apple?

Crabapples, September 13

And I'll wrap this up with silliness.  I wanted an item from Staples that was $43.  With a $45 purchase, they have free next-day delivery, so I added a binder to the order to pop me over the mark.  Except … the thing I actually wanted didn't arrive (and still hasn't).  Instead, Staples sent me that single binder in this HUGE.FREAKING.BOX.  Overnight.

Giant-ass Box, September 14

So, that's life over here.  How are you doin'?