Distractions, reflections

Since my territory in the day job is North America, it seems that I’m assigned to a different city every two months. In addition, with corporate-negotiated rates, the chosen hotel is sometimes in unobvious locations. For October, I spent a few days in the Adams Morgan district of Washington, DC. The General George McClelland statue is at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue NW and Columbia Road NW.

The area has a lot of embassies. Walking north up Connecticut Avenue NW, there’s a bridge spanning a ravine.

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I admire musicians who have long careers. I didn’t see Suzanne Vega on her last trip to Toronto — some 10 years ago! She was on tour promoting her new album, Beauty and Crime, with a stop at The Mod Club, so Diana and I got tickets.

I was impressed by her stage presence. She stood up straight, right at the microphone, with great confidence. This has to be the result in her training, not in music, but in dance at the New York High School for the Performing Arts.  Read more... (241 words, 5 images, estimated 58 secs reading time)

Living in South Riverdale in Toronto, there’s not much of the city south of us. Between our home and Lake Ontario, there’s the Port Lands — an industrial area gradually being taken over by movie production. Since I hadn’t been around Toronto for much of the summer, I hopped on my bike just to see what’s new. The first big change was the opening, on Cherry Street, of a T&T Supermarket: a branch of the upscale, full-service chain originally in Vancouver area, with some branches up in the northern suburbs of Richmond Hill and Markham.

I used to shop in this location when the store was a Knob Hill Farms. That was a downscale warehouse experience, with lots of European imports and low prices. The T&T store was a complete renovation of the building, and it’s well lit, with extensive services of take-out food (dim sum and sushi), a bakery, and tanks of live fish.  Read more... (221 words, 3 images, estimated 53 secs reading time)

Routing a flight through the UK is generally fortuitous, because it’s on the way to Finland. Since I’ve been coming to the Helsinki area relatively steadily during since 2003, I’ve developed a routine of doing similar things when I’m in town. On this trip, Minna and I co-taught a class at Stadia. One difference on this occasion was the grand meeting room, which is an improvement over the basement lecture hall.

When I stay at Taina’s house, my schedule follows her commute pattern. Picking up Rulle from tennis lessons in Munkkiniemi puts us near warehouse shopping, so we stock up the pantry.

On weekends, there’s an opportunity to prepare a leisurely dinner. This time, at Taina’s house in Soukka, we decided to cook Chinese food — an improvement over the choices available in local restaurants.  Read more... (444 words, 10 images, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Taking the bus from Heathrow to Oxford on a Sunday morning, I had a relaxed afternoon to see the sights. From St. Anne’s College, I walked a loop south, then east and back north. Right by the bus station, at Gloucester Green, there’s a market on Sundays.

The shops on the Cornmarket Street are more permanent, but kiosks on the pedestrian mall hawk to the tourists.

Continuing to walk south, down to St. Aldates Street and past the Town Hall, I started a tour of some of the more famous Oxford colleges.  Read more... (476 words, 22 images, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

On her round-the-world ticket, Toronto is on the way from Tokyo back to the U.K., so Jennifer stopped over for a quick visit. August is a busy time in Toronto, so took great advantage of tourist opportunities. Within hours of her arrival, the time lined up with the 10 p.m. free improvisation session at the Second City Theatre.

The next day, the family took the opportunity to have dim sum at Yiu Wah in Chinatown on Dundas near Spadina.

Downtown Toronto is best viewed on foot. Walking through Kensington Market, we saw the political statement of a car converted into a planter.  Read more... (272 words, 10 images, estimated 1:05 mins reading time)