Brisbane & The Machine

Location: Brisbane, Australia
Address:  Brisbane City Botanic Gardens
Date: May 2012
Website:  www.brisbane.qld.gov.au

  We found ourselves walking around Brisbane in the evening while we were in Australia.  The first night we were looking for somewhere good to eat.  We headed south and ended up at the Queen Street Mall.  It is a pedestrian only road with many stores and restaurants.  It also has a pixel light display above one portion of the street.  We were looking for somewhere nice to sit and relax and enjoy a meal after a long day.

  One restaurant caught our eye.  It had a familiar logo.  This is Hungry Jack's and is the Australian franchise of Burger King.  Another hamburger chain was already operating as Burger King when the American company decided to expand down under so a different name was chosen.  We didn't really feel like a Whopper so we continued our search.

  We turned around and there were people enjoying dinner on a balcony.  A little rainbow lead the way upstairs.  This is Jo-Jo's and we decided to check it out.

  We were given a number card on a stand.  We were told to put it on our table and then we could go to the stations to choose what we wanted to eat.  You had to pay at the stations and then someone would bring your food to you back at your table.  This was the first time we encountered this service, but it was common in many places around Australia.  We enjoyed our dinner and then took a stroll around Brisbane.

  The next night we didn't try too hard to find a new place to eat.  It was back to Jo-Jo's.  This time we ended up on the balcony and held card number 11.  We now knew how the routine worked.  After dinner we went for a little walk again.

  We walked out of the restaurant and noticed a lot of people headed south along Albert Street. We decided to head south as well.  We were curious where everyone was going.  As we walked we noticed more and more people.  Soon we reached the gates of the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens.

We decided to follow the crowds into the park and see where they would lead us.  It was very dark in the gardens and we could barely see the strange trees around us.  Maybe they were doing fireworks in the river? 

  We went deeper into the gardens.  Some people rushed past us.  On the edge of the garden was an old building.  This is Old Government House.  It was built in 1862 and was Queensland's first public building.  We went a little further and could hear music.  Then we were at the gates of the Riverstage.  This was the end of the line for us and we would wonder no more.  The tables selling merchandise told us that British act Florence & the Machine were playing a concert that night.  Mystery solved.  We do enjoy the band's music and would have loved to stay for a show, but we had another busy day planned tomorrow and no tickets.  Instead we fought our way back against the flow of Florence fans and past Jo-Jo's one last time

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Map of Our World
Wintergarden
Hungry Jack's (Brisbane) , Jo-Jo's
Brisbane City Botanic Gardens
Old Government House

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Post # 221

Sundial Folly

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  25 Queens Quay West
Date: July 2015

  Sundial Folly is a large concrete ball which sits on the edge of Lake Ontario. It was created by John Fung and Paul Figueiredo and was installed at Toronto's Harbourfront in 1995.  A folly in architecture is a building built for decoration so maybe it has no higher function.  It is supposed to work as a sundial, but we couldn't figure it out.  These photos were taken at 3 PM if you wish to try.  Even if you don't know how to use it as a sundial, it is an interesting piece of art and you can actually go inside of it.  That is exactly what we did.

  We approached from the Ferry Docks and could see the small waterfall that flows into the lake.  The sundial was hidden behind the trees.

  From the front you can see the ball appears to be split into two pieces.  There is rusted metal in the trees behind it.  This is where you have to go if you want to get isnide.

  We walked around the ball and on the other side you can see it is sitting in a pool of water.

  A red-winged blackbird chirped at us from the branches hanging above the water.  Red-winged blackbirds have a chirp that sounds like "Hey what are you doing here?"

  We ignored the bird (after taking its photo) and we found ourselves on the metal structure attached to the ball.

  We went along the walkway towards the sphere.

   Inside the ball there was light coming through the crack in one direction.  This light would change as the sun moved across the sky.  The crack in the ball faces south so perhaps it does work as a sundial after all?  The crack curves up towards the sky.

  We had to exit the same way we came in.  Afterwards we went  around and peered through the crack at the back of the ball.

  We then went around the front to see if there were any other creatures in the water or plants around the sundial.  Thankfully when we went inside the sundial we were all alone.

  From the Sundial Folly you can see the Toronto Islands ferries as they bring passengers back and forth.

  If you take a ferry ride over to the islands, you can get a good view of the sundial.  This photo above was taken from the ferry.

  When you look at your photos of Toronto's waterfront again you will notice the sundial.  In our photo above it is tucked down beneath the condos in the bottom right corner.  We suggest you find the time to visit Sundial Folly.  We had a ball.

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This location is near Queens Quay. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World:
Sundial Folly

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Post # 220

Merhorse VS Giant Clam

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  90 Cordova Avenue
Date: June 2018
Website:  www.ranee.ca

  We were taking a walk on Islington Avenue headed towards the many painted murals that can be found along Dundas Street West.  Not very far north of Islington subway station there was a fountain outside of an apartment building that caught our eye.

  To us it looked like a group of baby pacifiers pointed to the sky.  Very interesting, we thought.  As we turned around we caught a glimpse of something on the other side of Islington.  It looked like a woman riding a large white horse.  Very interesting indeed!

   As we drew closer we realized this was not a regular horse but a seahorse.  It looked like a regular horse rearing up on its hind legs, except it didn't have hind legs.  Instead it had a tail like a fish. We have chosen to call this a "merhorse".   In Greek mythology, Poseidon was pulled across the water on his chariot by a team of hippocampi (seahorses).  Poseidon is known as the god of the sea.  He is also known for creating the horse.  So if he wants to spend his day out on the water with half fish, half horses pulling him around, who could stop him? 

   The sculpture sits outside of some rental apartments on Cordova Avenue.  From the opposite side it appears that the merhorse has no hind legs or tail.  We couldn't find any real history about this sculpture so we are inventing our own.  To us it looked as if the horse probably did have legs and then something happened to the sculpture.  Maybe it was damaged?  We do not know.  Maybe it came from part of another larger sculpture?  In order to help support the sculpture it was decided to put some blue rocks.  Now with the legs missing a tail was added.  If you look at the picture of the tail above it does look to be made from different material and is much whiter than the rest of the horse. Sorry, the merhorse.

   Now who is the natural nemesis of this mighty water stallion?  Why of course it is the giant clam.  A real giant clam lives off of algae and opens its mouth when there is sunlight so the algae inside it can photosynthesize.  When there is no sun, it closes its mouth again.  It does not spend its day chomping on various sea creatures.  This still doesn't mean you should go sticking your hand inside a giant clam any time soon.

  The woman riding the merhorse is not your average woman either.  She is a mermaid.  Closer inspection reveals that she is not your average little mermaid.  She has two legs with flippers instead of just a tail.  Some research shows that this makes her a siren or two-tailed mermaid.  This would definitely make it easier to ride a horse instead of always going side saddle.  A two legged mermaid is also not as unusual as you might think.  Now where have we seen one before....

  Only everywhere!  The Starbucks logo features a two legged mermaid.  You can see her green legs up on each side of her head.  Earlier versions of the logo even used to show her full body.  Melusine is one character from folklore who is half woman, half fish and who had her husband swear an oath that he would never watch her bathe.  This way he does not realize she is part fish.
  This sculpture is a very interesting piece of art that brings up a lot of questions both about its creation and what it is depicting.  Yes, there is a Starbucks at Bloor & Islington so grab a coffee and then spend some time trying to figure it all out.

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This location is near Islington subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World:
Merhorse VS Giant Clam

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Post # 218

Sam The Record Man

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  347 Yonge Street
Date:  Oct 2008

  The Yonge Street Sam the Record Man store opened in Toronto in 1959.  It was always a great place to go to sift through a huge selection of records.  Through the years Sam Sniderman had seen technology change as he sold 8-tracks, audio cassettes, videos and eventually CDs and DVDs.  Sadly, the rise of downloadable music from the internet ended the reign of the record store.  It also didn't help that customers grew up and had real bills to pay so they could no longer afford to spend every weekend hunting for music to add to their collection.
  One of the highlights of shopping at Sam's was their Boxing Day sales.   We would line up on the street waiting for our chance to save 25% or more on our purchases.  This meant walking away with more albums.  Sometimes the album was from a favourite artist.  Sometimes it just contained a song we had heard on the radio and we hoped that the rest of the tracks would be as good.  Sam competed for our dollar along with other rivals near the corner of Yonge and Dundas.  There was A&A Records, Sunrise Records and later HMV.  It was always Sam's that had that personal touch with home made signs and records spread across multiple floors and levels.  You would find things tucked into nooks and crannies as you explored the store.

  When Sam's finally closed in 2007 Ryerson University took over the site and eventually built their Student Learning Centre at the corner of Yonge and Gould streets.  This changed the look of the corner forever.

  Before the building came down, the Sam's sign took one last spin.  It was lit up during the all night art festival of Nuit Blanche 2008.  The Sam the Record Man sign featured two large records that would appear to rotate as the neon lights flashed in the night.  After its appearance at Nuit Blanche the sign disappeared into storage.

  Years later the sign was resurrected in Dundas Square.  It is now just a block south of where it used to shine from the storefront.  It has moved several stories up from street level and for some reason the words "Yes this is Sam The Record Man" are no longer flush and centered under each record (see photo at top of this post).  The best time to stop and view the sign in all its spinning neon glory is after sunset.   Sam The Record Man's son Jason played keyboards on local artist Blue Peter's song "Don't Walk Past".  So don't walk past without taking a moment to reflect on Sam's place in Toronto music history.

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This location is near Dundas subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World:
Sam The Record Man Sign
Sam The Record Man

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Post # 215

Newfoundland Dog Statues

Location: St. John's, Newfoudland, Canada
Address:  Harbourside Park, Water Street
Date: June 2017
Website: www.stjohns.ca

  In the lower section of St. John's Harbourside Park stand two dog statues.  These are the Newfoundland and the Labrador dogs.  Labrador is the portion of the province Newfoundland & Labrador that is attached to mainland Canada.  Newfoundland is an island and is the eastern most point of Canada.  The statues are 1.5 times larger than the dogs are in real life. The statues were sculpted by Luben Boykov who was born in Bulgaria but now lives in Newfoundland.

  The dogs look out across St. John's harbour towards Signal Hill.  The Newfoundland dog is the larger and shaggier of the two.  Newfoundland dogs love to swim.  They are adapted for swimming because they have a thick waterproof coat and even have webbed toes.  They also have a large tail which acts as a rudder while they swim.  These strong dogs are perfectly suited for the wet, cold environment found in Newfoundland.

  Up over the hill and past the colourful houses stand two more dogs.  It is another pair of Newfoundland and Labrador dogs. They are located near the GEO Centre as you head up Signal Hill.

    The Labrador is better known as the Labrador retriever.  It is descended from the Newfoundland dog but weighs about half as much.  It is better suited as a household pet since the Newfoundland is too big and from what we read, constantly salivating.  The Labrador also has webbed toes and loves water too.  Labradors come in chocolate, black and yellow colours.

  This pair of dogs at the top of the hill look back towards the St. John's harbour where the other pair of dogs stand.

  From the top of the hill we couldn't see the Harbourside dogs since the Atlantic Griffon  (last orange boat on the left) was parked in front.  The Atlantic Griffon is part of a fleet of offshore support vessels which also include other bird named boats such as the Atlantic Shrike, Atlantic Kestrel, Atlantic Merlin and more.

  While we didn't get a chance to see a real Newfoundland dog during our visit, the closest we came was seeing Sable Chief at The Rooms museum.  Sable Chief was a popular mascot for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during World War I  and is preserved for all to see.

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Map of Our World:
Newfoundland Dog Statues (Harbourside Park) , Newfoundland Dog Statues (GEO Centre)
The Rooms

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Post # 210