Canal skating -finally!

 

Protest placards

 

Angry Grannies

 

Yes, that guy is wearing shorts. I salute him.

 

Pro-rogue protest

 

God fearin' humour

 

View from my office

 

'Syndicate murals'

 

Indoor skating at McNabb arena

 

They really like stapling things to lamp posts here

 

 

Canadian politics

 

The story behind the lampost:
http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2009/12/30/parliament-prorogation-harper.html

The key thing seems to be that Harper suspended parliament last year too, that time because there was about to be a vote of no-confidence by the other 3 parties, who had joined together in a coalition. When Harper suspended parliament the coalition collapsed, for reasons I don't quite understand.

Painting in shop window

 

b&w

 

Saturated

 

I like the way this one foregrounds the canadian flag on the barn.

Monster and Talisman

 

Which version of this photo do you like best?

 

Yes, those are dogs wearing wellies.

Mental images

I forgot to take my camera with me today so I'll describe two images of the day that stuck with me most.
I was walking back from going food shopping with my housemate. We were walking along a street with lots of Victorian snow edged balconies and porches, and squeaking along the snowy pavement. It was a very bright day with the snow intensifying the brightness. Out of the white light ahead of us a bulky silhouette appeared, and gradually came into focus: two boys of about 12 and 13 dressed up in their hockey gear, carrying hockey sticks bigger than them and clutching their skates. Later I found out there had been an Ottawa 67s game earlier that day. I am not sure if that's where they had been or if they were on the way to try their luck on the canal.

The second mental image is related to my new found fascination with icicles. I noticed the icicles outside our kitchen window were dripping around lunch time, I guess because the sun is on that window all morning long. But later in the day I noticed that the icicles had not diminished, instead they had grown so much longer, and nobblier too! So, what doesn't kill the icicles only makes them longer.

Canal

 

Believe it or not its still not thick enough ice to skate on. I bought my skates today so it better not be the first winter ever that the canal wasn't turned into a skateway.

Super icicle 2

 

Surely a metre or more?

Castle

 

I think this is the closest thing to a 'city scape' that I have taken so far. I like it.

Black squirrel red ladder

 

The racoons in our attic turned out to be squirrels and they have fallen silent. This silence is 'under guarantee'.
This squirrel was sitting nonchalantly on a red fire escape and has no bounty on his head as far as I know.

Super icicle

 

Today I learnt that icicles are sharp and salty. Hopefully tomorrow I will learn that they are not poisonous.

6th January 2009 photo of the day

 

Incidentally, this is the restaurant I went to on my birthday, Feleena's. mmmm...

6th January 2009: Let them eat cake

 

A bakery that specializes in food for specialist diets! I was overwhelmed and bought a scone -scones are triangular here - and a loaf of bread made of oats.

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