The Canadian Explorer

We’re 143 today!

And of course I have one of these:

Circa late 2008.

I’d sent this as a Twitpic, and Sean Ward liked it so much he turned it into a fake album cover, niiiiice.

During Doors Open this year I first visited the original Toronto Stock Exchange.

Built in 1912 at 234 Bay Street it’s a total Art Deco building, beautiful eh.  Art Deco was huge here in Toronto, a fact I find curious.  

Also interesting:

– it’s the only stock exchange in Canada, 3rd largest in North America and 8th worldwide
– we have more mining and oil & gas companies listed than any other exchange in the world
– it was originally founded around 1850 by 24 men at… a Masonic Hall
– it was the first ever air-conditioned building in Canada
– that light below on the left, that’s the first ever fluorescent light in Canada

Then I went over to the Canada Life Building at 330 University Avenue, once the tallest structure in town, 17 stories, and housing our nation’s oldest insurance company.

It is one of the largest office buildings in the city that has windows that open.

I just don’t think you can build such beautiful things anymore, it’s too expensive.  The architecture of the building, top left, was meant to symbolize the company’s stability.  

The coolest part of the building is the weather beacon on the very top; you can know the weather by looking at it and knowing the codes in the above photo.

The bottom photo is the ceiling of the 17th floor observation deck, open to the public today but never open to staff or anyone else ever.

Here’s the view:

Last year I went to the HMCS York Naval Reserve:

Click here to watch Ryan’s video version of the day’s events.

Remember last summer when I went looking for that bird that was more popular on YouTube than me?  That’s how I met Tom, he and Charlie (the bird) were BFFs.  

We’d hang out when I rode my bike through Harbourfront and we stayed email friends until I got one last week saying he’d passed away, one of those awful stories about just finding him and all that.

Please can you do something for me: think of Tom simultaneously with a very bright white light for as long as you can right now go….. kay thanks, he was a solid human with good jokes.  

I should go tell Charlie what happened.