Auld Lang Syne: Forgetting Past Acquaintances

"What does this song mean? My whole life, I don't know what this song means. I mean, should old acquaintance be forgot? Does that mean we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible, because we already forgot?" ~ Harry Burns, When Harry Met Sally

I thought I would mark the passing of the year with two of the first shots I took in 2014. These were taken in Mississauga on New Year's Day. The Credit River passes through the Streetsville area on its way to Lake Ontario. The footbridge below passes over it. This parkland is very close to my aunt and uncle's home.

This being an Ottawa photo blog, though, I must also close out with a shot from Ottawa. I decided a shot of my occasional series subject, the Bank Street Bridge, would do. This shot is from early January. The pond is near the bridge, and linked to the Rideau Canal. When water levels in the Canal drop, it does the same here in the pond. About a year ago, a resident in the area erected an inukshuk on this mound facing the bridge there in the background. The inukshuk has stayed in place since, and when the water levels came back up in the spring, the head and shoulders remained above the waterline. I don't think the ice on the pond is quite set for walking yet, so I haven't been up this close in awhile.

Happy New Year! Don't have so much to drink that you end up kissing someone you actually dislike at midnight!

Views Of The Rideau Canal In Winter Glory

Two other views of the Rideau Canal from within the Convention Centre, taken in March. The National Arts Centre on the other side will be getting a major expansion, announced a few days ago by the Dark Lord's Cabal (otherwise known as two members of the Prime Minister's Cabinet, one of them being the Walking Temper Tantrum currently serving as our foreign minister. John Baird, if you ever happen to see these words, holding your breath or screaming bloody murder when you don't get your own way are not the ideal techniques of diplomacy, you bloody prat!). 

It'll be designed to offset the Sixties era architecture (the 60s were not a good era for architecture). The NAC is a major setting for music and theatre here, with the NAC Orchestra in the midst of a final season under its current primary conductor, the renowned Pinchas Zuckerman, who has spent fifteen years here leading the orchestra and will be moving on to new things after this year's programming concludes. He will be missed.

I love getting into this building and taking advantage of the glass wall to frame shots. Here we look just a little further up the Canal and spot Parliament Hill.

Winter Would Be Welcome Anytime Now

"But how can we appease the mighty Snow Demons if we don't sacrifice any leaves? We'll have a warm winter." ~ Calvin

"I don't know whether your grasp of theology or meteorology is the more appalling." ~ Calvin's Dad

Some much missed banter from Calvin & Hobbes that fits nicely, I think. I took a series of shots inside the Ottawa Convention Centre back in early March at a time when I had a glut of Winterlude photographs, so they went unpublished. This one looks out through the glass wall at Confederation Park and City Hall, while the Rideau Canal passes beneath the Mackenzie King Bridge. The ice is not at present in such good shape!

Over at my writer's blog, my review for The Hobbit is set to post at the same time as this post, so have a look by clicking there to the right.

The Mother Dinosaur Is Always Watchful

Since I showed again the mammoths on the property at the Museum of Nature yesterday, I thought an encore for the other sculptural installation was in order. This is on the east lawn at the museum, a mother and baby pair of dinosaurs by the scientific name chasmosaurus irvinensis. 

We Have Mammoths In Strange Places

My brain is in a med-infused fog, and I didn't prep blogs in advance. So I'll just show a pic from last winter. This family of mammoths are on the grounds of the Museum of Nature. When I first showed this pic, I got a comment from a sister of the woman who put these sculptures together.

No, we don't have that much snow on the ground here. Not yet!

By the way, for City Daily Photo bloggers, the theme for January 1st is Photo Of The Year.

Sunflower Art In The Depths Of Winter

I had the distinct displeasure of spending my Christmas Eve at the hospital after taking a misstep on a staircase while heading for home, ramming my leg into the edge of a step, and uttering a few choice bad words. Sufficed to say, there'll be some bruises, the leg's stiff and sore, and I'm really not a fan of painkillers. 

Something more cheerful: this mural of a sunflower is painted on a house up the street from my home. I have shown different angles of the art from before, but it's welcome to revisit it again.

Sanctuary Ready For Christmas Day

Joyeux Noel, Fijne Kerstdagen, Nollaig Shana, Buon Natale, Hyvaa Joulua, Frohe Weihnachten, God Jul, Nadolig Llawen, Feliz Navidad, and Merry Christmas!

Church Of Our Lady Immaculate, Guelph, December 2013 

Red, Green, And A Dash Of White

"Santa Claus has the right idea: visit people only once a year." ~ Victor Borge

"The two most joyous times of the year are Christmas morning and the end of school." ~ Alice Cooper

"The main reason Santa is so jolly is he knows where all the bad girls live." ~ George Carlin

"The ideal Christmas wish would be for Justin Bieber to develop a crippling and permanent case of laryngitis. If we can't get that, I'll settle for reading the obituary of my idiot former brother-in-law." ~ William Kendall

I shall be cornering the world market on coal in my stocking as usual, but this Christmas Eve I've gone with two shots from Parliament Hill. I have not had the chance to photograph the lights up there this year, but they are beautiful.

I have my annual Christmas Eve post scheduled to publish at the same time as this one over at my writer's blog, a blend of twisted mayhem and nonsense that will pretty much cement that fate of coal in my stocking (as if writing Santa's eulogy a few days ago didn't already guarantee it). If you're not around through the holidays, Merry Christmas!

Does He Still Make A Racket?

My post from yesterday about Toronto sent me through photos from my trip down there last year, and this caught my eye. I posted about Linus the Harrier Hawk, who was appearing with his handler at the Royal Ontario Museum before a crowd. He was making a lot of noise that day, reveling in being the center of attention.

My other shots were taken from the above angle. I found an unpublished shot from the other side of the fine fellow. I like the facial expressions of the kids.

And speaking of making a loud racket (in the best of ways), last night while reading a blog I learned of the passing of Joe Cocker. His biggest years as a musician were well before my time, but I got to know his music through soundtracks like Blown Away and The Cutting Edge, and got to enjoy his unique voice. Here is one of my favourites. Rest in peace, Joe.

Regarding my blog from a couple of days ago, I will be writing a review for The Hobbit in my writer's blog, probably a couple of days before the end of the year. I'll post a notice here when it's good to go live.

Lighting Up That Reindeer

Perhaps one of my Toronto area readers can say if the giant Christmas reindeer in the Eaton Centre are back again? This was taken last December.