A) stay in
2) stay in
D) stay in
No, not really, because I bloody love the cold me - despite vague recollections of mild hypothermia having once severely underperformed in a childhood snowball fight - and, whatever the thermometer says, the sun is shining brightly in the blue Ontario sky. I'll be out an about before I know it: buying a bottle of whiskey here, a bottle of vodka there, heading over to the relatively cheap ($8 admission) cinema to see Arthur Christmas, Tin Tin or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (festive, arresting and hyper-violent respectively).
Besides, indoor pursuits remain my most pressing concerns; primarily firing off applications to a rapidly diminishing number of appropriate job listings, but also working my way through Christmas gifts with the discerning diligence of a Cash4Gold Employee of the Month. As of today it's The Walking Dead in its original graphic novel form (I won't spoil it for you, but young Carl deliberately shoots and kills Shane near the beginning), and after that I'm spoiled for choice on the booze, book and knitted ganzie fronts.
Speaking of which, I wore a smashing ganzie to ring in the New Year at our friends' place. Other highlights of that night included being whacked in the face, though I'm not sure I entirely deserved it. You see, another guest was drunkenly gushing over our host's good grace, to which I hilariously and unenthusiastically deadpanned, "Yeah, I suppose she's okay". Cue a lightning-quick slap to the chops. In retrospect, the slapper's grasp of sarcasm wasn't exactly comprehensive, so going on to slate Canada's "President Harper" (an unintentional cock-up on my part, actually) probably wasn't the wisest choice of the night. Apple Sourz, on the other hand, was an inspired choice: many thanks to my old muckers (they know who they are) who can't handle anything stronger!
Anywayz, I did manage to leave the house and take some snaps over the holidays, so here is the not-particularly-exciting-but-never-less-than-factually-accurate proof:
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| Museum subway station, appropriately themed |
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| Giant sloth (right) |
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| S.O.S. Fantomes! lolz @ the French |
Some context for the next pics: St James' Park may have recently undergone the indignity of corporate rebranding, but how would you feel if it became an actual Sports Direct? Say hello to Maple Leaf Gardens, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1931 to 1999. When the Leafs moved to the Air Canada Centre, the Gardens were left dormant for a decade because the Leafs' owners MLSE refused to sell it to other sporting tenants on the grounds of competition. Fast forward to late 2011 and the Gardens are in business again... as a Loblaws supermarket. But hey, it's not as bad as it sounds. The shop itself is on the ground floor, and what used to be the nosebleed seats now form a smaller arena around a new second floor rink to be used by Ryerson University - all of which means that Maple Leaf Gardens is the only remaining Original Six arena with ice still under its roof: four others were demolished, and the fabled Montreal Forum is now an "entertainment complex" sans rink. C'est la vie.
The upshot? We went down to the Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws store for a deeks (and not a deke, which is a dummy/fake shot in ice hockey... Hah!)
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| Underground parking = escalator for your trolley |
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| Much-publicised "wall of cheese" that fell short of expectations (i.e. we had anticipated a literal wall of cheese) |
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| Wor lass on centre ice. Now a red spot. |
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| One of Elvis's few non-US gigs, I'm told |
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| Our trolley (or "cart") descends |
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| Four trolley photos = quadruple posterity |
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| The Onion, now in print form in Toronto |
In the next thrilling installment, some top class sports analysis (including but not limited to an explanation as to why it's Maple Leafs and not Maple Leaves), a gander at 2012's best prospects in music and yet another FREE DESKTOP WALLPAPER!
