CONFABS - Conversations with Strangers

Aleya Shiraz - "You gotta write your opinions."

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:51:00 -0400

Wednesday March 30 2011 - Aleya Shiraz in midtown Toronto.

“I’m a storyteller,” says Aleya Shiraz, a film production student at Centennial College in Toronto. He goes by his family’s name Shiraz. Everyone calls him that. Shiraz says he loves writing scripts, but from our conversation it’s easy to see he cares about much more. He is a young man with a lot of passion.

Shiraz says he made a documentary about gangs in Toronto neighbourhoods. He says he’s really frustrated the Jordan Manners trial was forced to a retrial. Shiraz says no one knew, but one of the jury members was actually actually linked to a gang. He says despite having police surround the courthouse everyday, gang members were able to sit in the courtroom and intimate the jury member and witnesses. Shiraz’s has a theory about Jordan’s killer. He says he thinks it may have been someone connected to one of his family members. He’s not positive about his theory, but says there something not right about the situation. Shiraz’s says he was really hoping to get an interview with Jordan’s mother for his documentary, but wasn’t able to. He says he was hoping it would shed light on the murder.

Now that the federal election is underway, Shiraz says he would like to volunteer with the Liberal Party to stop the Conservatives from winning a majority government. He says he’s mad about the direction Stephen Harper is taking the country. Problem is, Shiraz says he doesn’t know if he can make the time to help the Liberals. He works, is a student, has a girlfriend and volunteers with an non-profit group working to fight elder abuse. He says he’s so mad the City of Toronto pulled their funding from this organization. “What is going to happen to them!?” Shiraz says he’s concerned how the lack of funding will affect seniors needing support.

Shiraz says if you are a writer, you need to include your opinions in your writing. “You gotta write your opinions,” he says. As a journalist, I tell him I think it’s not always necessary. I tell him I believe in telling the story to the best of my ability and letting the reader decide what they think about the issue. I tell him I believe readers are intelligent. Shiraz still says opinion writing is very important, that if you have opinion, you must inject your opinions into your writing.

Jason Buttigieg - Salsa lover, believer in turning the cell phone off.

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:15:46 -0400

Friday March 25 2011 - Beth and Jason pose for El Rancho’s photographer at a birthday party for George Torres.

Sometimes you sit down beside a stranger and talk to that person for an entire evening. My conversation with Jason spanned over 3 hours, but enough wine and tequila was served throughout the evening that it’s hard for me remember some of the topics covered and discussions we had.

This much, I know:

Jason says he came to George Torres’s birthday party because he’s worked with him in the past. Jason does design work. He’s says he designs everything from chairs, to kitchen utensils to rooms, but not whole houses. He says he appreciates his time off and he showed me a message he was texting to someone letting them know he was ‘signing off’ for the evening.

Jason says he loves salsa music and dancing. He says he remembers walking on the street in Toronto many years ago and hearing the music outside a club. He says the music really spoke to him and it just felt like him.

Jason says his background is half French-Canadian and half Maltese, but doesn’t know that much about his Maltese heritage. He says he’s the eldest of three sons in his family and today has a son of his own who’s 24 years-old. He takes his son and his girlfriend out sometimes to hang out and visit with each other. He doesn’t really buy him birthday or Christmas gifts, but helps him out when he needs something, like a laptop he needed this month. “So there, now you can have this as your Christmas present.”

The hardest Jason ever fell in love was one day working on a job in Thornhill. He says he rang the doorbell of a house and a woman came down with her hair in a towel, not dressed to go out. He says the woman was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and fell in love with her instantly. He says they were together for a while, but it didn’t work out. He says not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about her. He misses her a lot. He says men will often compliment a woman in her house clothes because that’s when she is being genuine.

Jason says he likes animation films and we talked about that for a while, but I wasn’t familiar with the ones he mentioned and can’t remember their titles.

Trisha Ramdass - What will become of us?

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:34:10 -0400

Tuesday March 22 2011 - Cashier Trisha Ramdass at Peter’s No Frills (222 Lansdowne Avenue, Toronto, ON).

“Oh my, what will become of us,” says cashier Trisha Ramdass as she punches in my fifty-cent coupon for a tube of toothpaste into the register. She’s noticed the coupon won’t expire until 2014. “Who knows what will become of us by then,” she adds.

Trisha’s worried about the future state of the world. “There’s so much happening right now in the Middle East, Japan…,” she says trailing off as she continues to ring up my items.

Trisha says she feels safe and enjoys living in Canada minus the backdrop of the cold winter weather. I tell her Canada is a safe geographical location when it comes to natural disasters. We don’t have to worry about Tsunamis or the next “big one,” I say.

Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Trisha says her home country also misses the worst of the deadly storms. She says the country’s mountains help push away the hurricanes that wreak havoc on some of other Caribbean islands. She says it is very beautiful there.

A mother of a 3 and a half-year-old son born in Canada, Trisha says being in Canada is good for now. She says she’s unlikely to go back to her former island home anytime soon. Trisha says she recently received news her family house there was destroyed by a fire. She says her husband will go back before the end of April to investigate what happened. She says they’ll have to rebuild before they go back for a visit.

I tell her I would also like to visit the island one day. As she walks off leaving for her break she tells me she hopes I can go for a visit too.

Father with two kids - Possibilities gone awry!

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:24:00 -0400

Sunday March 20 2011 - Empty seats beside me at the HSBC Arena during the second period of the Buffalo Sabres game against the Nashville Predators in Buffalo, New York.

I was sure sitting beside strangers through an entire NHL hockey game was bound to produce an interesting conversation with a stranger or two, but this past Sunday it was not meant to be.

Fate put me beside a father and his two little tots. Directly to my right, on this father’s shoulder, was a little sleeping Baby Boy. Very cute, but very unconscious. I could see a pool of drool gathering on Father’s shoulder. Father says Baby Boy went to sleep as soon as the game started. Good thing kids under 3 years-of-age can attend hockey games for free.

To Father’s right was Daughter. She had reddish ginger hair and stayed quiet munching on a big bag of popcorn. I asked her if she had tried skating yet like the hockey players. Father told me she hadn’t been out on the ice yet, but would be for sure next season.

That’s about as far as a got with this family. At the beginning of the first intermission they left for what I thought was a bathroom break, but then ran into them in the stairwell a few minutes later.

“She said she’s soooo bored,” says Father giggling as he put his daughter’s arm through her pink coat. I tell them to give the game another chance. “Come on, we can talk about girl stuff,” I say to Daughter. “It will be fun.”

After that Father, Daughter and Baby Boy did not return. The seats stayed empty for the rest of the game and my conversation aspirations were dashed.

Mike, Tasha, Paul and Tim = Lesson Learned: Always Carry a Deck of Cards!

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:31:00 -0500

Saturday March 5th 2011 - From Left, Mike, Tasha, Paul and Tim pose for a group photo moments before Quebec’s Karkwa take the stage at Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor Street West. Toronto, ON).

The best thing about talking to strangers is that it creates an opportunity. Chances are you will never speak to the stranger again, but a conversation with a stranger could lead to making a new friend or even change your life. It could on the other hand, simply reinforce what essential items you should always carry in your pocket/bag as in the case of meeting Mike, Tasha, Paul and Tim.

In this instance, talking a stranger also led to a really fun game of cards. My date and I were in the beginnings of a game of Crazy Eights Countdown waiting for a concert to start at Lee’s Palace, when we caught the attention of Paul. He approached us and asked if we’d be up for a game of Euchre.

Paul says he was out the other night when a girl he was with brought a deck of cards to the bar. Paul says playing cards that night made for good times. He says after the night ended, he resolved to always carry a deck of cards, but for whatever reason hasn’t followed through yet. Thank you date for bringing a deck of cards!

So Mike, Paul, my date and I played a game of Euchre. I thought Mike was the best player in the game. Early on, he was able to ‘go alone,’ holding an incredible hand of diamonds and took all five hands that round. It earned Mike and my date’s team 4 points, shooting them far into the lead.

Paul and I were on the other team and lost the game, but it could have been a lot shorter game had Paul not demonstrated some key Euchre strategy. Paul says to hold on to your aces! He won a couple of surprise hands by doing this and I was very impressed.

After the game we got to taking a little more. Mike and Paul introduced us to Tasha and Tim. Paul and Tim say they’re fraternal twins. Paul says he’s older, but Tim says only by a few minutes. As you may have noticed from the above photo, Tim is quite a bit taller than Paul. Paul and Tim say it seems to be pretty common that one twin in a lot taller than the other twin.

The reason Mike, Tasha, Paul and Tim are at Lee’s Palace is to see the Montreal band, Plants and Animals. Mike says he likes their new album, La La Land better than then their older one, Parc Avenue. Paul says he likes both albums, but Parc Avenue is a notch above the new one.

The foursome are drinking beer tonight. Tim (I think) says he tried to order a Caesar but the bar wouldn’t make him one. I told him about Blog TO’s recently completed Caesar challenge that I quite enjoyed and can be viewed here:

Mike, Tash, Paul and Tim say it’s okay for their pictures to be on the Internet.

Paul says he’s going to check the blog and post a comment. I hope he does! :)

Captain Errol Boyd - A man of the sea searching for your next treasure!

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:59:00 -0500

February 3, 2011 - Errol Boyd stands up to help a customer at his store, Captains Treasures (1185 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ontario).

“Oh, you want that one,” says Errol Boyd having a look at the beaten up wooden desk chair in his store basement I am inquiring about.
“That’ll be 15 dollars, but you can give me 25 if you want. That way I’ll be able to have baloney for dinner.”
Yes, Errol is a jokester. He loves cajoling with his customers.

Errol says he’s been collecting antiques since he was in his twenties. It’s a hobby he was able to develop due to the schedule he was afforded as a Captain with the Canadian Merchant Navy, also known as the “Merchant Marines.” Errol says he would work on the ship up North for six weeks. Then, he’d get 25 days off, followed by another six weeks of work. After that, he says he’d be off the rest of the year so naturally he got lots of time to work on other projects. Nowadays, Errol is retired. He’s been off the government payroll now for 10 years. He says he collects a pension and sells antiques on the side because he likes it so much.

As a marine for 32 years, Errol says he was responsible for guiding icebreakers in the waters off the Yukon. He says there were about 20 rigs up there of various sizes that needed protection from drifting icebergs. So, marines were there to steer, divert and push icebergs that may have rammed into or harmed the rigs.

Errol says his time up North was very interesting. One time, he says, he stood on the world’s most expensive piece of real estate in 1981 - a man made island used to ease oil exploration. Errol says massive heavy machinery was used to build islands on top of locations in the ocean where oil was believed to be. He says diverting sediment to these locations helped drillers drill into the sea bed. He says it was quite something.

Errol says his daughter, Lisa Boyd, is also involved in the shop. He says she helps him out by filling in while Errol travels around North America looking for his furniture finds. Lisa is a real estate agent. He says his daughter just sold a house for $640,000.

With two floors of space jammed with tables, chairs, bed frames, mirrors, paintings, pictures, record players, records, typewriters, military clothing and more, I ask Errol where he gets it all. “The States.” Errol says everything from Canada is too plain. He says he goes all over the U.S. to different auctions. He says there will be a thousand dealers just at one auction alone and 10 or 12 sellers will all be be auctioning their things at the same time. He says he’s been enough times now to know fair prices and how it all works. Errol says he brings all is purchases back to Canada with an import license.

Kenneth Laing Herdy

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:41:32 -0500

Thursday December 16, 2010 - Ken outside Al Runt’s comic art exhibit at Jet Fuel Coffee Shop (519 Parliament Street, Toronto, Ontario).

At 46 years of age, Ken says he’s been through it all. A professional Visual Artist, Ken says he’s actually achieved quite a bit of success in his career. He says his work has been displayed in lots of museums, including the Louvre in Paris. He also says he’s been married twice, this being a big reason he says, he’s been through it all.

At 37 years of age, Ken says he was hit by a car and went into a coma for six months. He says this event changed him and made him want to live life to the fullest. He says making art, while still very important to him, hasn’t been as big a focus as it was before the accident.

Ken says his new grip on life led him to take up ice climbing. He says it’s not a hobby, it’s more of a lifestyle thing. He says it’s the most extreme sport he can think of and loves climbing ice because you’re never repeating the same wall twice.

The scariest climb Ken ever made, he says, was Ben Nevis in Scotland. It is the highest mountain in the UK. Originally, Ken was supposed to make the climb with a local climber, but when he arrived, he says the Scot was too drunk to go with him so he decided to go it alone. The decision turned out to be a frightful one. Ken says he got caught in a snow storm and was on the mountain for seven terrifying hours, sometimes unable to move in any direction. Incidentally, Ken also says making it through the storm and to the top of Ben Nevis was the best climb he’s ever made.

Ken says he’s also very involved in animal rescues. I found him quoted in this National Post article about his work with urban birds who fly into skyscrapers. Ken is also looking into getting involved in a hobby/sport where people jump off building and interact with modern structures.

Tonight, Ken says he’s here on Parliament Street to see new paintings by his friend, Artist Al Runt. He’s responsible for the mural on the facade of the Toronto music venue, Lee’s Palace. Ken says he enjoys Runt’s work, but didn’t buy anything tonight. Ken and I took photos of each other. Ken commented on the fact that my camera was a Canon G7. He showed me his, a Canon G9. He says he recently took it back from his mom after giving it to her as a gift that she never really used.

Irene Stickney

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:10:00 -0500

Thursday December 9, 2010 - Irene Stickney sowing in her studio, The Make Den (1207 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ontario).

Irene says it’s the one-year anniversary of The Make Den, her own vintage inspired sewing school and studio. It all started after Irene was a fashion student at Ryerson University. She got a job at 69 Vintage Buy The Pound and helped fashion finders alter their ill-formed dresses, long skirts and pants with her on-site sewing machine. Irene says she started teaching a couple people how to sew here and there, but it wasn’t serious and didn’t imagine having her own sewing studio at the time. Then, when the store said they were moving across the street to start the “69 Collective”, Irene got to thinking…

Irene now teaches sewing classes to whoever wants to learn this homemade trade. She has a a whole bunch of machines with a big work bench and lots of sewing and fashion-making tools. The Make Den is one of seven independent vintage, clothing and fashion stores all under the same roof. Irene is located on the second floor at the back through the kitchen. The studio has a big window with a balcony and lots of natural light. Irene says she decided on the bright blue colour painted on the studio walls.

It wasn’t until this point in the conversation that Irene and I realized we had actually met before at the old 69 Vintage Buy The Pound about 2 years ago. The first time we met, Irene asked me if I would like to split a large order of homemade wine with her. She told me she was going to pick some up and knew a dealer who could give us many bottles for about 2 or 3 dollars each. We exchanged numbers, but I never heard from her again.

Seeing Irene again, I had to ask her what happened to the wine we were going to share and she gave me the back story. Irene says she discovered the wonderful deal when she was working up in Vaughan at Jones New York. She says the area around her work was all industrial and on her lunch breaks she would wander around. She discovered a place selling cheap and nice tasting homemade wine. Later, the seller moved closer to downtown and Irene bought wine from him a couple more times. Irene says the time we were going to share the box, the wine was really terrible and she says she’s never gone back for another another box again.

Irene says she takes orders for clothing alterations, but she primarily uses the studio for sewing classes. It’s a unique concept that got her profiled in Toronto Life and The National Post when she opened. Irene says she caters to a diverse crowd with different sewing needs and desires. At her classes you can learn how to make hems or basic alterations, or if you are more ambitious learn how to make your very own clothes and signature pieces such as a “Lady Gaga” poufy shoulder blazer.

Irene says some of her customers are teenagers with money who want to make fashionable clothes. Others come from all different backgrounds. She says some of her most meaningful work is sewing with youth enrolled in the PACT program, a privately funded program that offers first time offenders an alternative to the criminal justice system. In the program, youth are required to give back to their local communities under the premise that being accountable to the community and victims for their actions will help keep them out of the court system down the road. Irene works with these youth, helping them fill the community hours they are required to complete.

I also asked Irene if she had ever made her own wine. She says she never has and we’ve decided to hang out and make wine together sometime. Irene says she kept my number in her phone for long time back from the first time we met, but when she got a new phone decided not to add it back in. This time we exchanged numbers.

David Hedge

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 18:00:43 -0500

November 28th 2010 - David Hedge at the Queenston/Lewiston Bridge of the Canada-U.S. Border.

David Hedge says he’s a truck driver mostly commuting between Miami and Mississauga. He says he drives back and forth constantly leaving Miami and arriving in Mississauga, immediately driving back to Miami and then doing it all over again. He says he doesn’t really take holidays because he just keeps working.

David says the line to cross the border today is so bad there’s no point trying now (8pm approx). David says he’ll wait till about one in the morning to try and cross then.

Transporting goods back and forth between Canada and the U.S. isn’t simple, especially in our heightened security world says David. It’s even more time consuming when you are transporting animals back and forth over the border. David works for a company that specializes in transporting horses. Most of the horses travelling between Miami and Mississauga are race horses, he says and are being sold and tried out at different race tracks. I told him I thought it would be a long journey for these horses to travel and then be asked to run a race.

David has to go through several extra steps at the border to make sure everything about his load is legitimate. All the horses have to be unloaded while the rest of the truck is checked. David says you also have a get a whole bunch of other paperwork signed too.

Transporting horses can be very lucrative says David, that is if you get the right customer. One of Saudi Arabia’s wealthy princes has three horse farms, two in the U.S. and one in Saudia Arabia. David says the Prince pays a lot of money to have his horses flown around on private planes to the different farms depending on where the Prince is and what horse he would like to race. David says he trying to get more work moving the Prince’s horses.

Bob Rudolph

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 15:22:00 -0500

New York November 26 2010 - Bob Rudolph at his home computer in Syracuse, New York.

Bob Rudolph says he has time now to pursue his interests and hobbies. He says he loves researching and learning and is amazed at the wealth of information available to him at his fingertips just by clicking around on the Internet.

He says the bottle of the wine on his desk (in this photo, to Bob’s left) is actually a Georgian wine. His son found it the house and asked him to figure out what it was and where it was from. Bob says he discovered the origin of the wine after using the Internet to translate the Russian print on the bottle into English.

Bob says he’s a retired systems engineer. He used to work at Lockheed Martin. Today he enjoys using his skills to give back to others. He works to help people read, write and speak English as literacy volunteer with the Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse. Based on his 2009 Extraordinary Service Award, it appears he’s doing a pretty
good job at it too. Bob says he’s also enjoying an African Studies class he’s taking at a local college and is impressed with his teacher’s experiences on the continent.

Bob and I had a great talk. He was very interested in the kinds of work and life experiences I’ve had. Our conversation initially took off after he told me he enjoys listening to Barbara Budd on the CBC Radio program, As It Happens. I was surprised he knew the program and the voice. I told him that she was no longer co-hosting the show and I missed her voice.

Spencer Linton

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:16:00 -0500

Saturday November 20th 2010 - Spencer Linton sits on a plaid and wooden couch at a birthday party (441 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario).

Spencer says he’s an asshole. I’m not sure why he’s an asshole because I was getting ready to leave when we had our conversation, but he’s very adamant about being an asshole.

Spencer says he’s into politics stuff. He says he went to Western University because he he didn’t want to be with all the math nerds at the University of Waterloo.

Now Spencer is studying Public Administration at Humber College Lakeshore Campus. He says the cottages now part of the college used to house mentally insane people. Spencer says one of the best parts about going to Humber is being close to Falafel Royale. He says he loves getting the $1.99 falafel sandwich special. He says they are really good, but a bit small so it’s best to get two instead of one.

Spencer also says he’s really into drinking good beers. On this evening he was drinking Labatt Blue because he doesn’t like drinking good beers when he’s at a party to get drunk. He says he really likes Rickard’s Red at the moment.

Inaas Kiryakos

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:55:00 -0500

November 16 2010 - Inaas Kiryakos poses with a cup of tea in her shop Milk (234 Dalhousie Street, Ottawa, Ontario).

Inaas Kiryakos says she drinks tea out of this pretty teacup because she hosted an art event that was Alice in Wonderland themed. The artist from the event left a bunch of cups and saucers behind. Inaas has four different kinds of tea to choose from when she’s working and keeps a box of shortbread cookies at the counter where she sits.

Inaas is a co-owner of Milk, a boutique on the edge of Ottawa’s ByWard Market. There are actually two stores called Milk now located beside one another. Inaas is in the what she calls the winter store. It has lots of soft plaid scarfs for sale. Milk used to be called Canteen. Inaas says Canteen was an event space to showcase art from outside Ottawa. It was open for two years.

Inaas says she is 33 years old. She says she loves food, but doesn’t like cheese. No Brie, no Gouda. She says she’ll eat melted cheese on pizza, but not on grilled cheese sandwiches. She says her mother is surprised that she likes the drippy orange cheese you get with chips at the movies, but won’t eat regular cheese. She says she won’t eat poutine with cheese curds either.

Inaas says she has never been backpacking before. She’s travelling to New Zealand in January for eight weeks. She says she’ll stop in Fiji on the way for two nights to acclimatize to the time change before meeting some of her family in New Zealand. She’s not sure if she’ll do the North or South side of the Island first. Inaas is looking for places she can couch surf. Couch surfing means finding people who’ve signed up to be a part of the couch surfing community through this website. People on this site will let travelers stay at their houses for free in exchange for other peoples “couches” when they go on holiday. Inaas says she thinks the best couch surfers will be families with young kids because they’ll be too busy to take and active interest showing her around town, but will still be open and relaxed enough to let her do what she pleases. Inaas says she is very excited about this trip.

Inaas says she has lot of ideas for events and projects. At the moment she’s working on a cake design contest to raise money for charity. She says she’s not looking to open more retail ventures at the moment, but if she did it would involve food, like a cafe or something (just not focused on cheese ;) ).

Marie Tremblay

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:02:00 -0500

Monday November 15 2010 - Marie Tremblay poses before her lane swim at the City of Ottawa’s Champagne Fitness Centre (321 King Edward Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario).

Marie Tremblay says swimming is good for your lymph nodes. She’s a two time breast cancer survivor and has a lot of happy energy. Marie says she wasn’t lucky the first time she had cancer because the year was 1996 and the medical technology wasn’t as developed as it is now. The second time she was diagnosed was in 2008. Now she says she feels strong and healthy.

Marie turned 50 years old in October. She says when she was in her twenties and a student at the University of Sherbrooke she became close friends with a woman from the Magdalen Islands. They both went on to become teachers in different parts of the country, but they made a promise to one another they would take a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon for their 50th birthdays. Marie’s friend now lives in Alberta and they don’t see each other very often, but they kept their promise to one another. Marie says the experience was really really wonderful and I should look at her photos.

Marie and I got talking under unusual circumstances. I had just finished swimming my laps and was naked in the communal shower when she walked in. Marie was rinsing off before heading the pool when I noticed she had a contraption around her waist that appeared to keep the iPod she was listening to dry. I told her I thought her contraption was very neat. She asked me if I spoke French and I said yes. Marie tells me “Micheal Phelps, Micheal Phelps”. He does the marketing. It’s called H20 audio. I tell her I’ll ask for one for Christmas, much better than listening to Enya over the loudspeaker at the pool.

After our exchange, I go to my locker and start to get dressed. Doo do do do… Marie leaves the shower and goes back to her locker. I was was wondering why. Then she pulls out another contraption exactly the same as hers. She tells me to go ahead and give it a try and if I like it I can pay her half price for it. She said it belonged to a friend but that friend didn’t want it and it was barely used. When I tell her I’m actually from Toronto, she was equally insistent I give it I try. “I trust you”, she says.

Marie gives me her phone number and email and info to find her on Facebook. She laughs and says she has a very French name. Marie says she comes to Toronto sometimes because her niece lives in Kitchener, so not to worry. She tells me to look how much it costs on the Internet and to send money for half of what it costs online.

I thank her for the H20 audio and nice conversation. Marie then tells me she lives out in the country and is very excited about a waterpark near her home called Calypso. She says they are building a new water slide that sits on a 90 degree angle so when you slide down it to have to stay very straight.

Shirley and George

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:48:00 -0500

Friday November 12 2010 - Shirley and George serve drinks at The Canadian Corps Hall (201 Niagara Street, Toronto, Ontario).

“What can I get for ya hon”?, says Shirley to her drinking patrons. Shirley has been serving behind this bar for 13 years, but now she says she’s retiring. George has been working here for 27 years, but says he’s not retiring. He says he’ll just be out of work.

The Canadian Corps Hall is closing its doors December 15th. Shirley and George aren’t happy about it. They say they don’t want to stop working. They say they’re losing their jobs because the hall has been sold. They says the hall will be converted into an art gallery.

Shirley says the corps hall is closing because young people need to come and drink here more often. On this evening, 200 people are dancing and drinking at the hall but, Shirley says the young people need to be here seven days a week.

Shirley and George are both in their 60’s. They aren’t married, but they’ve been working together for a long time. Shirley’s husband already passed away. She says after the corps hall closes she’ll spend a lot more time with her gran kids. George isn’t sure where he will work.

Shirley and George say from now until December 15th they’re booked every night with different events, so if you’re thinking about trying to come for a retro night of wood paneling and $3.50 beers, you’re time is already up.

Leo Sabrocchi

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 16:21:00 -0500

Friday November 12 2010 - Leo Sabrocchi stands in front of the Nathan Phillips Square Christmas tree (100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario).

Leo Sabrocchi says this is the only Christmas tree on display at Nathan Phillips Square this festive season. He says the tree will remain located in this exact spot. The reason there will only be one tree this year is because the pavilion is undergoing a makeover.

Leo is a facilitator with the City of Toronto who’s overseeing the holiday decorations at the square. Leo says the renovations are forcing some of the decorations to be scaled down this year, but that it will still look pretty nice. There will be lots of lights he says. He says the annual Winter City festival will still go ahead, but the says the popular skating rink may not be open until January.

2011 New Year’s Eve festivities were almost canceled and moved to Dundas Square says Leo, but it in fact they will still go on.

Leo says the new Nathan Phillips Square will have a built in stage, and The Peace Garden (formerly located behind the north east corner of the skating rink) will stay a part of the landscape. He says the garden is getting moved to the north west corner of the square because Pope John Paul II blessed it when he was in Toronto.

Yoni Newman

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:03:00 -0500

Thursday November 11 2010 - Yoni Newman serves a customer at The Communal Mule (984 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario).

Yoni Newman has been working at The Communal Mule espresso bar for about 2 weeks, but says he’s known the owner, Peter Primiani for about 2 years. He says he used to walk by when the owner was fixing up the place. Yoni says he did a lot of the design and construction work himself. Yoni says the owner used to be one of Toronto’s premier House DJ’s back in the 1980’s and opened the coffee shop with his savings. He says the business is still trying to make it and can’t afford a full time staff. Yoni says the owner is very careful about who he trusts. Yoni says he was asked by the owner if he would help out at the store because he knew him already.

Yoni is a musician. He says working at The Communal Mule helps him get going during working hours. Yoni doesn’t understand why he gets weed hangovers. He only had three puffs last night. He says he planned to make a big delicious breakfast but then slept later he planned and didn’t have time to make it.

Yoni has been working with coffee a lot longer than he’s been working at The Communal Mule. Yoni says figuring out the balance between the grinder and espresso machine is very precise. He says you have to adjust the coarseness or fineness of the beans sometimes to the weather, if it’s very humid for example, or depending on the pressurization of the machine.