In the event that you ever find yourself road tripping in Northern Ontario, the more eagle-eyed among you might start noticing a sign posted in the windows of diners and Chinese restaurants in cities, towns, and hamlets from Sudbury to … Continue reading When Coffee Does Not Hit The Ol’ Spot: A Day Thread (Jan. 7/25)

Animals disguised as other animals are fun, eh? Here’s an especially neato one… Q: Are we not hummingbird? A: We are moth! Multiple species of hummingbird moths occupy a large portion of the world. Depending on which species you may … Continue reading The Day Thread of Animal Disguises

Today is my birthday. This wasn’t exactly the post I’d intended to write up, but sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you just have to roll with it. As many of you know by now, I bake myself … Continue reading The Day Thread of Birthday Cake: When Good Cakes Break Bad

Today we behold the mighty willow ptarmigan, state bird of Alaska. It is native to the subarctic tundra, where it lives year-round rather than migrating to friendlier climes in the winter. Someone local to me spotted some about 150km outside … Continue reading The Day Thread of Willow Ptarmigans

Acton, Ontario is a small town of 9,377 people, west of Toronto. I’ve never been there. Or maybe I have, who knows? All the towns in that area look the same. Its claim to fame was having Canada’s largest leather … Continue reading The Day Thread Is Worth the Drive to Acton (Apr. 3)

Eau de Nil is a shade of green that, depending on who you talk to, is either a soothing greyish green, a soothing bluish green, a soothing yellowish green, or some combination of the above. The name was inspired by … Continue reading The Eau de Nil Day Thread (Dec. 6/22)

There are many light up commercial signs and landmarks that are famous, sometimes just locally, sometimes around the world. Notable examples include Moulin Rouge’s windmill in Paris, Seattle’s “Public Market Center” sign at Pike Place, Abbotsford, Melbourne’s animated Skipping Girl … Continue reading Commercial Signage Day Thread (May 24)

Who wants to own a piece of Canadian history for a cool $3.4 million? That’s right, the Low-Martin Mansion in Windsor, Ontario is back on the market! This house features an ostentatious design, an interior that I find oppressive (but … Continue reading The Low-Martin Mansion Day Thread

Just what the title says. School. On a train. For around 40 years of the 20th century, rural Northern Ontario (as well as other areas of Canada) were serviced by travelling classrooms built inside railcars to educate the children of … Continue reading All Aboard the School Train Day Thread (3/7)

Today we take a look at the 1988 film Miracle Mile starring Anthony Edwards as mild-mannered musician Harry, and Mare Winningham as confident, yet vulnerable diner waitress Julie. If you sat down to watch it knowing nothing about it, you … Continue reading Miracle Mile Day Thread

Flowers have had many great moments in film. My all time favourite is the flower shop in Vertigo pictured above, a breathtaking explosion of colour that upends expectations when it appears. Other favourite moments… The Wizard of Oz‘s poppy field: … Continue reading The Day Thread of Flowers in Film (Aug. 16/21)

Lorraine is a leech in a group therapy session in Alison Snowden and David Fine’s Oscar-nominated animated short Animal Behaviour. She is panicky about being alone, quick to tears and hyperventilation, and spends part of the short hiding in a … Continue reading The Day Thread of Lorraine the Leech (May 6, 2021)

Tom McCamus has been part of the fabric of Canada’s theatre, TV, and movie scene for a few decades. He’s mostly a stage actor and is a veteran of top festivals like Stratford and Shaw. At Stratford I’ve seen him … Continue reading Tom McCamus Deserves A Day Thread – March 15th

Over 60 years ago Timmins, Ontario resident and avid hiker Archie Chenier happened across an unusual sight in the woods: an eight-storey high pile of delicately balanced boulders. While no one can say for sure precisely how the boulders got … Continue reading Archie’s Rock Day Thread (Oct. 11)

Lauren Harpster is a bead crafter/designer who works with French beading techniques. These techniques are used to craft flowers and plants out of glass seed beads and wire. The results can be as realistic or as fantastical as you like … Continue reading A Lauren Harpster Day Thread

Otto and Theta were sentient computer-y thingies on TV Ontario’s educational/literary/sci-fi/mystery/how-many-genres-can-you-count kids’ program Read All About It that aired from 1979 to 1982(? 1981? 1983? Sources vary on the dates.). Otto was a dot matrix printer. Theta was a computer … Continue reading Otto and Theta’s Day Thread

Forming in London, Ontario in 1989, The Gandharvas made a small splash in the Canadian alternative music scene with The First Day of Spring, a single from their debut album A Soap Bubble and Inertia, released in 1993. For a … Continue reading The First Day Thread of Spring Brought To You By The Gandharvas

In 1914 a young crystal cutter named William John Hughes quit his job at Roden Brothers Ltd., a Toronto silversmith and crystal company. Having learned his trade there, Hughes started the W.J. Hughes Corn Flower Company to produce glass pieces … Continue reading It’s a Corn Flower Glass Day Thread