Titan Arum (Floral Showhouse)

Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Address: Queen Victoria Park, Niagara Parkway
Date: June 2015
Website:  www.niagaraparks.com

  We visited the Floral Showhouse in Niagara Falls in order to see one of  the largest unbranched flowers in the world.  The scientific name is Amorphophallus Titanium and the largest flower ever recorded was just over 10 feet tall.  The common name is Titan Arum or sometimes they are referred to as the Corpse Flower.  The Floral Showhouse has several Titan Arums which originate from the jungles of Sumatra.  The closed pod in front is named Clive and is expected to open up sometime in the week of June 21st, 2015.  The other tall stalk behind is a Titan Arum in leaf and it can grow over 20 feet tall.  We believe that plant is named Morph.  Both Clive and Morph flowered back in 2012.  It is normal for it to be from 2 to 10 years before a plant blooms again.

  Below is a chart that shows the cycle of the Titan Arum.  In the center you can see what Clive will look like when he is in full bloom.  The bloom may last only for a day or two.  Unfortunately, the bloom is also accompanied by a horrible smell.  The reason for the name of Corpse Flower is because it emits a smell like a rotting animal carcass.  This is designed to attract all kinds of bugs to the flower in order to help with pollination

  Just in front of the Titan Arum display is a little pond filled with turtles and koi.  These little guys may not be aware of what is about to happen, but we checked and both have an excellent sense of smell that far surpasses that of humans.

  So if you find yourself admiring the beauty of Niagara Falls, take a walk out of the mist and head further past the falls.  As you wander in the garden near the Floral Showhouse be sure to take a long deep breath.  If something smells awful then you just might be lucky enough to witness a rare Titan Arum in bloom.  Head inside, hold your nose and declare "One ticket please!"

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Map of Our World
Floral Showhouse

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Post # 58

R. L. Hearn Generating Station

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 440 Unwin Ave.
Date: Dec 2014
Website:  www.portlandsenergycentre.com

   From several places around Toronto you can spot a rather large structure.  No, this is not the city's famous CN Tower.  Just in front of the Leslie Spit, the R. L. Hearn Generating Station sits relatively unobstructed.  At 705 feet tall, it's chimney is the 3rd tallest in Canada   That is over 64 stories high.  It still has a long way to go to beat the Inco Superstack in Sudbury, Ontario which is over 1200 feet and is the second tallest chimney in the world.  In case you were wondering a power station in Kazakhstan has the world's tallest chimney at just under 1400 feet.

  The R. L. Hearn Generating Station was built to meet Toronto's power needs.  It was named after Toronto engineer Richard Lankaster Hearn.  The building was originally a coal powered station and eventually became a natural gas powered station up until it was finally closed in 1983.  The huge chimney was built in the early 70s to try and reduce the smog output.  Since its closure the location is occasionally used as a venue for events such as Luminato in June 2014 and 2015.  Right next door, the much smaller Portlands Energy Centre (building with 2 small chimneys above) currently helps generate some of the power needed to keep Toronto going.

  While the chimney has made its way into many of our photographs, we decided it was time to give the building a closer look.  So we took a drive down to Toronto's Portlands.  This area is also home to Cherry Beach, the Leslie Spit, Polson Pier and Pinewood Toronto Studios.

  In 1983 the movie Strange Brew was released.  The Hearn Generating Station was used as the Elsinore Brewery exterior in that film.  Since the station also shut down in 1983, this would have saved them from countless Bob & Doug McKenzie fans showing up and claiming to have found a mouse in their beer.

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Map of Our World
R. L. Hearn Generating Station

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Post # 57

Flying Gremlin Attack

Location: Burbank, California, USA
Address: 3400 West Riverside Drive
Date: Feb 2014
Website:  vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com

  In Gremlins 2 there are all sorts of gremlins loose in a science lab.  The poor Futtermans, who surprisingly survived the first movie, are in New York visiting Billy & Kate.  Once again they find themselves in a situation with one of the creatures.  As a result of one gremlin becoming mixed with a bat and some genetic sunblock it flies out into the city.  The Futtermans are standing in front of  the Cathedral of Saint Eva Marie when it swoops down from the sky.  The joke here is that Eva Marie Saint is an Academy Award winning actress for her work in On The Waterfront.

  This scene was filmed on New York Street at Warner Brothers Studios.  The gremlin flies down and attacks Mr. Futterman in front of A Taste Of Greece restaurant.  This was located just to the right of the awning in the photo above.  He struggles with the gremlin as they move down the sidewalk past two big store windows.  He finally manages to get the better of the gremlin and dunks him into some freshly poured concrete.  This happens at the end of the block in front of the entrance to the building below and just behind the pillar on the left.  The gremlin gets covered in concrete but still manages to fly up and land back on the church before the concrete finally hardens and he becomes a permanent gargoyle.  Concrete?  Reviewing our gremlin rules we know that you never want to get them wet or they will multiply.  We also know that concrete is a mixture of water and cement.  This scene could have ended quite differently. 

    The front of this building may already be familiar to fans of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.  It served as the Daily Planet newspaper building, but in the picture above it is missing it's giant metal globe.  The stars of the show were a pre-Desperate Housewives Teri Hatcher as Lois and Dean Cain as Superman. 

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See more locations from the Warner Bros. Studio Backlot.

Map of Our World
Flying Gremlin Attack

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Post # 56