Icebreakers

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 235 Queens Quay West
Date: Jan 2017
Website: www.waterfrontbia.com

  Icebreakers is a new art exhibit along the Toronto waterfront that hopes to draw people out into the cold.  We decided to check it out. The first exhibit we encountered was Winter Diamonds.  It looked like someone had been playing with a very large Rubik's Twist and then left it on the grass beside the Toronto Music Garden.  This exhibit lights up at night so you should visit in the evening to get the full experience.

  The next exhibit we encountered featured two giant, golden hands sitting on either side of Maple Leaf Quay. This exhibit was called Tailored Twins and the two hands seemed stuck in the moment before they would be forced together for a clap.

   Our favourite exhibit was one called ICEBOX.  This was a large box sitting next to Lake Ontario.

  The exterior of the box reflected the view of the lake behind us.  The doorway was a convenient spot for the photographers to remain hidden from view.

  

  Inside the box were insulated walls and once you worked your way along you suddenly arrived in the open center.

  As we looked out we could see the CN Tower peering down at us.  On such a cold day this exhibit brought us a little insulation from the weather.

  We crossed the Rees Wave Deck and received a splash of colour.  A long-tailed duck was swimming in the reflections of stacked canoes stored away for winter.

  The next exhibit was called Incognito and relied on a lack of colour.  It was designed to blend into the snowy landscape.  Unfortunately there was no snow which meant that the zebra striped blocks stood out against the brown grass beneath them.

  We stepped into Harbourfront Centre to warm up for a little while.  A tiny little piece of art caught our eye even though we are unsure what it is.

  Another exhibit was featured in the gallery and our favourite was this lady in red who had a bird house on her head and was holding a smaller one in her right hand.

  Once again we ventured outside to see the last of the Icebreakers exhibits.  This one was called Leeward Fleet and featured some windsurfing sails.  It gives you a chance to get some surfing photos while wearing your winter coat.  The sails do not turn though so you only get three different angles. Icebreakers continues until February 26, 2017 for those who don't mind that it is always colder down by the lake.

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Map of Our World
Icebreakers (Winter Diamonds) , Icebreakers (Tailored Twins) , Icebreakers (ICEBOX) , Rees Wave Deck , Icebreakers (Incognito) , Harbourfront Centre , Icebreakers (Leeward Fleet)

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Post # 160

Wild Roosters

Location: Daintree, Australia
Address: Mount Alexandra Lookout
Date: May 2012
Website: www.npsr.qld.gov.au

  Jan 28, 2017 is the start of Chinese New Year.  This year is the year of the rooster.  On our travels we have seen many different types of chickens, but this blog is about feral chickens.  Feral chickens are chickens that have left domesticated life behind and taken to the wild.

 

  In Hawaii, the road to Hana is a winding right of passage for many tourists.  The road has many twists and turns as you make your way along the beautiful Maui coastline.  We encountered some Red Junglefowl at one of the first parking lots we stopped (picture at top of post).  The  roosters had beautiful feather combinations of red, yellow, orange, green and white.

 

  While in Australia we took a tour that brought us into the Daintree rainforest.  The Daintree is Australia's largest tropical rainforest.  At Mount Alexandra Lookout we encountered another group of feral chickens.  An Australorp is a special Australian chicken that is usually black with a red beak and a red comb.  The comb is the part on top of the rooster's head.  Again these chickens were just roaming the parking lot without a farm in sight.

  Instead of calling these wild or feral chickens we think there should be a new classification called Parking Lot Roosters.  While in the Daintree we noticed a small little fruit stand at the corner of the parking lot.  It appeared to be operating on the honour system as no one was around.  We wondered if it was the result of entrepeneurial chickens or if they were secretly the security guards.  Happy New Year roosters!

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Map of Our World
Mount Alexandra Lookout , Hana Highway

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Post # 159

Royal Eagle Hotel

Location: London, England
Address: 26-30 Craven Road
Date: Sept 2015
Website: www.royaleaglehotel.co.uk

   The original Trainspotting movie, about the lives of a group of heroin users, was released in February 1996.  A sequel is coming out in February 2017 which reunites the original cast 20 years later.  The movie itself is also set 20 years after the first so there was no need for a make-up team to age the actors.  Time had already done that for them.  When we were in London we visited the Royal Eagle Hotel which was the filming location for some of the final scenes from Trainspotting.

 

  A mews is a row of stables.  This would be where the horses were kept, so it makes sense that there would be one next to a hotel.  Craven Road has a lot of mews and a few of them are pictured above.  None of the mews above appear in the movie and these days they would be filled with people, not horses.

  The reason we mention mews is because the scene in question opens with the group walking out of Smallbrook Mews, crossing Craven Road and heading into the Royal Eagle Hotel for a drug deal (above).   The group consists of Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), Renton (Ewan McGregor), Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle).  The first three are all heroin addicts and Begbie is just a violent, troubled man.

  The deal goes well and the group now has a large bag of cash.  While the others are sleeping Renton steals the bag and heads out into the street.  He heads down to Gloucester Mews.  You can see the curved opening to the mews just past the man with the suitcases.  The Royal Eagle Hotel has also cleaned up a lot since 1996, perhaps due to all the Trainspotting fans spending the night.

  During this entire scene the soundtrack is playing Born Slippy by Underworld.  This is a great track on its own as it slowly builds up.  It works perfectly here.  Finally, Renton turns and enters Gloucester Mews.

  The camera is on an angle as Renton walks towards it.  You can see the opening to Smallbrook Mews across the street. The camera turns with Renton and flips to look down into the mews.  A lot of the walls have been repainted, but the black trim in the bottom of the picture (left side of the mews) matches with what we see in the film.

    Renton has gotten away with it.  Begbie goes ballistic.

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Map of Our World
Royal Eagle Hotel

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Post # 158