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You are here: Home / Archives for Home and Lifestyle / Canada

The neighbourhood Coffee Bar

January 7, 2009 by Chris

As I’ve said before on this blog, you never know what a gem of an article is hidden in your local bi-weekly news letter that you would have otherwise not been privy to! We’re all aware of these things taking up space in our recycling bins outside the house. They can draw your attention to a local event or some kind of one of a kind establishment in your hood!

Today I was waiting around for a store to open and I had roughly 35 minutes to kill. So what was I going to do to pass the time I said to myself? Ah, what about that Coffee Bar that opened up in the old XXX video store that went under ages ago?! Even some local critics had nothing bad at all to say about the place, so sure, let’s check it out!

Trying to recall where this place was, after walking down the street and around the corner, sure enough it was there! The place is called Broadview Espresso. The outside was nicely refinished, back to it’s original period look. Gone were the signs that covered up the front windows, blocking the hidden beauty inside this vintage old store.

As I strolled in, the inside great! It has a small, intimate feel to it. The ceiling was wood, the lights hanging from the ceiling were a nice art deco design and they all fit in well together for a charming atmosphere. The owners used particle board (that was shellacked really thick, I might just do this for a future home project, if it presents itself to us) for a stretched out table that wrapped all the way around the windows so you could look outside onto the street to view the sidewalk traffic. The high barstool like seats are simple, just the way I like it. Overhead, there was relaxing jazz music, people reading, talking in a low voice or simply using their notebooks.

Upon ordering a coffee, I made small talk with the young lady behind the counter. I asked her if they had anyone playing music in there and she had a neat answer to my question. She said that musicians just show up from time to time and play when they like. The Barista added that this one guy even came back every Saturday night for a month and played for nothing! Now this is the kind of place that you want to see up and coming new indie talent! Nice, I’ll be back for sure!

So when you see that old bi-weekly newspaper, that you normally just chuck into the recycling bin, leaf through it and you never know what you’ll find!

Keep on Jammin’





Filed Under: Canada, Home and Lifestyle, My Experiences, Recreation, The Neighborhood, Vacation and Travel Tagged With: 817_broadview_ave_Toronto, Broadview_and_Danforth_ave, broadview_expresso, coffee_shop, Jazz_venue, Mike_Cullen, The_danforth, Toronto, Toronto_Coffee_bar

Rock and Roll Tattoo artist

November 23, 2008 by Chris

To me, tattoo’s represent the Rock ‘n Roll image, but that seems to be changing quite a bit these days. Tattoos are works of art if done properly. They can be a very personal expression of yourself to the world, but of course they should be done safely and correctly. If your looking for an excellent tattoo artist to help you with this, and you live in the Toronto area, then I may have found the one that you are searching for.

His name is Mark Naraine. We met this polite and courteous young man many years ago. He works part-time at a large high-end grocery store, close to our home. Mark is always friendly, helpful and never too busy to answer any of your requests, even if he is outside his specific specialty. Over the years we have started talking to him on a more personal level. We discuss a variety of subjects and one day his love of tattoos came up.

He didn’t seem like the kind of person who would have one, let alone be a tattoo artist. When he talked about his love of this art form, he described every facet about the procedures and the negative aspects of his trade to the general public. The one thing that stood out in our mind was his attention to the safety factor in his line of work. I have this uncanny ability to figure out what kind of a person you are, in a very short period of time, and my senses were telling me that this guy was for real.

The other day I saw him again. Having not seen him for ages, I asked him what he had been up to recently. He told me where he was working and I took note of it and went home to check out these places. As it turns out, they are highly recommended shops to have a tattoo done at.

He works at Abstract Arts and East Side Tattoo. Check out some of his work and I bet you’ll be impressed, I know I was.

Even thought I do not have a tattoo, I do think that they are neat to look at. My wife was interested in one many years ago, but I think she’s lost the drive to get one done. Has anyone had one done at any of these shops, we’d love to hear your feedback.

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Canada, Home and Lifestyle, My Experiences, Recreation, The Neighborhood, Toronto Tagged With: Abstract_Arts, Abstract_Arts_Tattoo, clean_tattooing, East_Side_Tattoo, East_Side_Tattoo_artist, Mark_Naraine, safe_tattooing, safety, tattoo, tattoo_artist, tattoo_artists, tattoos, toronto_tattoo_artist

The Veteran on Canada’s Ten Dollar Bill

November 11, 2008 by Chris

This post is about a courageous man who fought in a war, many years removed from our present peaceful time, and what someone did to recognize his service to his country.

Being known as a peaceful nation, today we do not place our soldiers in their rightful elevated status in society. We tend to just take them for granted. However, by this simple little acknowledgment of one man’s dedication to the war effort, this attitude may just be a tiny step in the correct direction!

If you look at the back right-hand side of a Canadian $10 bill (see above), you will see an old veteran standing at attention near the Ottawa War Memorial. His name is Robert Metcalfe and he died last month [circa December, 2007] at the age of 90.

That Metcalfe managed to live to that age is rather remarkable, given what happened in the Second World War. Born in England, he was one of the 400,000 members of the British Expeditionary Force sent to the mainland of Europe where they found themselves facing the new German warfare technique – the Blitzkrieg. He was treating a wounded comrade when he was hit in the legs by shrapnel.

En route to hospital, the ambulance in which Metcalfe was riding came under fire from a German tank, which then miraculously ceased fire. He was evacuated from Dunkirk on HMS Grenade, two of whose sister ships in the same convoy were sunk.

When he recovered, Metcalfe was sent to Allied campaigns in North Africa and Italy. En route, his ship was chased by the German battleship, Bismarck. In North Africa, he served under General Montgomery against the Desert Fox, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel.

Sent into the Italian campaign, Metcalfe met his future wife, a lieutenant and physiotherapist in a Canadian hospital. They were married in the morning by the mayor of the Italian town, and again in the afternoon by a British padre. After the war, they settled in Chatham, Ontario, where he went into politics and became the warden (chairman) of the county. On his retirement, he and his wife moved to Ottawa, where, at the age of 80, he wrote a book about his experiences.

One day – out of the blue – Metcalfe received a call from a government official asking him to go downtown for a photo op. He wasn’t told what the photo was for or why they chose him. “He had no idea he would be on the bill,” his daughter said.

And now you know the story of the old veteran on the $10 bill.

This quote came from the story of Robert Metcalfe and I hope it put a little smile on your face, even for just a single minute in your life!

Robert Metcalfe and the many others out there, we salute you!

Filed Under: Canada, Home and Lifestyle, My Experiences Tagged With: Canada, Canadian, remembrance_day, remembrance_day_2008, Robert_Metcalfe, soldier, The_Veteran_on_Canadas_Ten_Dollar_Bill, The_Veteran_on_our_ten_dollar_bill, veteran, veterans_day

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