Navigamus http://www.navigamus.net We are journeying... Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:17:10 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Free culture, anyone? http://www.navigamus.net/2012/02/free-culture-anyone http://www.navigamus.net/2012/02/free-culture-anyone#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:17:10 +0000 Ori http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2237 That Toronto is home to many world-class museums and galleries is not news, but I have come across many ways to experience museums for free, ways I would like to share with not only those who might visit Toronto, but with those who live here, too!

First of all, anyone reading this post from England might be asking, “What? You have to pay to get into museums in Canada?” Upon moving back here from Europe, I admit that that took be me by surprise, too – we were so lucky to have free access to all of Oxford’s museums, not to mention those in London as well. So you can imagine that I feel more than a little entitled to free culture.

Here in Toronto, the absolute best way to get into museums for free is simply to own a Toronto Public Library card. This was actually one of the first things we did when we moved here, and during our first visit to our local branch, we learned about the MAP (Museum and Arts Passes) program. This program allows you to use your library card to “sign out” free passes to many of the city’s museums. Each participating library branch has a certain number of passes to a selection of museums allocated to them each week, and you are allowed to sign out one pass per week. You get three months to use the pass, and within those three months, you cannot sign out the same pass again. The best thing about the passes is that they are a “family pass,” good for two adults and up to four children!

Our branch has this selection of passes: the Art Gallery of Ontario, Black Creek Pioneer Village, City of Toronto Historic Museums, Gardiner Ceramics Museum, Museum of Inuit Art, and the Textile Museum of Canada. With the exception of Black Creek, I have signed out passes to every museum they offer. I don’t normally go crazy for ceramics and textiles, but with a free pass in hand, I discovered really cool museums that weren’t necessarily on the top of my “must-see” list!

Another way to see museums for free is to take advantage of the free and reduced price periods that some big museums offer. The AGO has free admission on Wednesday evenings from 6:00pm to 8:30pm. The Royal Ontario Museum used to have free Wednesday afternoons, but that has been discontinued because they substantially reduced their ticket prices recently (a rare occurrence these days!). They do offer half-priced tickets from 4:30pm to 8:30pm on Friday nights. The Gardiner also has a half-price period from 4:00pm to 9:00pm on Fridays.
The Bata Shoe Museum has a pay-what-you-can period on Thursday evenings from 5:00pm to 8:00pm, as does the Textile Museum on Wednesday evenings from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.

Finally, there are some really nice museums and galleries that are free to the public all the time! On the U of T campus, the University of Toronto Arts Centre and the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery at Hart House both have collections that are worth a visit. If you are interested in local history, I recommend the Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum, which is situated in Riverdale Farm (worth the visit for the animals alone), but is soon scheduled to reopen in the new Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre on Dundas St. E.

There you go!]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2012/02/free-culture-anyone/feed 0 Music and more http://www.navigamus.net/2012/01/music-and-more http://www.navigamus.net/2012/01/music-and-more#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:50:15 +0000 Kyle http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2240
1. Patricia Cano, a Latin singer from Sudbury (one of Ori’s ancestral homes). I heard Patricia’s tune “Dança da Solidão” on CBC as I was driving home from work one day, and I liked it so much that I decided to buy her CD, This Is The New World. Patricia switches effortlessly between languages and idioms, as you can hear from the samples on her website, and the overall effect is very pleasant – much more Iberian than Siberian.

2. The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect, an online science fiction novel by Roger Williams. I’ll start with a warning that it’s definitely rated “R,” but its occasional graphic nature didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of this very engaging story about a technological singularity (chapter 2 in particular). For a couple of days, I was captivated by this story, so I thought I’d share it here to increase its exposure. ]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2012/01/music-and-more/feed 0 Campanili http://www.navigamus.net/2012/01/campanili http://www.navigamus.net/2012/01/campanili#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:01:22 +0000 Kyle http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2206 Summerhill-North Toronto railway station and Boston’s Custom House?


Both of which bear a passing resemblance to San Marco’s campanile in Venice…

]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2012/01/campanili/feed 0 Aviation things http://www.navigamus.net/2011/12/aviation-things http://www.navigamus.net/2011/12/aviation-things#comments Sat, 10 Dec 2011 02:54:23 +0000 Kyle http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2170 Patrick Smith, a professional airline pilot who writes a regular column for Salon.com called Ask The Pilot. His columns are generally quite interesting and informative, especially for regular travelers or, perhaps, an aerospace engineer who is interested in how commercial aircraft are used on a daily basis.

The article was called The Exploding Toilet and Other Embarrassments, and it made me laugh until I cried. I could barely read it aloud to Ori, so hard was I laughing. I hope you’ll find it just as funny!

On a related note, I can now announce that I’ve found employment in Toronto with Solar Ship, a company that’s working to develop a new kind of aircraft that derives some of its lift from a wing inflated with helium. It’s not lighter-than-air like a blimp, but rather a tool for delivering cargo to remote areas not well-served by road infrastructure.

Here’s a video showing the products we are developing:



I can’t say much more at the moment, but the work is very challenging, interesting, and a fantastic opportunity to be involved in the development of an entirely new kind of aircraft. I feel like a Wright brother as I go to work each day!]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2011/12/aviation-things/feed 0 Al Di Meola meets Wyclef Jean http://www.navigamus.net/2011/12/al-di-meola-meets-wyclef-jean http://www.navigamus.net/2011/12/al-di-meola-meets-wyclef-jean#comments Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:11:43 +0000 Kyle http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2151 Hotel Rwanda, and was surprised to hear a familiar melody in the soundtrack. Research led me to determine it was part of a song by Wyclef Jean called “Million Voices”.

Here’s a sample of the melody I’m talking about:

Million Voices - Wyclef Jean

The reason it was familiar was that I’d heard it on Al Di Meola’s album The Infinite Desire. (I love practically all of Al Di Meola’s stuff and I highly recommend this album.)

Here’s a sample of the same (or at least, an uncannily similar) melody, as found in the track “Shaking The Spirits”:

Shaking The Spirits - Al Di Meola

Strangely, it appears that the line in Di Meola’s track is sung by an Oriana Di Meola, who must be his daughter, judging from her Twitter feed.

I feel like I’ve heard this melody somewhere else, too. I love finding little connections between pieces like this!]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2011/12/al-di-meola-meets-wyclef-jean/feed 0 Photos finally captioned http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/photos-finally-captioned http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/photos-finally-captioned#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:47:54 +0000 Kyle http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2128
Now that we’re finally settled, I’ve had time to go through the Gallery and add captions to all of the old photos from Oxford that had been missing them.

In theory, now every photo in the Gallery should be captioned, except for the photos from our Camino. I’m waiting on those because I may choose to present them in a different way. Specifically, I’m thinking of posting a few interesting photos at a time (here on the blog), accompanied by captions extracted from my Camino journal. Maybe even in real time, over the course of the 69 days it took us to walk the Camino in April/May/June.

If you do manage to find any uncaptioned photos in the Gallery, to let me know. I’m now considering the Oxford gallery “closed,” but of course there are regular updates occurring in the Toronto gallery.]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/photos-finally-captioned/feed 0 Big fire still burning on George Street http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/big-fire-still-burning-on-george-street http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/big-fire-still-burning-on-george-street#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:10:17 +0000 Kyle http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2109 Filmore’s Hotel.

The Toronto Fire Services website is currently showing lots of activity:

From what I could tell from the Dundas end, it’s this residential building that’s on fire:


[Update: No, it's not. It's an abandoned house.]

I’ve posted some of my photos of the Fire Department activity in the Gallery.





]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/big-fire-still-burning-on-george-street/feed 0 My first premiere http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/my-first-premiere http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/my-first-premiere#comments Wed, 19 Oct 2011 02:41:54 +0000 Kyle http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2106 Lightbox, where I attended a free premiere of Young Adult, directed by Jason Reitman and starring Charlize Theron.

It was free courtesy of George Stroumboulopoulos, the host of the CBC show “George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.” When Ori and I attended a “Tonight” taping last week, George announced that viewers could sign up to attend the premiere of a “secret movie.”

So I did (Ori had orchestra), and after standing in a long line for about an hour, I finally found out what the film was going to be. And it wasn’t bad! Apparently it will be “very talked about,” and I’d believe it. Anything Charlize Theron associates herself with is bound for at least some media coverage.

Jason Reitman and the film’s writer, Diablo Cody, were in attendance as well, and they answered questions afterwards. Very nice of them to invite us all to attend, and to spend some time talking about their work.

All in all, not a bad free evening’s entertainment!]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/my-first-premiere/feed 0 Settling in nicely http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/settling-in-nicely http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/settling-in-nicely#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:31:04 +0000 Kyle http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2093

We’ve now been in Toronto for four weeks, and we’re becoming very comfortable with the city. Like Oxford two years ago, it’s a new place to explore and discover. This time, it’s a Canadian city, so there isn’t quite as much culture shock. But on the other hand, Toronto is enormous, so seeing it all is going to take a long time.


But I’ve been trying. As you can see from recent photos, we’ve visited a number of different neighbourhoods already. My vague goal is to visit all of Toronto’s ethnic enclaves and take photos that give the impression of being in the original countries. Some neighbourhoods will be more difficult than others; so far, the Chinatowns have been the easiest.






Toronto is also full of surprises: its beaches on the shores of enormous Lake Ontario, its urban farm, its wacky buildings and more that we’re discovering every day.




I continue to volunteer my time as a photographer for Sistema Toronto, taking photos that the program director, David Visentin, is using to promote his efforts to change the lives of inner-city schoolchildren using music.



Job-hunting continues as well. Still no employment for either of us, but we’ve found a few leads. Recently, on a streetcar ride down Queen Street, I noticed something a graffitist had written along the top of a building in big letters: Fear is ruining your life. Not bad advice, and the kind of thing a Camino pilgrim should agree with. Anyway, I’m not going to let irrational fears (“will we ever find jobs?” “was coming to Toronto a terrible mistake?”) rule my life.



Finally: the part of Toronto we’re living in is homeless central; for whatever reason, there are more homeless shelters in the couple of blocks around our apartment than anywhere else in Toronto. Could be because we’re downtown and in an area that is largely still to be gentrified. Neither of us feel unsafe, but there is a sobering aspect to all of this: no matter the time of day, the first thing one sees upon leaving our front door is a line of homeless people standing outside the shelter across the road. It’s a daily reminder of our privilege in life, and it will only become more stark as the weather turns cold and wintry.]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2011/10/settling-in-nicely/feed 0 First week in Toronto http://www.navigamus.net/2011/09/first-week-in-toronto http://www.navigamus.net/2011/09/first-week-in-toronto#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:03:54 +0000 Ori http://www.navigamus.net/?p=2045 T.O. with the plan of settling here for at least the next few years. Many people ask us, “Why Toronto?” Our reasons are varied – I spent a year here doing my MA in medieval studies, which meant that a) I knew the city well enough for it to feel familiar, and b) I always had too much homework to enjoy properly everything that Toronto has to offer. It is also fairly close to home (Halifax), and close to various family members, and yet far enough away to feel like we are making it on our own in a relatively unknown world – those of you who know us know that we love a good adventure.


Toronto certainly seems like a big adventure, because it is vast in scale and has the potential to offer us a great deal of interesting things to do, see, and learn. I’ve been thinking a lot about Toronto’s interesting opportunities for the past few days, because of the way Kyle goes about moving to a new city. Let me explain: first week in Toronto, and of course, finding jobs is on the top of my priority list. Kyle and I both sit down at computers and plan to start the monotonous job hunt. At the end of the day, I have found a few potential leads, and I check on Kyle’s progress – instead of any job leads, he has more than 100 browser tabs (I kid you not) open on various aspects of Toronto. I think I scolded him about what I thought was wasted research time, but the more I think about it, I’ve realized that this is one thing I absolutely love about Kyle. He throws himself completely into integrating into a new city or culture. He did it in Venice – which set him apart from his fellow classmates – by learning Italian, supporting local businesses, and learning to row Venetian-style. He did it in Oxford, by learning the city’s history and making quite an effort to visit every college of the university (often, to my annoyance, by using me and university card as his way in). And here in Toronto, he already has grand plans to bike to and take pictures of every different ethnic neighbourhood. Kyle prides himself on knowing more about every city he’s lived in than many locals do.


This past week, we have already taken advantage of a lot of what Toronto has to offer. We attended a CD launch concert of James Hill and Anne Davison (look them up – they are fantastic musicians!), helped out at the launch of Sistema Toronto, signed up for Toronto Public Library cards, visited the Royal Ontario Museum during their free entry on Wednesday afternoons, visited the St. Lawrence Market and the East York Farmers’ Market, and took a long bike ride to the Beaches on one of the last beautiful sunny days of summer. Job hunting is necessary during our first few weeks (if not months) in Toronto, but I think it is just as important to get to know the city as soon as possible, and with Kyle at my side, we can’t help but do just that.

The next adventure: Nuit Blanche, a “free all-night contemporary art event” taking place all over the city. I hope we won’t be too tired after moving into our new apartment to enjoy as much as we can of this event! ]]> http://www.navigamus.net/2011/09/first-week-in-toronto/feed 0