Garrison Venue

My friend at work won 2 tickets from a radio station , 98.1FM! I agreed to go along and check out Matt Nathanson! There is only one song he does I have heard playing a few times on the radio, "Come on Get Higher".

The venue was at "The Garrison" which I had never been to.  Their website is here if you're interested in checking out some eclectic local talent. 
The Garrison

The Garrison is very casual, almost to the point of shabby and the actual stage room is pretty dark.  It took about an hour before Matt appeared on stage.  By that time the room was full and we were all sweating.  

Matt Nathanson totally blew me away!  His personality would easily sell tickets alone for his quirky sense of humour in between self composed/written songs.  His style is a lot like John Mayer.  You get the sense that you just want to root for this young guy making it big because he's just so damn likeable.


I've got some pretty bad pictures to share (because the venue was so dark) and if you can catch some of the video at all, you're welcomed to listen to it, even if you can't see anything.
My silly introduction

and the one song I knew from him: 
Come on Get Higher <-- This is a Youtube video, my video was just too large to upload and inaudible :)

The Old Mill Inn and Spa- Wedding Bells ring again

Springtime is the special time of year when everyone feels the need to clean up, clean out, re-arrange and change the present.  

Reception Room

The Old Mill Inn and Spa

Open Bar

Recently, we revisited the Old Mill Inn and Spa.  This is the first place I went to in 2010 that actually started my interest in blogging.  I remember I was looking out the window of the subway when I saw this beautiful park (Old Mill Park) and decided to get off at the station.  I spent the afternoon taking pictures and visiting the 'Old Mill Inn and Spa'.  I wasn't really dressed for the surroundings (in my jeans) but decided to go inside anyways.  This experience lead me to believe that there must be so many other amazing things to see in Toronto, just steps away from each and every subway station, and that is how I ended up blogging 'the subways'.  Somehow I knew this would be a special place for me someday..

We arrived at the Old Mill to view the reception facilities.  What I like about this for the wedding reception is that everything you could possibly think of is all in one place.  Floral arrangements, music, invitations, centerpieces, catering, bed rooms, restaurants and beauty salons (spa).  

Washroom facilities

A very popular venue, the Old Mill Inn and Spa is an English-style Inn and restaurant.  It was originally a saw mill built in 1793.  In 1914, it was owned by R. Home Smith who opened it as "the Old Mill Tea Garden".  Following that the Inn was used as a dance hall for during the Big Band era in the 20's.  More recently in 1983 it was designated as a 'Heritage Property' by the City of Etobicoke (now Toronto).  Currently it is owned by the Kalmar family.  The Spa opened in 2001 with over 47 rooms and 13 suites. The property over looks 2.5 hectacres of parkland surrounding the Humber River making it a perfect spot for weddings, business conventions or a romantic getaway.

The Art Gallery of Ontario

The Art Gallery of Ontario

I’ve lived in this great city of ours in Toronto Ontario for 40 ..something years and I have never visited the Art Gallery.  It was founded in 1900 by a group of private citizens, then known as the Art Gallery of Toronto.  It has over half a million square feet in physical space making it the largest art Gallery in North America!

Still I have never even really desired to go.  I have been to the Royal Ontario Museum a few times, but not the Art Gallery.  It has a certain stigma to it.  The idea of standing in front of a picture or pictures and staring at it as it hangs perfectly on a wall behind a piece of delicate glass where I can’t or won’t be allowed to touch it, or take a picture of it even..well that did not strike me as an interesting day out.

Until of course today when I saw the masters and all that they produce.  Hundreds of years ago with the likes of Monet, Rembrandt a tiny sketch of Michelangelo, some drop dead gorgeous paintings from the European masters such as Thomas Gainsborough, Auguste Rodin, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and René Magritte. 

Modern Art?

Please if I may say a word about modern art? It was difficult for me to see masterpieces from individuals carving statues out of ivory or marble or tiny books inscribed by hand that took years of someone’s life compared to something that looked like pieces of odds and ends in a junk yard that just squashed together and called artwork? 

I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that is what the essence of the Art Gallery is all about.  You are not allowed to take photographs inside the gallery, but it is well worth a visit because there is something really special about looking at the white paint that was brushed on an eyelid creating an effect, or that tiny thin hair of an eyebrow that was put there painstakingly by an artist.  You just don’t get the same thing from a book or the internet.  You have to actually be there to see what I mean.

Right now the ‘Maharaja’ display is on until the end of the month.  The Art Gallery is expensive if you’re not a member.

Check website for details: http://www.ago.net/visit