Archive for February, 2005

A Maze By Any Other Name

Published at February 23, 2005 in personal. 1 Comment

This labyrinth vs. maze thing has thrown me for a loop. I had always thought a labyrinth was just a fancy maze. Since the brief tirade in my last post, and some google work, I have learned there is a difference. From some brief (and some long) discussions on the topic today, it seems many people shared my oblivious view. A true labyrinth is a single path that leads to the centre, and must be retraced to exit, while a maze is a series of choices, dead ends, and potential misfortune.

Some great labyrinth information can be found here:

The labyrinth has been making a resurgence as a spiritual exercise, as walking a labyrinth can be seen as, “a symbolic journey to the centre of ones self.” Many of the labyrinth locations listed at the Toronto Labyrinth Community Network are associated with churches. Anyways, I continue.

I trace my misguided views on labyrinths to my literal, and close minded interpretation of the Minotaur mythology. It’s a spectacular story, and goes on to prove my point that every good story has already been told. The end of the story has Theseus venturing into the labyrinth to slay the Minotaur. In order to find his way out he marks his path with string. Hold on. If it’s a labyrinth, and labyrinths are single path things, then how could he get lost? Couldn’t he just turn 180 degrees and walk out? Okay. I already found a plausible answer to this question, but I still felt the need to ask it. Not every language makes the distinction between labyrinth and maze, so in actual fact the Minotaur lived in a maze. I’m not sold on this explanation, as I think I read that mazes didn’t exist until much later in history. Unfortunately it’s the only explanation I could find, so it will have to suffice.

This brings us to a brief discussion of the movie Labyrinth, and its title character: The Labyrinth.

Now, I don’t know about you, but from what I have learned this afternoon, the labyrinth in Labyrinth is not a labyrinth. It looks to be more of a maze. Perhaps they should have called the movie MAZE. In its defense I draw upon my sketchy recollection of the plot, and I recall a female protagonist making a ‘journey’ to the ‘centre’ of the labyrinth to save a baby. Along the way she makes ‘realizations’ about herself. That seems to jive with the spiritual side of labyrinths. So maybe Labyrinth is a fitting title for this movie after all. But don’t get me wrong, she walks through a maze.

I suppose this whole debate can be boiled down to one statement: as long as you just stand outside some black hole labeled ‘ENTER HERE‘ you have no way to guess what type of thing is before you. In this respect all mazes are initially labyrinths — your first and only choice is to enter, or not.

The Snow Is So Merciless, In Old Toronto

Published at February 23, 2005 in event. 1 Comment

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The Roundhouse, TO.

You might think this to be an odd title for an entry about the Canadian International AutoShow, but I can assure you the most entertaining part of the day was the snow. I like cars, and even more then that, I like new shiny cars. I think new car smell (none of that simulated garbage, it’s got to be the real deal) is one of the best fragrances in the world. I just found the show to be on the weak side this year. Without any hot new cars on the market, the various manufactures decided to overload us with different colours of the same model. Which is good — but not great. Save for a few cars, I could have gone to an auto mall and seen the same cars for free. Mind you they wouldn’t be as shiny, and I would have to brave the cold, but I stand by my point.

With that said, onto the few stand out vehicles that are almost available for sale.

The Ford Mustang. The everyman sports car. Its humble beginnings date back to the 1964 Mustang Convertible. For a mere $2,320.96 (half the price of a Corvette) it was yours. It has had quite a life. From its sexy lines in the 60’s, to its cool 70’s character, and on through the unfortunate 80’s effect (I think the 80’s produced some of the ugliest cars, and the 80’s and early 90’s Mustang suffered this fall). In the late 90’s it regained some of its character, but no Mustang, since its glory days, has looked as good as the 2005 Ford Mustang (Canadian Content). A base model will run you $24,890, and $38,656 nicely loaded (CDN figures). That’s nothing considering a Chevrolet Corvette will run about $67,395. Now I know these are different classes of cars, but the Mustang has always been an affordable alternative to gross ego-boosting. It’s like value priced street-cred.

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The 2006 Dodge Charger. Another rebirth of a classic American Automobile. Car manufactures aren’t blind to the fact that a lot of their customers that bought these cars are now baby boomers and are more then willing to relive their youth. The 1966 Dodge Charger was designed in response to the fastback design of the Ford Mustang and the Plymouth Barracuda. My only true knowledge of the Charger is the 1969 Dodge Charger (aka General Lee) used on the TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. The new Charger is based on the Chrysler 300 chassis, and is packed full of power. From the little presentation they gave, I took away that it will comfortably seat 5 adults, with full head room in the back.

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The non-car sponsored attraction at this years show was the Pontiac Ice Maze. It was actually pretty neat because, previously, the only maze I had been through was on the back of a restaurant placemat. You don’t see very many garden hedge mazes around these days. It really is a shame (note: it seems there are lots of garden mazes, as I found one near Ottawa). I’d really love to call it a labyrinth of ice and snow, with the possibility of death around every corner, but I have confirmed that ‘labyrinth’ and ‘maze’ are not interchangeable words. A Maze is multicursal, or a series of paths with dead ends and can be quite frustrating. A Labyrinth is unicursal, meaning it has only one path and no dead ends. No one should be surprised that there is a Labyrinth Society, and many others who enjoy labyrinths. It’s just not a movie starring Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie. Though, reflecting on the movies plot, and my new understanding of labyrinths, I think that movie has a whole other level I was unaware of.

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All in all, the AutoShow is still a great way to waste a day and $15. It’s nice to be able to see all the cars in one indoor location in pristine condition, without being bothered by salesmen. A day in TO is not complete without a ride on the TTC Subway. I wanted a blurred train, but the train was moving pretty slow when it reached the far end of the platform. I also wish I had turned the flash off. Either way, it looks a bit interesting.

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Trew Rock N’ Roll

Published at February 6, 2005 in concerts and music. 0 Comments

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No bout of fog was going to stop me from making it Downtown last night for The Trews at The Horseshoe Tavern. The fog was pretty cool. I haven’t seen soupy fog like that in years. But onto the show.

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Last night was an evening of pure, raw, Rock N’ Roll. The evening began at 10:30 with a fine 3 piece band RocketFace. You gotta love a band that has the drums front and centre, and the drummer as the lead singer so he has to wear the pop star head-mounted microphone. These boys were loud. I’m talking painful loud. Your entire body shakes and your ears threaten to bleed. I think a saw a few heads explode during the drum solos.

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The Trews graced the stage promptly at midnight, launched into Every Inambition, and didn’t stop rocking until 1:45am. Having seen these guys numerous times now, I have to say this was, by far, their best show. Breaking into Beatles, Stones and Zeppelin covers in the middle of their songs, everyone taking an extended solo at some point during the show, as well as a few new songs kept the energy palpable. I still love the Tired of Waiting / Hey Jude medley. They were into it, and picking up the vibe the audience was throwing down. I’d venture to say they have finally found their rock star groove.

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I found some online LIVE Trews shows. It doesn’t work so well with firefox, so you’ll have to boot up IE. They say it is shutting down February 15th due to money problems, so check it out while you can. There is also a live show in full at spin45.net. The date on the show is 2003, so they are still finding their groove, but it’s a good study in progress.

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It wasn’t as foggy in the downtown core.

Rip the cord. Bust the crud. Smash the pow.

Published at February 1, 2005 in personal and sport. 2 Comments

Have you ever had a bright idea, that just didn’t quite pan out in practice? I did, and it involved skiing. Now, don’t get me wrong, skiing is a fantastic idea, but sadly it’s pretty hard without a hill. My hill of choice? Glen Eden. Tucked away in the once sleepy town of Milton Ontario, and cut into the wilderness that covers the side of the Niagara Escarpment, this ski area taught me to ski, and also did its part in teaching me to run gates. What did I discover upon my grand return to my breeding ground? Not much has changed. Sure they changed the T-bar into a chair lift, and added tubing runs and a much needed bridge over the train tracks (don’t fear, the tunnel still exists), but aside from that it could have been circa 1997.

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First, I was mildly surprised to discover that my equipment still stands up to current styles. A ski jacket still looks like a ski jacket, and the only real cosmetic difference that has come along for skis since 1998 has been the twin-tip ( so skiers could do more tricks in the park). Which brings me to my main point — the terrain park.

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This photo is taken while riding the chair-lift. It looks like my skis are on the ground, but I’m actually 15 feet high.

When I started skiing circa 1990 you could not jump. Oh, and snowboards were purchased at Canadian Tire, and strictly forbidden to be brought within 10 sq.km’s of any ski area (this restraining has since been lifted, as a settlement was reached though mediation). We’d try and find anything to jump off. That lip that got built up next to light poles. Deposits of snow left by poor grooming. Any path though the trees that provided a drop to the run below. We’d even try to build jumps (off to the side of the run where no one would be bothered). We wanted to jump and we’re willing to pay the consequences — and we did. Often. They had the nerve to punch your ticket if you got caught jumping. Two punches and they cut your ticket right off. Couldn’t they see what we were trying to do? Was our vision that unique? Suffice to say that when we did elude the authorities and take to the sky, we sucked. It ware rare for me and my friends to pull consistent and stylish 360 — just a whole lot of spread-eagles and twisters going on.

Circa 2005. Snowboards are allowed at Glen Eden. Jumping is allowed within the terrain park. Wonderful. Great. Bring it. Hmm? What? People still can’t jump? They get 1 foot of air? But I don’t understand. You have constructed kickers, bad-ass spines, and snakey rails. Why do you all suck? Needless to say, I was a little disappointed. I felt the need to show these kids what they should be doing with the gifts they have been provided, so I set down a little demonstration. People are still impressed by a laid out 360 thrown over a 6 foot box. My advice to them? Get off your butts and out of the prime line. If you’re gonna hit it, hit it. If not, let me enjoy what I fought so hard for. I don’t feel like repeating myself.

I always believed that Glen Eden provided great downhill skiing. It’s close, convenient, somewhat variable, and is lit for the night. I now see that belief was somewhat skewed, by the fact that whenever I went in high school, it was with a bunch of people. Skiing alone can be fun if the terrain is exciting, big, and demanding. Skiing Glen Eden alone blows. That being said, it was nice to get on the skis again after a 3 year hiatus.

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Returning home I got stuck at a train-crossing. I missed the boxcars, and had to settle for the cylinder ones. Was taken with a 2.5 sec shutter speed.