The best euphemisms in music part 1

Presented without comment.

Vintage Christmas- From the Library and Archives Canada

The awkward moment when your Christmas card has a swastika on it.
This is from the William Lyon Mackenzie King fonds.
There's no date, but we can probably assume this was sent pre- WWII. 

Pork Cocktails

Earlier this summer I tried to get all Martha Stuart by inventing my own summer cocktail. I borrowed a historic recipe for Lemon Balm Tea added some rosemary, added some honey and added some gin. I served it to friends, some of whom loved it and some of whom politely told me it was more suited as a beverage to accompany a pork chop, rather than to imbibe at happy hour. Thus, the drink came to be known at the "Pork Cocktail."

The recipe is as follows-

Chop up lemon balm leaves and steep in boiling water with a sprig of rosemary for 10 minutes, strain the liquid and add honey to taste, serve hot or cold and add some gin if desired, garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

Vintage Wedding

Over the weekend I attended a gorgeous Scottish wedding at a beautiful historic house, which has inspired me to do a vintage wedding post. Enjoy!

Gord Walker's wedding St. Cuthbert's Church, Leaside,  1938

Vintage Garbage

Some Torontonians are making a stink (pun!) about Mayor Ford's privatization of garbage collection in the city.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/clock-ticking-for-private-garbage-collector-to-clean-up-its-act/article4476163/

With this in mind I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the garbage of yore- how did our forefathers in Toronto deal with the perpetual problem of trash? Hint: they dealt with it with style.

 

Dan Griff

As some of you may know it has been a pretty rough week, so I surprised even myself by mustering the energy to haul my butt down to the Dakota Tavern to see Dan Griffin Thursday night. I'd been waiting for this show for ages and I am so happy I went and that Caroline came and helped prop my tired self up. The only thing that would have made the show more epic-ly awesome is if our other friends had been able to be there.

I was so happy when Dan played his song "East Coast" and then I was sooo sad, I had to actively stop myself from crying openly over my gin and tonic.

Some songs will always have memories attached to them. When we embarked on our crazy adventure to Halifax I remember making the playlist for our two day journey. The first song was Two Hours Traffic- "Sure Can Start," naturally. The next song was Dan Griffin's "East Coast" and the rest of the CD was Joel Plaskett.

I was piled into the back seat of a tiny ford focus with Styne half sitting on my lap. The car was jam-packed; garbage bags stuffed full of clothes, two keyboards, a guitar, a fiddle... not to mention four girls. The rest of our worldly possessions were on a greyhound bus somewhere between Kingston, ON and the maritimes.

Though we were more than cramped, we had good tunes, clear skies and good company. I really can't think of a happier or more exciting two days.

So it made me really sad that the girls couldn't be with me at the Dakota Tavern jamming out to "East Coast" in the front row.

But the silver lining is that everyday Styne is doing better and better, she hasn't lost her sense of humour and is still cracking jokes and making the nurses laugh. She is rocking the physical therapy so far, and specifically requested that we play "Eye of the Tiger" for her. I know that soon she'll be able to stand again, and then walk, and then it will be no time before she is up to her usual antics and getting into all kinds of shenanigans. So keep sending out your good vibes for her, cause it is working!

Styne and I- cuddled in the backseat

Me and Court after a few too many hours together

Claire was a pro navigator

Captain Courtney

lol

We strapped Styne to the roof when we felt too cramped... just kidding

Is there anything more exciting than open highway?

Old Soul

After some introspection, I have realized that I have the soul of a 75 year old retired man. I Base this conclusion on the activities I like to do such as; drink gin, complain about how people dress, glare at noisy children on the subway, listen to oldies, go on walking tours, and attend public lectures on local history.

For those of you who share my love of old stuff, I thought I'd provide a reading list, or as I'd prefer to call it, a Gateway to Discovering Toronto's History! In addition to these blogs, you can also go on FREE walking tours of Toronto with the ROM, and also Heritage Toronto. Plus, don't forget to visit your local museums!

Photo from Toronto Before

http://torontodreamsproject.blogspot.ca/

http://torontoist.com/tag/historicist/

http://vintagetoronto.wordpress.com/

http://torontobefore.blogspot.ca/

http://www.heritagetoronto.org/discover-toronto/walk

ROM Walks