what's in Toronto?

You might not think of Toronto, Canada as a vacation spot but if you never go for a visit you will be missing out on some pretty great stuff.

1. The Tallest Building in the World. Yes, there is some controversy over what is considered a "building" but you won't find a higher observation deck in the world than the CN Tower in Toronto. Most interesting for me was the glass floor where you can walk out and look down past your toes to the ground...over a thousand feet down. It is a freaky, mind bending experience.

2. AGO. The Art Gallery of Ontario. This public institution has an exhibit right now of some of Bernini's work, the 17th century sculptor, considered the best ever. You can get right up close to these sculptures of two popes and a cast bronze crucifixion scene. With especially the popes you can see the veins on their temple and the wrinkles on their forehead. What would it be like to have the wrinkles on your face immortalized in stone. Wooohooo.

3. Casa Loma. This is an amazing castle built by a Canadian who lived in the castle for only ten years until he lost his wealth due to some bad land speculation and other sundry business deals gone bad. Quite an amazing place to tour.

4. Roti. That's what I had for lunch at a quaint local restaurant run by a Korean lady and her son. See the picture. The Roti was curry chicken with white potatoes and sweet potatoes served in a large tortilla shell. I've had Rotis in the Caribbean before but this one was most excellent. We were hungry before going through Casa Loma so we asked two people on the street what was a good local place to eat. They both referred us to this little restaurant. The people know.

5. What you can get for free. The castle tour valued at $15 apiece (Canadian money) was free because a guy in a Toronto information booth felt generous and gave us four tickets for our party of four. The Art Gallery of Ontario was free after 6 pm. We arrived at the door at ten til six so that was pure luck. An art gallery employee encouraged us to try to sweet talk our way into the "members only" exhibition of Bernini and that gave us the confidence to go for it. Yes, they showed us grace and generosity and let us in for free, ($15 value per person).

On the way to Toronto we stopped at Niagara Falls, which by the way is free unless you go on "The Maid of the Mist."

The exchange rate in Canada is tilted in favor of the American dollar but that may not last long.

Bottom line, we got completely out of the country, visited a city of 4.5 million people (there were a few of them that we didn't meet personally) saw some great sights and had some great experiences. Also the company was awesome, MKH, AMH and his girlfriend BG.

jet fueled

I've been having some problems with the 76 Goldwing. Since this motorcycle was built to run on leaded fuel I decided to try an octane booster. There are several on the market and the labels are very humorous to me. The brand I decided on was STP. they claimed on the bottle that their product was "barely street legal." Another brand said right on the package "not street legal." What a great gimmick to get sales. Of course anyone with a "need for speed" (which would include anyone looking for an octane booster) would want something that would make them go faster whether it was legal or not. In fact, most customers fitting this description probably exceeded the speed limit on their way to the automotive shop in addition to squealing their tires and breaking sundry other moving violations.

The claims this product made:
Made with JET FUEL
Carries active ingredients
Restore performance
Prevent hesitation and stumble

I was just about to take a swig of it to restore my performance...after all...I am an old man, but then I read "Harmful or fatal if swallowed, COMBUSTIBLE.

I hoped, fantasized, and nearly salivated at the thought that my motorcycle would fairly rocket right out from under me. But, alas, I noticed no difference. Another product fails to deliver, as is the case with so many...

another new linc

Yes, the sidebar on the right is growing. If I can't bring you substance I can point you to someone who can. PKS is Professor Kent Sanders, who is a professor at St. Louis Christian College and who will be running the place some day. Kent and I worked together when he was just starting out in ministry as a very talented, very smart young man with a heart for missions, and a desire to teach. So we thought he would be great as a worship minister. He was, and the church grew and we had some very good years of ministry. So when you come to my blog and you're disappointed to find yet another post about bird nests, motorcycle maintenance, or tattoos, click on PKS for intelligent book reviews, discussions of current ministry topics, Johnny Carson, movie reviews and also practical tips on MP3 players and other technology.

tattoos at weddings and funerals

I'm at a lot of weddings and funerals. I see tattoos on girls at these formal occasions and I have to believe that as they were getting that tattoo they weren't thinking about how that tattoo would look when they were wearing formal type dress. It seems to me that they were probably thinking that they would always be wearing tattoo flattering jeans and some kind of tattoo flattering top. Maybe they were imagining themselves on the beach, riding a Harley or at the Carnival, not clinging to the side of a casket or standing up in front of 300 people at a church in someone's wedding.

Maybe young guys love seeing that tattoo half peeking out from behind some flaky bridesmaids dress. Also, the bridesmaids don't get to choose a color that coordinates with their tattoo. To me it's about as flattering as if the girl turned aside and spat out a big gob of tobacco juice. And funerals; somehow that great big pretty parrot or happy butterfly seem to look on mockingly when someone is crying and their nose is running.

I'm not against getting a tattoo. In fact I may get one when I turn 70. That way instead of having a smudgey blob of a tattoo on sagging skin at age 70 I'll have a brand spanking new tattoo on sagging skin.