Let's see how my plans for a relatively relaxed day turned out...
After meeting Aidan's sister and her daughter, I walked to the
McDonald's across from the Royal
Ontario Museum,
where I had breakfast and switched to short sleeved pants because it was nice
and hot out. I then walked along Bloor some more; around where Bloor
becomes Danforth, repairs were being done on Castle Frank Station and nearby an
ambulance was dealing with a matter in the middle of the road. Frank Castle
is the comic book/movie vigilante The Punisher, so maybe damaged stations and
other injuries are what you get when you name a subway station after him.
[NOW: That McDonald's closed, but another later opened up at about the same location.]
On Danforth it was still before 9:30 when I reached a Book City
that opened then; rather than waiting I decided to take the Bloor-Danforth line
from Chester Station to Kennedy Station. I got confused there trying to find
the Scarborough line and accidentally
backtracked back to Warden Station. Getting back to Kennedy Station (on the
return I got to sit at the front at least) I finally found the found the Scarborough line and took it to Scarborough Town Centre
Station. Only a few metres away is its mall namesake; the HMV there was moving
so I got some books there 20% off. I took the train back to Midlands Station,
still Scarborough, and got some DVDs at
Kennedy Commons nearby. I returned to Midlands Station and took the train
back to Kennedy, where I took the Bloor-Danforth line back to Chester.
[NOW: All transportation this day TTC/Toronto Transit Commission. The Bloor-Danforth line is now Line 2 and the Scarborough Line is now Line 3. HMV is now defunct. The store at Kennedy Commons was Deja Vu Discs.]
I returned to Book
City, careful not to take
photos of the homeless(?) guy that a policewoman was helping. I walked to
Re-Reading, then Circus, where I got a DVD, then took the Bloor-Danforth line
east again from Donlands to Main
St, where I transferred to a 64 bus to Queen St in
the Islands area. I visited Planet X
Comics and another Book City, the grabbed lunch at a pizza place and walked
to Kew Beach. Not as many people on the
beach as I'd have guessed.
Returning to Queen, I took photos of the construction and went to Film Buff
(not yet open), In the Groove Records (no DVDs), Discovery Records (not open Wed),
Ric's Collectibles (now a jewellery pawn shop called Dean's), 6 Shooter (gone).
I walked to Gerrard St,
where my favourite video store from last year, Jumbo Video was gone.
While waiting for a streetcar nearby, I grabbed a pop from the McDonald's and then
took the 506 streetcar to College and Yonge, where I visited the Toronto Police Museum.
I took another 506 streetcar a short ways, overshooting my stop slightly, and
visited Around Again and Little Video Shop on Baldwin St. There I bought the
complete series of Soap for $15. The cashier realized she was undercharging
me so I waited to ask for a bit more but she never did. I did try to offer her
an extra $5 but she had disappeared by the time I got the money out. I
tried.
[NOW: Film Buff, Around Again Records, and Little Video Shop have closed.]
I returned to College St.
For the rest of my College St
travels this day unless noted, I never saw a streetcar going my way, just the
other way. I visited She Said Boom and then walked to Denision Square. I wanted to get a
good shot of the statue of Al Waxman, but there was a sketchy looking person
near the statue. I decided soon to chance it anyway, but a couple of
teens sat down on the bench in front of the statue. I went to the Augusta Ave branch
of Sonic Boom Records and then crossed the street back to Denison, but the teens were still at the
bench. Will try to return another day before I leave.
[NOW: She Said Boom! moved a couple doors down. Sonic Boom Records merged with the other branch and moved to Spadina Ave.]
I returned to College St and visited Balfour Books, Soundstations (can't recall if there was DVDs there), Ammo Video (gone), Film Fiends (replaced by a book store I can't recall the name of), Queen Video, Marquee Video (gone). I went to a convenience beside the former location and, this being my final stop on College, finally saw a streetcar going the way I wanted it to. I was going to take it west and transfer a ways down but decided in light of this to walk to Queen St and take a streetcar west from there.
[NOW: Queen Video has closed.]
Bought a DVD at 724 Video. I visited River Trading (mainly books) and then
took a streetcar east to Ayerego (closed for the day). I continued east to Type
Books, 2Q Video, Rotate This (vinyl only), Eyesore Video above it (bought
DVDs), Frantic Records (I think it changed its name), Cosmos West Records
(vinyl), Neurotica (can't recall what happened there), Cosmos Records (Vinyl),
Slinky Music (another name now, the other kind of music shop; instruments et
al), Queen Video.
[NOW: 724 Video, Ayergo Books, 2Q Video, Frantic City Records, and Queen Video have closed. River Trading moved to Hamilton. Eyesore Video and Neurotica also moved.
I had dinner at McDonald's (this one as being renovated last year) and
having already put on a coat due to ran, hoped to change back to long
sleeve pants, but there were sound effects coming from the toilet so I
decided not to wait. I visited Silver Snail Comics, HMV, Penguin Records (no
DVDs; in a basement in a larger store area), BMV Express (bought some comics),
Kop's Collectibles (vinyl; it's beside the Condom Shack). I tried heading
north to King St but then realized it was south but at least got some nice
photos of the CN Tower with storm clouds). I rode the subway (Yonge-University-Spadina
line) from Osgoode Station to King St Station (should have gotten off at St
Andrew) and then walked west along King
St to Canada's Walk of Fame; a little
tricky to take photos (I don't think everyone even realizes it's there). Some of the Walk was darker; likely new because there
are some blank squares. I went south to Mercer St so I could photograph the
exterior of Second
City, where many famous
comedians like John Candy got their break. I returned to King and took a streetcar
there back to King Station, taking photos of the Walk of Fame along the
way. I took the Yonge et al subway to Yonge-Dundas Square, where it was pouring.
[NOW: Silver Snail Comics is now near Yonge-Dundas Square. HMV is now defunct. Penguin Music and Condom Shack are now closed.]
I crossed the street to Toronto Eaton Centre in search of a bathroom, finally
finding one on the Queen St side. The person in the other stall seemed a bit
crazy so while I changed into pants I didn't freshen up as much as I'd have
liked. Walking north on Yonge, I returned to Yonge-Dundas Square, took more
photos and then visited the Edward St branch of BMV (bought a book), and then
visited the so-called World's Biggest Bookstore, the only Chapters/Indigo
branch I plan to visit.
[NOW: World's Biggest Bookstore is now closed.]
I walked north on Yonge some more, passing: Rock Zone (gone; block
demolished), Sunrise Records, Play De Record (closed for the day), Hairy
Tarantula, NDJ Books (I think I bought a DVD), One Million Comix. Around
this point I passed Not Just Condoms, resisting the urge to exclaim, "But
wait, there's more!"
[NOW: That Sunrise Records, that Hairy Tarantula, NDJ Books, One Million Comix, and Not Just Condoms are now closed.]
Then: Refried Beats (vinyl if memory serves), Eliot's Bookstore, ABC Book
Store (actually maybe it's here I got the DVD; I was pretty tred by this
point), Sunrise Records. I headed west along Bloor, detouring to Bay Street, where I
got some DVDs at Bay Street Video. I headed west some more, trying to
find some inexpensive vanilla Coke at too many stores to mention before/after a
subway trip (see below). I visted BMV Books on Bloor, took some night shots of
Honest Ed's (flashing lights; looks neat at night) and took the Bloor-Danforth
line from Bathurst to Ossington Station. I finally located some cheap pop,
though not vanilla Coke. Didn't see the cat in the window today.
[NOW: Refried Beats, Eliot's Bookstore, that Sunrise Records, and Honest Ed's are now closed.]
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