The Past Two Days (Completed)

[rfmcdonald]

• At 10 o'clock, as I passed the Scott Mission below Spadina Circle, an elderly woman with long dirty grey hair, a heavy coat, and mascara like a raccoon began screaming at me because I took hookers in her car.


• In Toronto's urban ecology, squirrels and pigeons are dominant.


• On subways, streetcars, and buses, unless things are really crowded women passengers are always accorded an extra seat.

Early Monday afternoon, I bought two books. I picked up an older GDW copy of the Megatraveller Rebellion sourcebook at Grey Region on Yonge Street. The Traveller RPG universe is a remarkably dense setting. Briefly put, a quarter-million years ago a godlike civilization transported humans to dozens of different worlds before fighting a civilization-annhilating war. When Earth in the early 22nd century began expanding to the stars, it encountered a vast empire created by one of these offshoot civilizations. War ensured, interstellar civilization staggered on for a bit (the Ziru Sirka was aging) before falling and finally being reborn in the Third Imperium. The Rebellion referred to in the title began as a result of a bungled assassination attempt in the 57th century against the Third Imperium by the Archduke Dulinor; granted that he managed to kill the Emperor, his Empress, and the Grand Princess (oh, and also the ambassador from the warlike Aslan), the rest of the effort was hopelessly bungled. (The twin crown princes who formed a collateral branch of the Imperial dynasty not only survived, but one killed the other so he could take the throne; another member of the Imperial dynasty away from Capital founded her own corporate-dominated regime; it turned out that the Emperor wasn't killed at all, that it was an actor filling in for him on official business; the aliens (the genetically-engineered dog Vargr, the Earth-supremacist Solomani, the land-hungry Aslan clans) kept at bay on the frontier invaded; et cetera.) It was controversial; when Steve Jackson Games relaunched the system, the Rebellion was avoided altogether. It's cool.

And, on the theme of interstellar intra-dynastic rivalries bringing down great human interstellar empires, I also bought Lee Hogan's Belarus. That bored and decadent interstellar nobles managed to institute a new dark age is bad enough for the colonists of the new Russian-dominated colony world of Belarus; what's worse is that, oh yes, the native civilization of Belarus is waking up, and their social relationships are based on highly ritualized serial killing. Briefly put, Belarus is a science-fiction horror book: What happens to people when they're locked in the vast haunted mansion and the power has gone out and the deformed serial killer is slaughtering at will? Still, it's fun for all that.





After the Grey Region I crossed over from Yonge to spent some time on Church Street. I drank a beer at Wilde Oscar's on Church and Maitland, then I returned to my hostel to unload my purchases and watch some television. (Ah, The Simpsons.)

I left at 6 o'clock for the subway, boarding at Queen's Park with the ultimate intent of going to Lalibela, an Ethiopian restaurant at 869 Bloor Street West (Christie subway stop). I was disgorged in the middle of Koreatown (ah, the Koreans and their lovely efficient hangul script), but as I walked west I was intruiged to notice how the Korean enclave overlapped with Ethiopian and Eritrean community institutions and businesses. (Despite the recent bloody war between those two countries, individually Ethiopians and Eritreans get on quite well it seems.) I bought an issue of the Journal of Eritrean Studies (4: 1-2, Summer 1989 and Winter 1990); it had a very interesting interview with Thomas Kenneally in it, and the articles contained had a nationalistic mindset that helped explain how Eritrea got to where it is now.

Tim from BIMOT met me as planned, and we shared an excellent platter of samplers. Ethiopian cuisine is distinct not least because cutlery is not used; rather, the food is served on a bread platter which can be eaten. (The bread is something else; it's apparently made of some lentil-like grain, and has the appearance though not the taste or texture of some foamed material.) The food was excellent, despite the relatively slow service; the spiced meats were particularly good. We had a nice wide-ranging conversation about a few different things including his very interesting experiences sailing in the Grenadines, and then he took me over to Craig's apartment to watch Queer as Folk with other people from BIMOT (nine, I think, all counted). I've never been a fan of the show though the episode was enjoyable, but then the company was the real point; even better was the movie Lilies that followed Queer as Folk. (Note to self: If one is an French aristocrat and a time traveller, do not go to early 20th century backwoods Québec.) Afterwards, I got back to my hostel thanks to Tim's kind offer of a lift past 2 o'clock.





I knew what I wanted to do first thing Tuesday morning after I left the hostel. As a child, I was fascinated by all things related to science. I still am. One thing that always pained me, however, was the fact that the wonderful Canadian-made science books all tended to be associated with the Ontario Science Centre in some way, shape or form, and I could never get there. Seeing this wonderful place, then, was a top opportunity for me, and despite some concerns with navigating the subway/bus interface to and from the museum I managed to get there at 10:30 after about 45 minutes of travel.

It was very, very, fun. I've taken a few photos, but the exhibits are of the highest calibre, the Omnimax theatre (I saw the film Space Station, narrated by Tom Cruise, exploring the construction and maintenance of the International Space Station) was fantastic, and ... well. I spent more than three hours there, as my Frommer's recommended, and that time was entirely worth it.





I took the subway down from Eglington to Union Station. I spent some time puttering around there, making sure I understood the relative locations of the subway and train stations for tomorrow's pilgrimage to Kingston, and then I walked up Church Street. I did get some nice pictures of churches; unfortunately, it rained heavily as I walked up. (I decided not to go to the Art Gallery of Ontario, but to save that for later; I wanted to see a bit of the city outside of the major tourist attractions, and to walk up to Wilde Oscar's for my 6 o'clock dinner meeting with Bruce from BIMOT.) One good thing about the walk was that I found a pay phone and I did get in touch with James, back from the Muskokas; we set up a time to meet later.)

It was great to see Bruce again. We had an excellent dinner (I ordered a white wine and a rack of lamp with assorted side dishes, and split a bottle of red wine with Bruce). The dinner conversation, though increasingly inebriated as time passed, was fun; as a student he specialized in medieval studies, and we had a nice conversation that began with his observation of the connections between the pre-Raphaelites and British christian socialism and meandered, past world affairs, to the present. After we finished our dinners and a side trip to a closed gallery east of Church-Maitland, he took me over to Woody's on Church, where we shared a couple of drinks. Bruce had to leave around 9:00, and I bid him his adieus then; afterwards, I got into an interesting conversation with one Glenn, who had Robb's book on Caravaggio, that began with an observation of the modernity-like genius of the Italian Renaissance and then became a discussion about the merits of Kerouac and Burroughs (me against, on the grounds that their use of drugs made their experiences irrelevant to people generally, never mind the nihilistic nature of their actions in literature and life.)

I left soon after I finished talking with Glenn, making my way up Church towards The Looking Glass where I'd arranged to meet James. En route, I stopped off at Starbuck's to order a coffee to accelerate my sobriety; there, I met to interesting queer expatriates from the Maritimes, permanently settled in Toronto since the 1980s. Reid was particularly interesting to talk to.

Finally, I made it to The Looking Glass at 10:15, and met up with James. It's quite safe to say that meeting up with James is one of my trip's high points. I consider him a good friend, I quite enjoy his company, and last year when I was coming out (and afterwards in regards to other personal crises) he was an invaluable help. Immediately departing The Looking Glass with its horrible stand-up comedy for Slack Alice north of Church-Wellesley, we went on to have great fun talking over drinks until quarter after 1 am. We begged our fatigue, and departed for our respective destinations; I walked down Church to Carlton and College, and I caught the westwards streetcar just west of Yonge.





I'll be visiting the Art Gallery of Ontario; I'll be going to Queen's Street West to explore more; and, at 8 o'clock, I'll be going to the Metro Hall on John Street for this month's BIMOT meeting. I'll be walking all day, mainly since I like walking in Toronto. Other tasks--including possible barhopping tonight and preparing for the move over to Kingston--will appear as I think of them.



That's pretty much it.