On the Road with Nadurra

My friend Rob works at Nadurra. They're an eco-friendly hardwood flooring supplier. Last Friday he wanted to go out and shoot some places that the had supplied flooring to. In hindsight maybe we should have called first.

Our first stop was the Ontario Science Centre. They had ordered some reclaimed wood flooring for one of their projects there. It was while we were waiting for one of the department heads there that I bumped into my former colleague, Reay, and his daughter. They have a yearly membership to the Science Centre and Reay takes his daughter fairly regularly because there's a kids' section there that she likes.

After a short wait the Science Centre contact met us. He told us they were using the flooring in the Banting and Best display they were setting up. Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin in the early 1920's. It was used to treat diabetes.

Unfortunately the display (which was supposed to be a recreation of their lab) was still under construction. The only thing that was finished was the flooring. Rob mentioned it normally should be installed last so it wouldn't get damaged by anything else falling on it during the construction process.

While we didn't get to take pictures here the department head (whose name escapes me) took us on a behind-the-scenes tour of his department. It was a large workshop area where they made all the displays for the Science Centre. They had all sorts of woodworking machinery and a graphic design shop. They do everything in house. In fact they even make displays for other museums or galleries and ship them overseas. Neither Rob nor I had any idea they did any of that stuff there. It was so neat to see. The area was huge.

Our next stop was a Regent Park condo project called Paintbox (by Daniels). Unfortunately after speaking with the onsite property manager we were informed we would have to submit an application requesting permission to shoot whichever areas we were interested in and the board of managers would have to approve it.

Next we headed to the University of Toronto Mining Building at 170 College Street. They had installed some flooring on the fourth floor in one of the public areas of the student lab.

At first we tried taking the elevator up. But, you needed a card to access certain floors. So we tried the stairs next. Same deal. As we turned to leave down the stairs from the fourth floor one student was on his way up. Rob asked him how we could access the floor. He told us you had to sign out a key fob that would allow you entry. He mentioned he didn't have one either. But, he was going to call a friend (who was already inside) to open the door for him. Before he did that another one of his friends opened the door and we followed him in. We spent about 20 minutes there taking pictures.

Next stop was a private residence in the Bloor and Christie area. A young couple was in the process of renovating their house and had used some of Nadurra's reclaimed flooring. It looks great, but costs an arm and a leg (at $9-$10 a square foot).

While they were still living there, again they were still in the process of renovations. So, like the Science Centre, they weren't finished either. The couple had installed the flooring both on their main floor and upstairs. Rob and I moved some of the clutter around and I got a few reasonable shots of the dining room/kitchen area. We may return later after they finish completely.

The Burning House

 At age one. A little confused by the neighbour's sprinkler.

I just happened upon a blog called The Burning House. People are invited to submit a photo and a list of items they'd save from their home if it were burning down.

Among other things books, computers, cameras, shoes, bags, stuffed animals, real animals (pets) and photos/photo albums were listed.

The majority of items listed held some sort of sentimental value. Things like a ring or an old necklace or something given to them by a loved one (like grandparent, husband, girlfriend, best friend etc.) either living or passed on.

For me... I've collected a lot of "junk" over time. They're pieces of the past that I like to look back on. Old notebooks from public school, Christmas/birthday cards and things like that from friends over the years. They're part of the journey I call life. People who've impacted my life at one point or another.

I must say I have too much "junk" though. I stopped buying souvenirs when I traveled a long time ago. I learned they just end up in a pile of dust in a drawer or closet. Just taking up more and more valuable space. Memories aren't "things" you collect when you're away from home. It's the destination itself.

That's why I cherish my photos of these places. They are the second thing I would take - My photo albums. Before the advent of digital cameras I printed, dated and organized all my shots. If I ever lost them I'd never be able to replace them. That would be devastating.

The third thing I'd take would be my computer and back up drive. Because that's where all my current digital photos are stored. I've posted most of them online too on Flickr.com . But, they're only a fraction of the original file size. So I'd like to hang on to my computer too if I could.

Now, you've probably noticed I haven't yet mentioned the first item I'd take. It's another photo album. But, this one isn't one that I had any part in putting together. No, it's my baby album that my parents assembled. It has photos of me in it from the time I was born to the end of high school. I have to say there weren't a lot of shots in me in my teenage years, but still... it holds a significant place in my heart.

Now it's your turn... What would you take?

Photo Shoot at The Brick Works

I went to The Evergreen Brick Works on Saturday to take some pictures with my friend. I met her through another friend at a bridal show they were modeling at. I took pictures there too.

Anyway, we were trying to figure out a date and place to go. I thought the kilns at the Brick Works would be nice because I've taken pictures there before. It's a neat looking place.

The only problem was that the weather we've been having has been unpredictable. The one good thing about the kilns at the Brick Works are that they're covered. So it doesn't matter if it's raining. But, it's still open to the outside so if it's -10C out, that's how it'll feel there too.

It turned out to be colder than I hoped. The temperature was below 10C if I remember correctly. It wasn't bad for me since I could dress as warmly as I wanted (since I was behind the lens). But, for my friend, it wasn't so nice.

I got some reasonable shots. Some were crappy, some were alright. I'll post them on Flickr.com so you can have a look.

Flashback to 1989

Look what I found... it's a picture of me and my classmates from my graphic design class at George Brown College back in 1989 (I believe). I took these photos with my father's old, Canon AE-1 SLR using black and white film. It was part of a photography class we had back then. We did everything ourselves. From processing the film to printing the pictures in the darkroom. No instant, click and view on the back of your digital camera back then. You took your shots, waited until you finished the whole roll. Developed them (either yourself or took them somewhere to do it) and got to look at them days or weeks later. Oh, how the anticipation built! When you finally got your pictures back you were either pleasantly surprised with how they turned out or kind of disappointed that they didn't look as nice as you thought they would. The thing is, you never knew until sometime later. There's no suspense any longer. I guess, depending on how you look at it, that could be a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, I've sort of drifted from my original intention of talking about my former classmates. I currently have some sort of contact with four of the five in the picture above. I'm in the top row in the middle. Anne-Marie (top-left) actually lives two doors down from me on the same floor in my condo. Isn't that a coincidence? I've been here since the end of 2001. She moved in about three years ago. Before that we hadn't had any contact since we graduated back in 1990. What are the chances of that? Lawrence (top-right) lives in Hong Kong. The last time we e-mailed each other was at least five years ago. I just wrote him a few days ago. No response yet. I don't even know if he still uses the address I have for him. Philip Luisi is on the bottom-left. He was one of funnier guys in class. I always liked him. He's the person I most recently reconnected with. Phil's currently working at an ad agency in Toronto. He's living in Etobicoke and has been married for 10 years and has an eight-year-old daughter. I just found Norbert (bottom-middle) on Facebook few weeks ago. He looks different. I suppose we all do. He's still quite thin like before. But, his golden locks are nowhere to be found. Rob Lee is still in the city. I just talked to him about a week ago. We usually talk about once a year. It's been quite a few years since we've actually seen each other face to face. That's too long as far as I'm concerned. I'm going to have to do something about that. After graduation we traveled Europe together for 2-1/2 months. My biggest and longest adventure to date.

Anyway, it was cool digging up these old shots again. I believe the original prints were buried somewhere in my parents' basement before. I scanned them and stored them on a CD quite a few years ago. That lay hidden amongst all my other junk until just recently when I was going through some of my stuff again. Old treasures, once lost, found again. Makes me happy.