Tag / CN Tower

by admin

Vacation Recap – Toronto

toronto-condoTwo weeks ago, I headed out early on a Friday morning for the long drive northeast to the Canadian city of Toronto.  I arrived in the early evening, with my allergies inflamed after an afternoon of driving through the wilds of Michigan.  After a quick trip to find a pharmacy, we settled in at the sports bar just around the corner from our condo for dinner before calling it an early night to recover from a day of travelling.

Saturday morning was spent walking around the lakefront, enjoying the views and trying to get a little lay of the land.  The afternoon was spent at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays easily handled the Orioles to keep their hold on first place in the AL East.  Eventually we ended up at the fancy Italian restaurant across the street for dinner and drinks.

Sunday was another day of exploring.  After a late breakfast, we ended up on a bus tour, which, due to street closures, was not following its normal path.  It managed to drop us off a few blocks away from the Royal Ontario Museum, where we headed to enjoy some culture, including a special exhibit on Pompeii.  Thankfully, the tour was back on its normal path afterwards, so we grabbed a ride back to the condo before heading out to the Molson Canadian Ampitheatre for the Oddball Comedy Fest, which I went into much detail here.  After the show, we eventually managed to catch a cab back to the condo.

niagaraMonday was time to bid a temporary farewell to Toronto, as we headed south to Niagara Falls, where we spent the afternoon.   Continue reading →

by admin

Fitbit Week 32

Week32_FBThere’s something about being on vacation out of town that seems to get me moving, and last week was no different.  In fact, it was the most successful week I’ve had since I started tracking such things over 5 years ago, finishing with nearly 100,000 steps.  2 of the days have found themselves in my Top 5 step days.

Things got of to a tremendous start on Sunday, when I found myself doing more exploring of the greater Toronto metropolitan area, including the Royal Ontario Museum and, at night, the Molson Canadian Ampitheatre for the Oddball Comedy Fest.  The day’s total of 18,259 placed it as my 3rd most successful step day.  Monday we left Toronto behind and headed to Niagara Falls, where walking back and forth across the falls left me just shy of 14,000 steps.

Tuesday found me in Cooperstown, NY for a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame, which left me with close to 11,000 steps.  Wednesday was the lowlight of the week, with much of the day spent driving back to Toronto.  Still, the day ended up at nearly 9000 steps, thanks to dinner at the CN Tower.  Thursday was back to nearly 11,000 steps, thanks to the AC/DC concert at Downsview Park.

Friday, my last day in Toronto, ended up being another huge success, with 17,889 steps, my 4th most successful day, thanks to trips to the Eaton Centre mall, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a few other stops.  Saturday managed to just pass 10,000 steps, despite spending 8 hours in the car driving home, thanks to a trip to US Cellular Field to see the White Sox defeat the Twins.

Total steps: 90,702

Daily average: 12,957.4

by jim

A Group Of Oddballs

oddball_lineupSunday night of the Toronto trip had been scheduled for dinner at the CN Tower, but then I got a message saying, “Hey, I jut got an email about this comedy festival on Sunday.  We should totally do this.”  I’d first heard of the Oddball Comedy Festival last year when Chris Hardwick was one of the performers.  I looked at this year’s lineup and got right on board.

The tickets claimed the show started at 5, which was kind of true.  The second stage had performers starting that early.  As you can tell from the picture above, the main stage didn’t kick off until 7:10.  To make matters worse, they weren’t letting people in to the pavilion, so you couldn’t even find your seat, leaving the 16,000 person strong crowd to battle for the limited shade on an unusually warm afternoon.

Once things got going, though, the show did not disappoint.  Other than the first 2 comics, Mark Normand and Katherine Ryan, I was familiar with all of the performers, so I had at least an idea of what to expect.  Sadly, the same could not be said for my travel companion Hayley, who, despite coming up with the idea of attending, had heard of Amy Schumer, but had never seen her in anything.  Normand and Ryan put on entertaining sets, followed by Michael Che, the current Weekend Update anchor on SNL.  His was a brand of humor that did not play well with the British contingent of my travelling party, but I found him to be quite good.

Following a theme, the next performer was Che’s cast-mate Jay Pharoah.  Jay struggles sometimes on SNL because he is a stand-up rather than a sketch guy, so it was good to see him shine in a more natural environment for him.  He was followed by Jim Norton, who I always find fascinating despite his long time association with Opie and Anthony, who I do not enjoy.

After a brief intermission, we entered what I am calling the Comedy Central part of the show.  Anthony Jeselnik, Nick Kroll, and Amy Schumer all have, or recently wrapped up, shows on the cable outlet.  If I had to pick a set that I liked the least, I would go with Jeselnik’s.  His brand of comedy doesn’t really mesh with my sensibilities, although he was a big hit with the English.  Schumer, after her big movie hit over the summer, was the obvious draw for many in attendance.  After her set, as Aziz Ansari took the stage as the headliner, the crowd starting filing out.  Granted, some of the crowd had been there for 5 hours at that point, but still… you can’t wait another half hour?

Anyway, I had a blast and, again, lament the fact that I never see live comedy in my home town.  I’ll certainly keep an eye out for the festival next year and, if the lineup is half as impressive, I’m definitely down for another go around.

by admin

Oh Canada

If everything goes according to plan, I will be leaving this morning for a road trip to Toronto, where I will meet up with my good friend Hayley.  We will spend about a week enjoying everything our neighbors to the north have to offer.  Not to mention a planned side trip back to the states to take in the offerings of Cooperstown, New York.

I’ll have a full detailing when I get back, but our current plans include the Blue Jays, the CN Tower, an AC/DC concert, the Oddball comedy fest, and a comedy club featuring Cameron Esposito.  Plus whatever comes up along the way.