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a rainy day in Toronto

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

It was a rainy day today, but with a forecast that was accurate for once, we were prepared. Sort of.

We went to the Royal Ontario Museum, and checked out two exhibits they've got on display at the moment. Both have awareness/environmental themes, which is good because we desperately need such exposure. The first was about water: it's role in shaping the world around us; and our role in degrading our water resources. The second was "Edward Burtynsky: Oil". Both were eye-opening, especially for Mari who was particularly impressed with the destruction we're bringing to the Alberta Tar Sands area. Both of us were curious about the equipment that Burtynsky uses, and I wasn't surprised to learn that it was a 10cm x 12.5cm "large format" field camera. I was very surprised to learn that not only is the fellow Canadian but that like me he comes from St. Catharines. Always nice to learn of someone accomplished from the old city (especially for doing something other than killing young girls or police officers).

I urge anyone with an interest in photography or the oil industry or the Earth to check out the show. The photos are first-rate, covering everything from the industry's extraction fields, to the obscene ways in which celebrate the squandering of this precious resource, to the mangled and filthy junk that piles up as a result. Very provocative.

Kenny's interest in the "Water" exhibit was limited and he slept through the "Oil" show, but he did love a run through the dinosaur exhibit!

Our unprepared part came in relying on the streetcar to get us from the Beaches to the city centre and back on a Sunday. We won't try that again; I reckon it added 90 minutes to the round trip, easily.