Bell still sucks!

I sit here, lonely and sad, in the lovely Roxy Cafe in small town Acton enjoying a tasty large latte and enjoying the free wireless. My internet loss continues now, I am sure, into its third week. Bell cannot seem to get their act in gear and get the vital part out to me. I call every second day, angry white man, disappointed and blue, and they tell me things that are less than the truth. The last guy finally admitted they hadn't sent anything out - but they will this time!

Maybe their crappy service and high prices are why there are a number of sites on the world wide web such as http://bellcanadasucks.com/, http://www.bellcanadasucks.ca/, and the ever popular post "Dear God I hate Bell Canada".

Badlands in Spring

Winter is fighting Spring and for the time being it looks like Spring is going to be Winter's bitch. I drove to the Badlands of Caledon hidden away in Cheltenham. The wet weather complements the badlands, makes them even badder. I wanted to go there since I missed the scary midway movie set for Silent Hill that was at Cherry Beach. The fog and the rain and the bare trees were almost as scary as how long the wet clay clung to my boots, ooooohhh.

Toronto's Molson Beer Vats

I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I saw the six humongous Molson Coors beer vats parked on the side of the road. With the weather being cold (it is winter and all) I thought I might see a blue mountain on the side of the large cans saying that the beer was the right temperature. When I didn't find the blue mountain I looked for the mug handles, figuring these babies were made for Octoberfest and some buxom beer maid carrying all six mugs in her hands - no go with the handles either. For some reason they have no beer in the containers. Noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Made in Germany each large fermenting unit holds almost 1 million bottles of beer (now that's a keg). The trip to the Toronto Brewery is a logistical nightmare and to reduce transportation and traffic issues the convoy travels at night, parking during the day along the side of the road. They have a twitter account documenting the movement and his latest tweet ends with "Cheers"! Mmm, beer.

I wasted a bunch of time waiting for this vat to move but after a few hours I found out that it is staying where it  is beside the Steam Whistle Brewery.

Photo Vault - Badlands

Now that you don't have to be good for Santa (for a little while yet) you can be bad - if fact you can be so bad that you have to stay in the badlands.

Sad and abandoned

In good times and bad you can usually find something that has been abandoned and left to rot. Sometimes in the hopes that it will be rebuilt and saved for glimpse into the past and sometimes because no one has the money to change things. I will keep my eye open for abandoned things in the future.

Foggy Sunrise

The sun rises over a light fog while the grass is frosted in the cold morning air – the horses eat the cold grass anyways.

Leaves fall on a pond

The fall colours are fading fast and there won't be much time left to view the beauty of Ontario's forests. After the leaves fall there is nothing left but the coming of winter, the harsh, harsh winter. This weekend is supposed to be sunny and warm, maybe a little on the coolish side so get out and enjoy it if you can.

I went to a local pond (Frog Pond in Acton) to see the colours and what was left of the leaves on the trees. We have definitely passed peak and the majority of leaves have fallen to the ground. The remaining leaves are burnt and colours with very few vibrant orange, yellow and reds.

2010 Dodge Rodeo

Cowboys and cowgirls competed at the 2010 Dodge Rodeo Championships over the weekend at Hershey Centre and sales of A535 were probably through the roof. These guys rode broncos and bulls, roped calves and even wrestled the young cows. The bulls are gigantic and long trails of snot fly from their faces as they try to throw the cowboy off their back. Even when the rider stays on for the required period they still have to get off the animal and there doesn't seem to be any easy way without jumping off and hoping to land on your feet.

Roping the calves included single rider events where you tried to rope the calf's head and team roping where one rider roped the head and the other rider had to rope the back legs. Many of the calves were able to escape without being roped.

Competitions also included barrel racing and obstacle races.



Fly Fishing

There are many people that are passionate about fishing, whether from the shore, on a boat or actually in the water doing some fly fishing. With the changing colours of the fall season it is a beautiful time to get out and enjoy the scenery of Southern Ontario and catch some supper. I don't really have the patience for fishing but it is interesting to watch fly fishermen work their magic with the long fishing lines. This guy has the bright neon, floating line and you can see it from long distances. You can pick up your fly fishing gear at Wilson's.

Toronto has the famous annual summer Great Ontario Salmon Derby and you can win some fantastic prizes if you are lucky enough to catch some big salmon.

CNE and the Fall Fair season

When you think of Toronto's CNE you think end of summer and the kids going back to school - I also think it starts the fair season around Ontario. In small town Acton our Fall Fair started last night and will continue till Sunday. Bright lights, fast rides, pretty girls (these are the Miss Acton winners) and deep fried whatevers make for a fun weekend. Do you want to go faster - I can't hear you! Long exposure pictures blur the thousands of individual light bulbs and produce a spinning blaze of colour.

See more pictures after the jump.

Many Fairs in small towns have a parade down Main Street.



And the Fairs are full of all sorts of animals as the theme is usually agricultural in nature. Impressive horses and cows share space with cages full of prize chickens. In Toronto the Royal Winter Fair will soon be here (Nov 5-14, 2010) and you can often forget that the actual title is The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

In addition to a beer tent a great Fair has tons of other entertainment - from tractor pulls to concerts. Here is Elvis playing in front of a massive crowd of swooning females. His assistant provides new scarves for Elvis to sweat on and then pass out to fans.

Fall - the leaves they are a changing

I have spied with my little eyes that some leaves in the forests have already started to change colour. While the prospect of the coming winter fills me with something less than glee I must admit that I do like Fall. The comfortable temperatures and beautiful scenery make Fall one of the top four seasons. Fall does not officially start until September 22, 2010 so those leaves better stop changing.

The Ontario Parks - Fall Colour Report website currently shows that 0% of the leaves have changed colour, well screw them, I know what I see and I won't be silenced. Ontario has some of the best places to take photos of Fall and I look forward to my annual waterfall tour.

Sunset over geese

Summer time and the living is easy. It's time to stop and smell the roses and watch the sun rise or set.  On August 27th the Earth and Mars will be pretty close but but even then Mars will not be as big as the Moon - in fact it will only look like a bright star.

Lil' Ducklings

A small family of ducks enjoys a summer swim. Mommy keeps a close eye out for the little ones to keep them safe.