Month: July 2004

The Saga of the Secret Swing Continues!

Post author By Joey deVilla
Post date July 23, 2004
4 Comments on The Saga of the Secret Swing Continues!

BoingBoing links to Chris’ blog entry about the Secret Swing, in which he — presumably after reading BoingBoing, who found out from me, who found out from Rannie
— and two friends give the swing a try. Chris wisely does what I did:
put an attractive young lady on the swing and take pictures.

In case you’re visiting Toronto, the alleyway in which you’ll find the
swing is just south of Queen Street West and runs parallel to it. Its
west end is at Bathurst and its easternmost terminus is at Spadina (just a couple of blocks south of my house); the swing is in an alcove in the north wall of the stretch between Denison and Spadina.

It Happened to Me

A Day in the Life

Sometimes Scott and I have these conversations that end up sounding like this police scanner chatter:

Make sure you the read the whole comic.

(I am sooooo car 15, dude.)

In the News

Today’s Oddball News Items

Post author By Joey deVilla
Post date July 21, 2004
2 Comments on Today’s Oddball News Items

But that’s how my birthday parties always end!
MARYVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Michael P.
Monn’s birthday celebration went a little awry when he was arrested
while drunk, nude and covered with nacho cheese.
I am the Lorax! I speak for the trAAAAArrrgh…
TULSA
– Blake Champlin, a Tulsa lawyer and environmental activist, died
Monday at his home when a tree supporting a hammock fell and crushed
him.
I understand. I have politely
sent out official requests for people to address me as “Your Sexiness”
and even Wendy isn’t playing along.
Veteran actor Ben Kingsley, who got a
knighthood three years back, might love the fact that he is now Sir Ben
Kingsley, but it reportedly drove his co-stars up the wall because he
expects to be called Sir every time.

It Happened to Me Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

Scott Murff IS Dick Starbuck!

Post author By Joey deVilla
Post date July 21, 2004
1 Comment on Scott Murff IS Dick Starbuck!

Here’s my friend and co-worker Scott Murff
(he’s in the Research and Innovation department with me) posing in the grafitti alley south of Queen Street, posing beside
the grafitti that speaks to him the most:

He’s a complicated man, and no one understands him but Boss Ross…

It Happened to Me Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

Christine on the Secret Swing

Post author By Joey deVilla
Post date July 21, 2004
5 Comments on Christine on the Secret Swing

Here’s Christine (who writes the Blogware-powered blog Purplecar, hosted by the fine folks at BlogHarbor)
enjoying the secret swing that someone — nobody seems to know who put
it up, how, or why — set up in an alcove in the grafitti alleyway just
south of Queen Street West.

She got some serious air; at some point, the swing’s chains were 90
degrees to the ground. With that kind of angle, she got some seriou
speed, which isn’t easy on that swing. The alleyway is so narrow that
it’s pretty easy to scrape yourself if you drift a little too far to
the side.

Rannie “Photojunkie” Turingan has taken a much better photo of the swing in its alcove; take a gander at this picture of the swing and this one of the rod that holds it up.

It Happened to Me

Scenes from a Wedding

I spent last weekend with Wendy in Baltimore, attending the wedding of
my friends Herb and Jessie. The wedding was absolutely wonderful: it
was held outdoors, within a stone’s throw of the water of Balitmore’s
harbour. The weather cooperated, as did the curious onlookers at the
nearby outdoor patio bar and Boston, who were doing a sound check in
the amphitheatre on the neighbouring pier.

Storytelling will follow, but in the meantime, you can check out the photos in photo album or slideshow form.

She’s with the accordion player.