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April 9, 2011. A set of fire extinguishers inside of the abandoned Westwood Theatre at Six Points, Etobicoke.

April 9, 2011. California has the "Hollywood" sign, Etobicoke has the "Westwood" sign. Though not nearly as monumental, this former theatre's rooftop sign is a bit of a landmark in Toronto's west end. As condos sprout all around the Six Points interchange (where Kipling Ave, Bloor, and Dundas Streets all meet and tangle into a pile of asphalt), the Westwood Theatre sits vacant and stripped of most of its interior, waiting for the land to be redeveloped. The Ontario government was planning on building a new provincial courthouse here, but this plan was scrapped in the most recent budget.

On Saturday, I went with some fellow photographers for a peek inside...

April 8, 2011. I spotted this penny farthing bicycle riding on Dupont St. at Perth Ave. I saw this guy (I assume it's the same person) a couple of years ago on Campbell Ave., and someone else recently reported another sighting on Twitter. So I'm glad I had my little camera with me to get this snapshot. Next time, I hope to flag him down for a chat. I'd love to know where he got the bike, and of course I'd fancy taking this highwheeler for a spin.

April 8, 2011. A new tag on the stairway up to the Bloor GO station. Kismet says, "Try your war on graffiti?". This is likely in response to all of the graffiti cleanup (and goofy mayoral photo-ops) happening all over the city, including right here. I'm sure it'll be an interesting cat-and-mouse game for a while.

On that note: I'll be leading a "Jane's Walk" around our neighbourhood on Saturday May 7th. We will explore and discuss various forms of public art around the Junction Triangle neighbourhood, including murals, street art, ghost signs, etc. More info about this walk is on the Junction Triangle website.

October 17, 2010, Powell St. at Jackson St., San Francisco. I took a bunch of photos while hanging on for dear life standing on the running-board at the front of the cable car. Our conductor had to jump off here to manually switch tracks as we went by.

October 17, 2010, at the corner of Pacific Ave. and Stockton St., in Chinatown, San Francisco.

After visiting the Cable Car museum, I was treated to some west coast rain while wandering around Chinatown looking for lunch. (If you step away from the touristy Chinatown strip, you can find some delicious and cheap eats. I stuffed myself with a $4 plate of noodles, while seated at a big table with friendly locals.) Smartly, many of the locals carry umbrellas for exactly these rainy moments. I had a rain jacket and hat, so I managed to do OK too.

It's also worth noting, though probably not interesting at all for 99.9999% of people, that I had trouble finding this exact location on Google Streetview, as the name/signage on the Wing Sun Market has completely changed.

Note: Yeah, my "daily" photo posts have been on the rocks for the last couple of months. I still want to post more of my San Francisco pics from last October, and keep up with some more current things. But sometimes other commitments, of the small/crying/pooping variety, tend to change my focus.

March 1, 2011. Perth Ave., just south of Bloor St.

February 12, 2011. A balloon, the former Tower Automotive building, and the CN Tower, looking east from the West Toronto Railpath.

This balloon graffiti has been showing up all over our 'hood, especially along the Railpath, and apparently all over the city. This plot of land has undergone many changes over the last couple of years, and it will be interesting to see what it gets re-developed into.

February 10, 2011. Out for a walk on a sunny Thursday afternoon. This is the view from Lansdowne Ave. over the barren former TTC streetcar yard on Lansdowne Ave., across to the Nitta Gelatin factory. There's also a CN Tower in there if you look closely.

February 10, 2011. The railway tracks around the Junction Triangle can be great places to go for a walk, even though you're technically not allowed to be here. It's not unusual to find plenty of graffiti and illegally dumped garbage along here, but sometime I come across other unexpected things like this snowman.

This was taken on the Newmarket/Barrie tracks at Paton Rd.