Sorry for the lull. I had a bigger project of sorts to finish at work the last couple days and just couldn't find time to get a post in. Believe it or not, this is not a full time job. Or really even a part time job. I've yet to see a dollar from this site. What can you do? Anyway, as I let you all know last week, I spent last Friday and Saturday in Toronto with my brother. The first thing we learned is there is just nothing between Windsor and Toronto. As soon as we get on whatever you call a Canadian interstate, we really didn't see any evidence of a city until just before we exited near YYZ. We stayed at the Hilton Garden near the airport, if anybody was curious. The staff there wasn't overly friendly, especially by Canadian standards, but what can you do? The room was nice enough and there was a free shuttle to the airport.* That part was actually pretty nice, because it turns out there is a super convenient train that runs between the airport and Toronto's Union Station,** which was an excellent jumping off point for everything. *We had some trouble catching the shuttle back to the airport Friday night, which was frustrating, but at least the cab was only like $8 Canadian, which Google tells me converts to $5.96 USD. **I wondered while we were there if Amtrak would run to Toronto, or if that were truly an American train service. Turns out you absolutely can take the train to Toronto. The station code is TWO, if anybody happens to be interested. If you're American, anyway. It was expected to be a major stop on Canadian rail systems. The first night, after getting downtown, we made our first stop at the Loose Moose. Andrew found the place on his phone before we left, and we decided with a name like that, we couldn't go wrong. It also happened to be almost directly across the street from where you exit Union Station from the UP Express. Really, all the signs were there for a great time, and it did not disappoint. The atmosphere was lively, the Blue Jays were on with Vlad Jr.'s debut and ended with a walk-off homer for the Jays, and the Hurricanes and Islanders were playing an awfully tight playoff game. We probably couldn't have asked for much better timing, other than maybe a Maple Leafs playoff game. The food was also very good, starting off with maybe the best poutine I've ever had in my life. I still don't understand how poutine has not become a bigger thing in the US. Just one of those enduring mysteries, I guess. From there, Andrew said he wanted to check out Yonge-Dundas Square and see all the lights and signs there. And we were only going to be there for one night, so that seemed like the time to do it. It was a little bit of a walk, and it was a bit cold and windy. Neither of us was probably really dressed for it, but we weren't going to let that stop us. We made the hike and saw the sights. I really had no preconceived notions about it going in. I wasn't really even aware of it before Andrew brought it up. He mentioned that he thought it was all a bit smaller than he expected, maybe a bit less grand (to put some words into his mouth). Of course, it was also a cold a slightly wet night, so maybe the lack of a crowd played into that perception. Who knows? It was also on this walk where we more than a handful homeless people sleeping under a heap of blankets and sleeping bags on the sidewalk. It really broke my heart and made me a bit angry. Now, I didn't have a conversation with any of these people. I don't know their stories and I don't know their circumstances. I honestly don't really know what sort of infrastructure is in place for the homeless in Toronto, either. But, I think most of this is pretty general to any location. It seems to be an inevitability of capitalism that there will always be an excess of humans. Under capitalism, people are only worth what they can produce for their employers and society. This is the whole idea of how the working class (or, you know, the proletariat) are only ever going to get ahead if they can seize the means of production. As surprising as this may be, though, I'm not actually here to start spouting leftist socioeconomic stuff. More a plea for some humanity. In the industrialized world, at least, there is absolutely no reason for anybody to be sleeping on the street in literally freezing weather. That's probably true year round, but especially at those temperatures. If we have the means to build these huge stadiums and monuments and shopping centers, we ought to be able to build some shelter for these unfortunate people. If the government is unable or unwilling to provide it,* then there should be a number of religious entities that would seem to be charged with taking it upon themselves. Everybody is falling short here, and we as a society need to do better. *Which does seem like a job for the government, but I digress. Anyway, on the way back, we still weren't quite experts navigating Union Station, so we accidentally figured out you can get to Scotiabank Arena (nee Air Canada Centre) completely indoors from Union Station, which seems like a sensible thing being in a cold country in a building hosting winter sports. You can also very nearly get to Rogers Centre and the CN Tower totally indoors from Union Station. I did appreciate the thought on a bit-chillier-than-expected trip. Anyway, the next morning, we took the train back downtown and first checked out the Hockey Hall of Fame. It was just a door or two down from the Loose Moose, so it seemed like we pretty well had to check it out. Admission was $20 (again, Canadian money), and it was a bit odd. It was perfectly good time, lots of neat things to see, including an Indianapolis Racers program featuring Wayne Gretzky. The room with all the trophies (including one of the three Stanley Cups) had a very pretty stained glass dome to it. But the atmosphere was definitely different. I have been to Cooperstown for the baseball hall of fame, and I've been to Canton for the football hall of fame. Both of those towns really made a feature of the hall of fame, they each have very impressive buildings, and the lines were awfully thick to get in. For hockey, there was a nice building, but it was kinda modest. To actually go into that hall, you went into what looked more like a shopping mall, went down an escalator, and then the entrance was kinda tucked behind a Starbucks. It also wasn't super crowded, which seemed odd for a late Saturday morning with a Hall of Fame sponsored youth hockey tournament in town.* *We met a single mom from Wisconsin (which she volunteered to us completely without prompting) in the hotel lobby waiting for a shuttle. Her kid, Carson, was apparently the only kid from Wisconsin invited to this tournament, and he was a bit obsessively stick-handling in the lobby. Looked like the kid had potential, and I would think an invite like that only proves it. She said the local teams around Wisconsin love to take him, because he's the best player in the area. Could it be just those parental eyes? Very possibly, but hey, the kid was in Toronto learning from NHL players how to play the game. I wish now we'd gotten his last name to see if he makes it. If anybody that happens to know the kid sees this, let them know the two guys from Indiana are pulling for you! After all that, we decided to go eat. We found a place across from Rogers Centre that promised "Entertainment and Eats." I thought that would mean some live music, but it turned out to be slightly upscale Canadian Dave & Busters. Which was perfectly fine, and the food was better than either of us expected. I think the coolest thing there was a 3D Pong machine, which I regrettably did not get a picture of. From there, it was off to the game. Rogers Centre wasn't too much to look at from the outside, which maybe makes sense because you don't really get to see a lot of it walking there from Union Station, which seemed to be where 90% of the foot traffic was going. It was my first indoor baseball game, which was already a little different, but I was thankful for with the chill on the wind that day. It didn't throw me off too much, that part wasn't much different from watching the Colts indoors. The hotel out in centerfield, though, did kinda throw me off. It was just an odd setting. And the crowd was rather light for a Saturday afternoon game when your "Next Big Thing" just joined the team. If they announced the attendance at the game, I missed it, but I'd guess it was at about 40% capacity. Wikipedia tells me the place holds 53,506, so around 30,000 is probably about right. The crowd, though, was just generally dead. It was a really weird atmosphere all around. The only time the crowd really got up was very early in the game was Vlad Jr. was set up for a grand slam. He ended up striking out looking, and the crowd was just deflated from there.* It was just such a different crowd and atmosphere from any other major league game I've been to. Even on the trip to Cincinnati with Wabash, the Reds crowd was far more into the game, and that was the Reds and Pirates when they were both basement dwellers on the last game of the season. So, I'm glad to be able to check the Blue Jays off my list, but I don't think I'll be going out of my way to make it back. *He did later get a bit of a fluky hit on a ball that wasn't handled cleanly up the middle. It was a long run for the shortstop, though, so I was okay with giving him a hit for it. All in all, Toronto was a lot of fun. It was a quick trip and a long drive, but I'm glad to say we did it. Now we just have to figure out when we're going to make our Milwaukee trip this summer. I've driven by Miller Park quite a few times, but never been in. It's long past time I change that. Late breaking edit: Turns out, Andrew got a picture of the Pong table. Long story short, I'm interested in owning one.
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