[Messiahtosh]

My 3 day stay in Toronto, Canada was a blast. The hockey hall of fame, the Raptors game, and the city and its many attractions made the short trip worthwhile and memorable, for sure. I still can't get over how clean and modern Toronto is compared to Philly. It's just so nice (though there is still a large population of homeless) and cutting edge and it is not intimidatingly large.

I also enjoyed the ability to legally drink at bars, though I'm not sure how many more White Russians and Long Island Ice Tea's I could handle.

My first NBA experience was pretty awful, to say the least, probably due to the horrible teams involved. The Raptors and the Celtics are offensively pretty good but defensively atrocious. The players storm down the court, dribble for a few seconds and take wild jump shots and if they pass the ball at all it's because they are blanketed by defenders. I've never seen so many ball-hogs in all of my life, and sadly that style of play is reinforced due to the talented shooters who make a ton of insane shots. I just wish the game resembled basketball as I know it, from college hoops. To make matters worse, the advertising at the game was SICK. McDonalds sponsored 3-point shots, for Christ's sake! Every time a player made a 3-pointer for the Raptors the scoreboard would light up and the "I'm loving it" jingle played. AWFUL. Don't even get me started on the IN-GAME rap music.

The hockey hall of fame was really cool to see. I'm by no means a hockey fanatic but I enjoy the sport and played it when I was younger. It was cool to see the hall of fame's movie about the way hockey is to a lot of Canadian sports nuts. The movie made me internalize the fact that Canadians sort of feel about hockey the way America feels about baseball; that whole national pastime feel, with the childhood dreams of stardom and coming through in the big game.

One night my friends and I went out to clubs and on the way back to our hotel we stopped into a pizza place (called Pizza Pizza). Some homeless lady came in and was begging for money. I was completely drunk and I ended up giving her $20, which horrified my friends and other patrons. I felt bad for two reasons: my friends were making fun of me and I wasn't sure if what I did was in some way something I did to make MYSELF feel better. Later on I just figured that I'll see more money in my life and that lady would find use for it, even if she did just spend it on something pointless. Every time I've ever seen homeless people in my life, I can't help but feel bad for them. I know that giving them money might even reinforce their state of being, but when you see those people it feels like a damn test of faith, almost.

In any case, I found the album Vitalogy (by Pearl Jam) on the sidewalk, in an old ass CD case. Maybe that covers my $20 to the homeless lady? At least it gave me something to play in the car on the ride home. Oh, and the border patrol is a joke. They never even asked us for our birth certificates or passports.

Anyway, I left Canada with a good feeling and it's a place I'd like to visit again. I camped in Quebec when I was little, so this was my first adult trip to Canada.....maybe next year I'll go and see a baseball game.

Oh, the Jazz iPod ad was being shown on huge jumbo-trons in the city.

PS - Murbot, maybe you can answer this: What is the deal with fucking Tim Horton's in Canada?

[murbot]

They drug the coffee.

Fuck, I hope you didn't buy some. You'll be ordering tins of the shit in a week.

[Wickers]

Originally Posted by Messiahtosh Later on I just figured that I'll see more money in my life and that lady would find use for it, even if she did just spend it on something pointless.

Oh don't worry about that, it had a point alright. Most syringes do.
I don't pay bums to live on my streets. There are programs and ways off the street IF they want it. (And don't get me wrong, I'm not cold hearted, I'd just rather donate to an organization that will bring blankets to them in winter rather then fund their next hit.)

Originally Posted by Messiahtosh PS - Murbot, maybe you can answer this: What is the deal with fucking Tim Horton's in Canada?

Timmies rocks! They want to expand deep into the US, so they are going public. If I had the extra cash I'd be all over that IPO.

[Messiahtosh]

They are already branching into New York a bit. Nothing in PA yet, though. I never bought the coffee there, but I did buy from Starbucks and Second Cup (which were both good), I just kind of avoided Tim Hortons because I didn't know what it was.

Looking back on it, for every Starbucks there were like 3 Tim Hortons' and wherever a SB was, there would be a TH right next to it or across the street from it.

[RowdyScot]

Look at it this way. Tim Horton played for the Maple Leafs. The man is a god in Toronto. But yeah, TH is fucking ridiculous I loves my tumorous muffins That, and my Maple Dip with Orange Hot Smoothie. Glad you loved Toronto, though Can't wait to get back there myself

[Chinney]

Originally Posted by Messiahtosh My 3 day stay in Toronto, Canada was a blast. The hockey hall of fame, the Raptors game, and the city and its many attractions made the short trip worthwhile and memorable, for sure. I still can't get over how clean and modern Toronto is compared to Philly. It's just so nice (though there is still a large population of homeless) and cutting edge and it is not intimidatingly large. [...]

What do you mean by "not intimidatingly large"? Toronto (unfortunately, in my view) is huge by just about any standard. There are some nice small neighbourhoods in that largeness, but you still are surrounded by asphalt for mile after endless mile in the one big metropolitan area that is southern Ontario. That's one of the reasons I just could not hack it.

[InactionMan]

Timmy Ho's is Lord. Bow down and worship. You need to come back to Canada and get a large cup from Tim Hortons. I always start sweating a few minutes after I finish, but it's the nicest feeling - like angels are spitting on me and gently rubbing it all over.

I'm glad you liked my little city. I would've flown into a rage if you had said anything nasty about it. Chinney, I can see how someone visiting could see it a small city if you stayed close to the downtown core. It does seem pretty small if you hike from Little Italy to Kensigton down to Queen West then over to the Eaton Centre. But the Greater Toronto Area is truly mammoth. I have friends in the GTA that I rarely see because it would take over an hour to get to their place from where I live.

I and Wickes is right, don't bother giving to the homeless in Toronto. Those that wan't shelter and services have it a plenty, and those that stay in a shelter also get a weekly allowance to cover personal expenses (it usually goes to booze and drugs but that's their choice). The ones on the street usually refuse useful help like shelter, food and even sleeping bags in the winter when the temperature drops below -20. I don't give them anything now but when I smoked I'd usually give them a few cigs if they asked.

[Messiahtosh]

Originally Posted by Chinney What do you mean by "not intimidatingly large"? Toronto (unfortunately, in my view) is huge by just about any standard. There are some nice small neighbourhoods in that largeness, but you still are surrounded by asphalt for mile after endless mile in the one big metropolitan area that is southern Ontario. That's one of the reasons I just could not hack it.

I guess I'm used to Philly. :smokey:

[kieran]

The homeless in Philly seem to be just a little aggressive in how they ask for money.

On Drexel's campus is a 7-Eleven (which I can't stand by the way, Wawa is a lot better), and there are always at least 2 or 3 homeless outside everyday. If someone gives them a quarter, they ask for another quarter.

That's just another reason that I hardly ever carry cash on me and use credit cards most of the time, I have a built in excuse that I don't have money.


Edit: Finally got my 200th post. Took me a while.