Komoka Railway Museum

gardiner museum

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:50:07 +0000

Image taken on 2007-04-18 18:48:46 by wvs.

Tags: gardiner, Museum

Crystal Revisited

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:10:06 +0000

Image taken on 2007-12-08 16:54:10 by wvs.

Tags: Crystal, Revisited

ROM_Crystal_opening_wide_crowd_01

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:04:09 +0000

Image taken on 2007-06-02 21:16:40 by wvs.

Tags: ROM_Crystal_opening_wide_crowd_01

AGO furniture

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:54:42 +0000

Image taken on 2008-11-13 14:27:53 by wvs.

Tags: furniture

ROM_Crystal_opening_wide_crowd_02

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:44:41 +0000

Image taken on 2007-06-02 21:36:04 by wvs.

Tags: ROM_Crystal_opening_wide_crowd_02

How Did The Thieves Enter The Museum At Canada Largest Art Theft Netted More Than 2 Million When Thieves Broke

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:49:01 +0000

Tags: Broke, CANADA, Enter, Largest, Million, More, Museum, Netted, Than, Theft, Thieves

Canada: Travel’s Understated Treasure

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 04:34:13 +0000

The second largest country in the world should by no means stand in the shadow of its more boisterous southern neighbor. Canada’s 10 million square kilometers of land, lakes and life brings its own signature flavor to the North American continent. Travel through Canada is a truly mind-opening experience for even the most seasoned vacationer.
The region has been inhabited since the retreat of the last ice age, creating nearly 10,000 years of aboriginal history. Vikings roamed Canada’s arctic shores long before Europeans began bickering over land rights during the 16th century. The French settlers founded Quebec City in 1608 while British explorers populated the Atlantic seaboard and Hudson Bay. European wars exacerbated Franco-British tensions until the American Revolution sent British refugees north, tipping the balance away from the French. Canada was finally unified under a constitution in 1867, while maintaining ties to the British crown. Since then, a large Quebec sovereignty movement has emerged in the French speaking province and has gained momentum at the federal level.
Canada’s Untainted Urban Gems
Canada’s cities are as diverse as its territory is expansive. French-speaking Montreal is the largest city in Quebec and arguably the liveliest in Canada. After the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the Biodome de Montreal filled in the empty stadium with four actively maintained ecosystems and numerous living exhibits. The collection of species is nothing short of phenomenal. Montreal has a thriving museum culture (buy a 3-museum pass) and an irresistible nightlife, boasting the largest dance floor in the country and a pioneering music scene with an eclecticism not to be found elsewhere. Travel west into Canada’s serene backwoods to discover Vancouver, a metropolitan diamond in the rough of British Columbia’s rugged wilderness. Ski Whistler’s nearby slopes or enjoy a day of sailing, then flex your cosmopolitan muscle in the evening with a stroll through the acclaimed Vancouver Art Gallery and appetizers at Canada Place.
Visit Vancouver for a taste of Canada’s blossoming multiculturalism and international flavor. For a slower and more intimate pace, discover Nova Scotia’s capital of Halifax in the northeast. This revamped harbor town has become Canada’s Hollywood, with a large number of movies and shows being filmed along the charming avenues.
Unlimited Supply of Adventure
Canada’s Northwest and Yukon Territories offer some of the most pristine stretches of natural beauty in North America, along with the best light show around complements of the Aurora Borealis. Kluane National Park protects Yukon’s World Heritage Sites and Canada’s highest peak. In Alberta, Banff and Jasper National Parks provide the most spectacular views from the Canadian Rockies and a visit to Canada’s Glacier National Park, British Columbia, is imperative to witness the retreating ancient glaciers. With 39 National Parks and Reserves, Canada provides an infinite stock of breathtaking encounters.
Due to Canada’s extreme northern latitude, travel is best enjoyed during the summer months of July and August, even if the days are extremely long or endless. Winter sports can be enjoyed in many resorts year-round; however, December and January tend to be unbearably cold and dark, particularly in the northern regions.

Tags: CANADA, Travel's, Treasure, Understated

Holiday Rentals in Alberta, Canada

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:12:12 +0000

If you’re planning a holiday in the great outdoors, you need look no further than Alberta in Canada.
This Canadian province is perfect for nature lovers, sports enthusiasts and those who crave adventure.
There are a number of regions in Alberta, including Alberta Central, Alberta North, Alberta South, Calgary & Area, Canadian Rockies and Edmonton & Area. Each region offers visitors a wealth of things to see and do.
You will also find a great range of holiday homes here, so it’s an ideal destination for a holiday property rental for all the family.
Alberta is home to five National Parks, including Banff National Park, Elk Island National Park, Jasper National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park and Wood Buffalo National Park. Here you can enjoy the stunning and beautiful scenery, the amazing wildlife and take part in many outdoor activities in this part of the world.
Banff National Park, Canada’s first national park, is in the Rocky Mountains and is a popular destination with tourists. It has mountains, alpine meadows, rivers, glaciers, forests and valleys. Here you can do a wide range of outdoor activities, such as biking, bird watching, boating, canoeing, hiking, scuba diving, swimming, climbing/mountaineering and angling/fishing. In winter you can try your hand at cross-country skiing. Elk Island National Park, meanwhile, is a great habitat for wildlife. Here there are bison, deer, elk and moose, as well as many species of birds. Elk Island National Park is also ideal for hiking, camping and other outdoor activities.
If you have the time, you should also check out one or more of the other National Parks in Alberta.
But whatever your favourite sport or outdoor activity – be it bird watching, caving, climbing, cycling, fishing, golfing, hiking or canoeing/kayaking – you will be able to enjoy it in this fantastic Canadian province.
There is, however, so much more to see and do in Alberta. There are some great cities to discover, along with museums, historic sites, arts and entertainment, shops and restaurants.
All the regions boast many exciting attractions, with something to appeal to everyone. And within the province there are lots of cities and towns, some of which you will want to visit during your holiday in Canada. The city of Calgary is brimming with things to see and do, such as The Aero Space Museum of Calgary, Calaway Park, Calgary Tower, Canada Olympic Park, Fort Calgary, Naval Museum Of Alberta, as well as Calgary Zoo, Botanical Garden & Prehistoric Park and more.
Meanwhile, Edmonton, which is the capital city of Alberta, also has plenty to offer its visitors. If you appreciate shopping, this is the place for you! West Edmonton Mall is a huge shopping centre which boasts hundreds of stores and services. And there’s a lot more than just shops here! There are plenty of places to eat here and there’s some fantastic entertainment too, should you get bored with shopping! There’s a large indoor amusement park, indoor waterpark, ice rink, indoor lake and two mini-golf courses. There’s also a sea lion show, and you can see the amazing collection of fish, reptiles etc and also the penguins while you’re there! There is also more to see and do at West Edmonton Mall.
Some other places you might like to visit during your travels in Alberta are Lethbridge, Drumheller, Red Deer, Lake Louise, Fort McMurray and Medicine Hat.
This is just a taster of what this amazing Canadian province has to offer its visitors. Alberta is an ideal holiday destination for all ages and it’s just perfect for a holiday property rental.

Tags: Alberta, CANADA, Holiday, Rentals

Canada Holidays

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:37:59 +0000

Tags: CANADA, Holidays

Hello From Ottawa – Part 11- The Canadian Museum Of Contemporary Photography Featuring Sunil Gupta And The Challenges Of Immigration

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:27:11 +0000

My schedule in Ottawa this past weekend was extremely compressed, but there was one place I wasn’t going to miss: the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography. As a person with no formal background, yet a keen interest in the visual arts and photography, I have been wanting to visit this museum for a long time. And my Internet research revealed that the Museum is featuring a very special exhibition right now: two photographic series by Sunil Gupta, an Indian-born Canadian citizen, exploring issues of identity, culture and the immigrant experience.
Let me start first with the Museum itself, a rather unique venue in Ottawa with a long history. The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography began its life all the way back in World War II as the Still Photography Museum of the National Film Board. Its activities include collecting, publishing and organizing traveling exhibitions and educational programs to foster the efforts and development of Canadian photographers.
It’s a unique place in a unique venue: the Museum is housed in a former railroad tunnel of the Grand Trunk Railroad. It is accessible through an above-ground entrance immediately west of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel in downtown Ottawa, and an elevator takes you 2 storeys down from street level. As a former railroad tunnel, the Museum’s unique dimensions won’t come as a surprise: it measures 166 meters (545 feet) in length by only 17 meters (56 feet) in width. The facility is more like a 32-storey high-rise building laid on its side.
Even constructing the Museum entailed significant engineering challenges: due to the narrowness of the site, squeezed in between the Chateau Laurier on one side and the Rideau Canal on the other, construction trucks had to back into the site, edging their way half a mile along a road carved in the limestone and shale cliff face.
But I wasn’t only there to explore the unique architectural features of the gallery. The main reason for my visit was an exhibition by Sunil Gupta, whose 2 collections shed light on the immigrant experience.
Sunil Gupta was born in New Delhi in 1953 and came to Montreal with his parents at age 15. Over the years he has also lived in New York City and London and just recently moved back to India. Originally he studied accounting, but later moved into visual arts and photography.
Until April 23, 2006, the Museum features two highly personal collections by this artist. Social Security (1988) features Sunil Gupta’s family photographs and his mother’s words to shed light on the story of one immigrant family in Montreal. His family came from a middle-class background in India, and after their move to Canada they had significant adjustment problems. Sunil’s father was forced to work as a security guard and the family experienced a loss of financial security and social status. This was complicated by the fact that his parents were already in their fifties by the time of the move which made integration into Canadian culture even more difficult.
This photo collection illustrates the fact that his parents had traditional desires for both Sunil and his sister, and neither of the two children fulfilled the role expectations put upon them by their Indian parents. Sunil’s sister ended up marrying an American, something the parents did not support. Sunil himself is actually gay and had several long-term relationships with men, much to the chagrin of his parents. Neither offspring fulfilled the role of marrying an Indian spouse and creating a traditional Indian family. As such, the move to Canada was a big disappointment, particularly for Sunil’s father.
Incidentally Sunil’s father died of a heart attack on a Montreal street in 1986. He wasn’t found until several days later. One particularly gripping photograph shows Sunil’s father’s belongings, money, identification, credit cards, that were removed from his body after his death. It took the authorities three days to notify the family, presumably because his father was assigned to the “immigrant” section of the morgue. Nobody had bothered to check his identification and call his family, even though his father had all the necessary papers on him. And his social security card had been neatly cut in half.
Sunil Gupta’s second photo collection Homelands (2001 to 2003) includes large-scale diptychs that juxtapose images from his experience in the West with images from his home country in India. His exhibition explores highly personal topics, such as Gupta’s homosexuality and the fact that he is HIV positive. Gupta was diagnosed with HIV in 1995.
For me the most powerful image of the collection includes Gupta in front of a mirror, stark naked, facing the camera, with a sliver of his mirror image showing right next to an image of India. My museum guide indicated that Sunil has actually commented that he lives right in that narrow line between East and West.
It seems that his cultural identity is tenuous at best and Sunil decided recently to move back to India to explore his own cultural background. It is significant to mention that India does not accept homosexuality, does not offer treatment required for AIDS patients and doesn’t even officially acknowledge the existence of the disease. In addition India harbours a host of dangerous viruses that pose a constant threat to Sunil’s health. Even beyond that Sunil indicated that he lives in constant fear that his medical condition will be discovered and that he will be deported from India.
Both of Sunil Gupta’s series of photographs are highly personal, where he exposes himself (literally), his family members and the dynamics of an immigrant family in North America. His images use colour, atmospheric influences and juxtaposition to express symbolism and speak of an ongoing struggle to find his own personal, sexual and cultural identity at the confluence of Eastern and Western cultures.
For me personally, Sunil Gupta’s autobiographical photographs were almost shocking in their candor and openness. They talk about the cultural pressures and expectations that face second generation immigrants growing up in a liberal Western environment. Juxtaposed to this external environment is their traditional Eastern family milieu with its strict rules and role expectations, almost imposing a schizophrenic existence on their offspring.
It was rather surprising to me that Sunil Gupta decided recently to move back to a country where, as a gay HIV-positive individual, he is not accepted and it speaks to his overwhelming urge to reconnect with his roots.
The Canadian Museum of Photography is currently also hosting another installation: Imprints: Photographs by Michel Campeau, Marlene Creates, Lorraine Gilbert, Sarah Anne Johnson, and Sylvie Readmen features 19 recent acquisitions that explore nature and its forces as they intersect with the human world.
For the entire article including photos please visit http://www. travelandtransitions. com/stories_photos/ottawa_museum_photography. htm

Tags: Canadian, Challenges, Contemporary, Featuring, From, Gupta, Hello, Immigration, Museum, Ottawa, Part, Photography, Sunil