Toronto
Today could only be satisfactorily described as an exercise in overstimulation. And since my synapses are buzzing with all the things I've experienced, this blog is going to be a quick therapeutic download of all my mental impressions: a scramble of words slammed into cyberspace as fast as I can type.
- Morning: attended the final session of the church planting conference, and listened to two amazing messages that both said the same thing: the gospel is a dangerous story that must not be made safe, else we loose the revolutionary world changing edge of its message. This is the gospel espresso style: straight up, sharp, fast, bitter and sweet and satisfying all at the same time. One message was delivered by an indigenous canadian from Alberta, very funny and deeply heart-wrenching as he communicated the compassion he feels for his damaged people. The other message was by Erwin McManus from LA. He was mind-blowing. He had me squirming in my seat. Classic line: "Would I intentionally and knowingly put my children in harm's way for the sake of the gospel? Of course." Check out his book "The Barbarian Way". It is a lot better than it sounds.
- Morning Tea: chatting in a stumbling kind of way with a couple from Quebec who have started a new church in Quebec city. Lovely people, very warm. It is awesome, church planter that I am, to discuss the trials and the joys that come with planting a new church, with others who get what you're talking about... even if you have to say it slowly and repeat it often and do a lot of talking with your hands. Their English was pretty bad, my French was worse. Que? Oh yeah, sorry, that's Spanish.
- Lunch: Riding the Rocket to downtown.
- Afternoon Tea: check-in at Hostel. Drag really heavy suitcase up four flights of stairs. No lift. Worried about the fact that the hostel is a fire bomb waiting to happen, and I'm on the top floor. Notice that there are no obvious fire escapes... likely a fitful sleep is ahead of me tonight.
- Afternoon Tea and a bit: walk up Spadina to Chinatown, as it starts to snow. Why today? The one day I have to walk around T.O. and it is snowing! Put hands in all kinds of places to try to keep my fingers from freezing off. Decide not to buy gloves because I never wear them in Vancouver. Regret later not buying gloves when I discover I can't move my little finger.
- Afternoon Tea and a bit more: trundle over to Kensington Market. Smile to myself as I watch a bunch of Jamaican Guys in full Jamaican Regalia having a street Reggae Dance Party like it's 40 degrees and we're all at the beach. I wonder if they notice it is snowing? Plenty of pot smoke wafting around...
- Afternoon Tea and a bit later: dash into a cute little cafe on Kensington Ave just as the snow starts to get heavy(ish). A sign on the cafe door promises the "Best Coffee In Toronto". I'm deeply suspicious but I decide to give them a try. In the process of trying to pay the cashier I somehow managed to rip one of the buttons off my coat. What ensues next is a crazy shuffle game as the cashier and I move around the ice-cream freezer bins trying to retrieve my button from the floor. The coffee wasn't too bad in the end, sure I've had better, but the ambiance of being indoors and warm, drinking a latte while watching the snow fall outside was worth the price of admission.
- Late Afternoon: I brave the snow once more, in search of a place where I can go to the loo without fear of catching hepatitis C... the cafe might have had the "best" coffee but the washrooms were like something from a diarrhea sufferers convention.
- Rode a Street Car (a "Tram" for my Aussie readers) to Yonge street. Did some shopping for wifey. Feeling sad because I miss my wife (I've been in Ontario for a week now) and really want to find a nice present (but not having much luck).
- Dinner Time: ate a bad souvlaki at "Jimmy The Greek" in the Eaton Centre Food Court. I've been suffering from indigestion since. I know, anyone who eats at a place called "Jimmy The Greek" deserves to be afflicted for their sheer stupidity.
- Evening: watched "Everything is Illuminated" at the movies. I've read the book too. A good adaptation; the film carried the humour and creativity of the book quite well, and it treated the painful elements of the story with a great deal of sensitivity and beauty. Very good as far as adaptations go; not as good as the "English Patient" though.
- Late Evening: walked home from the movies back to the hostel. Watched people getting frisked by Security at the entrances of a couple of nightclubs, and witnessed a couple of kids getting busted by the cops for an attempted car-jacking. I don't think I've seen anyone being frisked at a nightclub in Vancouver, but then I don't go to the clubs very often. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a car-jacking either. There were cops everywhere. I chatted to one cop who was standing near the corner of my street, and was very surprised to discover he was an Aussie.
- Back at Hostel, I am sitting typing this blog in the common room, and just saw a mouse run right past my foot. This is going to be an interesting night.
- Morning: attended the final session of the church planting conference, and listened to two amazing messages that both said the same thing: the gospel is a dangerous story that must not be made safe, else we loose the revolutionary world changing edge of its message. This is the gospel espresso style: straight up, sharp, fast, bitter and sweet and satisfying all at the same time. One message was delivered by an indigenous canadian from Alberta, very funny and deeply heart-wrenching as he communicated the compassion he feels for his damaged people. The other message was by Erwin McManus from LA. He was mind-blowing. He had me squirming in my seat. Classic line: "Would I intentionally and knowingly put my children in harm's way for the sake of the gospel? Of course." Check out his book "The Barbarian Way". It is a lot better than it sounds.
- Morning Tea: chatting in a stumbling kind of way with a couple from Quebec who have started a new church in Quebec city. Lovely people, very warm. It is awesome, church planter that I am, to discuss the trials and the joys that come with planting a new church, with others who get what you're talking about... even if you have to say it slowly and repeat it often and do a lot of talking with your hands. Their English was pretty bad, my French was worse. Que? Oh yeah, sorry, that's Spanish.
- Lunch: Riding the Rocket to downtown.
- Afternoon Tea: check-in at Hostel. Drag really heavy suitcase up four flights of stairs. No lift. Worried about the fact that the hostel is a fire bomb waiting to happen, and I'm on the top floor. Notice that there are no obvious fire escapes... likely a fitful sleep is ahead of me tonight.
- Afternoon Tea and a bit: walk up Spadina to Chinatown, as it starts to snow. Why today? The one day I have to walk around T.O. and it is snowing! Put hands in all kinds of places to try to keep my fingers from freezing off. Decide not to buy gloves because I never wear them in Vancouver. Regret later not buying gloves when I discover I can't move my little finger.
- Afternoon Tea and a bit more: trundle over to Kensington Market. Smile to myself as I watch a bunch of Jamaican Guys in full Jamaican Regalia having a street Reggae Dance Party like it's 40 degrees and we're all at the beach. I wonder if they notice it is snowing? Plenty of pot smoke wafting around...
- Afternoon Tea and a bit later: dash into a cute little cafe on Kensington Ave just as the snow starts to get heavy(ish). A sign on the cafe door promises the "Best Coffee In Toronto". I'm deeply suspicious but I decide to give them a try. In the process of trying to pay the cashier I somehow managed to rip one of the buttons off my coat. What ensues next is a crazy shuffle game as the cashier and I move around the ice-cream freezer bins trying to retrieve my button from the floor. The coffee wasn't too bad in the end, sure I've had better, but the ambiance of being indoors and warm, drinking a latte while watching the snow fall outside was worth the price of admission.
- Late Afternoon: I brave the snow once more, in search of a place where I can go to the loo without fear of catching hepatitis C... the cafe might have had the "best" coffee but the washrooms were like something from a diarrhea sufferers convention.
- Rode a Street Car (a "Tram" for my Aussie readers) to Yonge street. Did some shopping for wifey. Feeling sad because I miss my wife (I've been in Ontario for a week now) and really want to find a nice present (but not having much luck).
- Dinner Time: ate a bad souvlaki at "Jimmy The Greek" in the Eaton Centre Food Court. I've been suffering from indigestion since. I know, anyone who eats at a place called "Jimmy The Greek" deserves to be afflicted for their sheer stupidity.
- Evening: watched "Everything is Illuminated" at the movies. I've read the book too. A good adaptation; the film carried the humour and creativity of the book quite well, and it treated the painful elements of the story with a great deal of sensitivity and beauty. Very good as far as adaptations go; not as good as the "English Patient" though.
- Late Evening: walked home from the movies back to the hostel. Watched people getting frisked by Security at the entrances of a couple of nightclubs, and witnessed a couple of kids getting busted by the cops for an attempted car-jacking. I don't think I've seen anyone being frisked at a nightclub in Vancouver, but then I don't go to the clubs very often. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a car-jacking either. There were cops everywhere. I chatted to one cop who was standing near the corner of my street, and was very surprised to discover he was an Aussie.
- Back at Hostel, I am sitting typing this blog in the common room, and just saw a mouse run right past my foot. This is going to be an interesting night.
posted by Timbo at 10:11 pm
2 Comments:
good to have you back Timbo, having experienced maybe a bit more true Canada (ie. freezing some extremities) and super glad the church planting convention was no "diarrhea sufferers convention". stupid funny.
timmmmm...really sorry to have missed you bud. :( i was in wisconsin when you were in town. hope you're feeling better.
you are so right about the lack of GOOOOD coffee in this joint.
missing vancouver, pgcc, utown. come visit again & we'll hang out.
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