National Gallery of Canada: Caravaggio

Besides going to Ottawa to visit Parliament Hill, this year I also went because the National Gallery of Canada had a Caravaggio exhibit. I have been a huge fan of Caravaggio for years, ever since high school when I took art history. I love his paint style because he makes people look so real and life-like, and because of the dark and light contrast (creating unspoken emotions). This baroque style never ceases to amaze me, because I can stare at a painting for hours and still be puzzled at how it looks so real. I also love how he pulls off such impossible to reproduce on paint bodily poses. So when I heard his art work would be on display at the art gallery I knew I had to go.

The National Gallery of Canada is located just a few blocks from Parliament Hill, and has an amazing view of Ottawa from all sides of the building. On the front of the gallery there is a massive giant spider to greet you as you walk in. My friend who I went to the exhibit with, told me that there were mixed reactions towards such a piece when it was first installed. I honestly liked the spider because the gallery building seems so serious and intimidating, and the spider adds a spice of imagination towards the area. Art galleries are meant to be different, abstract, and especially provided you with something to talk about. I also believe that all art takes a while before we get used to it and find the beauty in it. I’m sure artists such as van Gogh and Claude Monet must have faced criticism when they first displayed their pieces as well.

Entrance into the Caravaggio exhibit was $15, and it also allowed me to visit the rest of the art gallery. Unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures and videos of the paintings because of copyright issues. However I wasn’t totally disappointed because once you see these masterpieces up close and personal, there really isn’t any way else to describe how beautiful they are; you simply just need to see them in person. I was amazed at how close I go to these paintings because I thought they would be behind glass, but they weren’t. Instead I was able to get so close to them to inspect the brush strokes of Caravaggio. To me an artist’s brush stroke is as distinctive as a person’s signature, and I was amazed at how such a simple stroke could create such a piece of beauty. Up close you could see a stroke going one way with a certain colour, and then another way with a different colour; and yet when you move back you see it is a hand or a face that is highly realistic. Among those art pieces I felt inspired and I began to understand how the power of art can move a person.

The paintings I remember seeing at the exhibit are as follows:

The Fortune Teller

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fortune_Teller_(Caravaggio)

Cardsharps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardsharps

The Musician

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caravaggio_-_I_Musici.jpg

The Lute Player

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lute_Player_(Caravaggio)

Boy Bitten by a Lizard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Bitten_by_a_Lizard_(Caravaggio)

Martha and Mary Magdalene

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_and_Mary_Magdalene_(Caravaggio)

Sacrifice of Isaac

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrifice_of_Isaac_(Caravaggio)

Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Francis_of_Assisi_in_Ecstasy_(Caravaggio)

St Francis in Meditation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CaravaggioFrancisContemplation.jpg

Please excuse me if I left out a painting in this list. The paintings that weren’t at the exhibit that I would have loved to have seen are ‘Supper at Emmaus’, ‘The Calling of St Matthew’, ‘The Taking of Christ’, and ‘Conversion on the Way to Damascus’ (which is a fresco). Overall the exhibit is amazing and I would like to thank the National Gallery of Canada for bringing these pieces over. The exhibit of ‘Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome’ will run from June 17 to September 11, 2011.

National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa:

http://www.gallery.ca/caravaggio/en/index.htm

Caravaggio wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravaggio

Ottawa: Parliament Hill

I grew up in Toronto; Canada’s biggest city. Unfortunately, my mindset growing up was that the rest of Canada must be boring. This was because I always watched American television and thought the US was much more exciting. I was especially attracted to New York City, and any downtown industrial area. But as I grew up and would visit the US, I started to appreciate Canada more. I guess it took leaving it for a while, for me to appreciate how much I loved it. So for the past few years I decided to enjoy my home more by trying to do as much as I can in it. I began to garden outside, go skating in the winter, visit museums and galleries, and go to farms to buy locally grown and made products.

However the one thing I still never did was travel around the country. I guess it was because of lack of funds, and also I didn’t have any friends I could visit. The only place I did visit when I was younger was Niagara Falls. That place was beautiful, but I would only go for the day and come back. So in my mind I still never really travelled anywhere. But as life goes on and friends move away, I soon started to get friends asking me to visiting them all over the country. I never took them up on their offers because I always felt mentally paralyzed to travel. Then this year my friend asked me again to visit her in Ottawa. I told her I was broke, and she said it didn’t matter because I could crash on her couch. I then started thinking that there really wasn’t any other excuse for me not to go, and so I bought a train ticket to go.

I decided to travel on Via Rail because I felt a train would be faster, and I would get to see more of the country side. I was also hoping to make a video of my train travel experience, from Toronto to Ottawa. Unfortunately when I boarded the train I sat in an aisle seat and was unable to film anything. Luckily that was the only misfortune about my trip because everything else turned out perfect. The weather in Ottawa was nice and sunny, and I didn’t think it was as humid as Toronto. The people are very friendly and easy to talk to, especially since my friend has a dog and got a lot of attention when I walked it. The city is pretty much the same as in Toronto, except the downtown core has a lot less people, and not many tall buildings. The differences of the city can start to be seen as you drive to Parliament Hill and you see the beauty of the rivers and canals. It must be nice to be a local and see that every day.

Besides visiting my friend, I also went to Ottawa to visit Parliament Hill. Again growing up in Toronto I never really cared about Government, but then I took a Canadian politics class at school and I became interested. I liked Parliamentary Government because it seemed so easy to understand (compared to US government) and do things, and because I found previous Prime Minister’s fascinating and admirable. So before I went there I decided to do some research about visiting. I became very excited to learn that tours of Parliament Hill and the Supreme Court are provided free of charge, and that in the summer there is a Changing of the Guard ceremony. Both the tours and the Guard ceremony are amazing to watch, and are very educational.

As if that weren’t enough there are tons of other things to do in the surrounding areas such as visit the museums and galleries, spend a night at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier and enjoy the view, walk around or take a boat ride on the Rideau Canal, or just have a great meal in a trendy area known as ByWard Market. The Market was especially one of my favourites because of the atmosphere; with amazing restaurants, great little boutiques, and a farmer’s market featuring a variety of products. This was a trip I would never forget and I’m sure to make again in the future. I would also encourage every Canadian and tourist to plan a visit to Ottawa as well.

Parliament of Canada:

http://www.parl.gc.ca

Parliament Hill wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Block

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Canada

YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHO29L23lIc

Medieval Times Toronto

I have always wanted to go to Medieval Times. The first time I learned about it was when I saw the movie The Cable Guy. In it there is a scene where Jim Carrey does battle with (that guy that used to be cool but is now a nerd) Matthew Broderick. My first reaction to that scene was, ‘hey I want to do that!’ Unfortunately just like my dream to fight a monkey with a pocket knife, Medieval Times won’t allow me to battle a friend in knight armour. While not a total disappointment, Medieval Times still gets a thumbs up from me because occasionally they put tickets on sale.


I took advantage of a recent half price deal and went to a show with a couple of friends. The show itself is very entertaining and educational. I got to see horses (which didn’t smell from where I was sitting), a hawk fly, some kind of medieval sports tournament, and some awesome sword fights. My favourite part was that I got to see the entire show while eating chicken and other sides with my fingers. The food isn’t anything special, but being able to watch a live show and be treated kindly by the wait staff really made the trip very enjoyable. The show is very educational, exciting, and both adults and children will have fun.

Medieval Times website:
http://www.medievaltimes.com/
YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8RAZhg5IeI

High Park Cherry Blossom Trees

Around this time last year I was watching the news at noon when I noticed that the weatherman was on location at some park. I really love this part of the news because the weatherman visits many different places around the city and helps shine a light on these places so that people can get interested in visiting. Well on that day it worked for me because the weatherman was at High Park, and was showing the cherry blossom trees at Hillside Gardens. The trees bloom for only a limited number of days before the blossom goes away. Unfortunately by the time I was available to go visit, it was too late because the blossoms had fallen. So I was determined to make sure I would go the next year, and that time came today in the morning. It was a perfect day because the weather was nice, the sun was shining and a scattered light wind allowed for the blossom petals to give a snow fall affect. The advantage of visiting in the morning also allowed for better pictures because as the day wore on, more people started to arrive and the park seemed crowded. While I’m not a professional photographer, or even have the right camera the beauty of the landscape still allowed me to take amazing pictures. As far as I know the cherry trees (Somei-Yoshino) were a present from the citizens of Tokyo and they were first planted back in 1959. While it is expected to rain this weekend and as a result drop most of the blossoms, I am grateful I was able to experience this natural beauty this year.



High Park website:
http://www.highparktoronto.com/cherry-trees.php

IHOP

I’m not really a morning person. I usually stay up late with total disregard to what I’ll feel like in the morning. I guess you can call me a night owl. Though as I’m getting older these late nights are taking a toll on me the next day, so I am starting to limit the number of nights I go to sleep late. Besides feeling all grumpy in the morning, another symptom of staying up late is that I can’t eat any breakfast. Most mornings I just eat a piece of toast (with Philadelphia cream cheese) and drink some orange juice, anything else would make me puke (literally). Strangely enough though, I do love breakfast foods (eggs, bacon, buttered toast, hash browns, coffee, etc…) late at night. This sort of food tastes amazing after a night on the town and you’re at a 24 hour diner being served by a waitress with too much make-up on. Regardless of whatever time it is, the best place to eat breakfast food is at IHOP, or the International House of Pancakes. Though there isn’t any local IHOP near Toronto, when I do visit the US the first place I go to is an IHOP. What makes the trip worthwhile is their Stuffed French Toast, among other delicious choices. According to their website, its cinnamon raisin French toast stuffed with sweet cream cheese filling with cool strawberry topping. OMG it’s so good! Add some whipped cream, butter and maple syrup on top and you’re experience what heaven must be like with every bite. It’s truly one of my favorite foods, and it blows every other breakfast dessert food out of the water. Bon Appétit!


IHOP's website:
http://www.ihop.com/
YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dP0QfTaQj4

Toronto Maple Leafs Exhibition Home Opener 2010 - Coke Zero Fans First

For a couple of years now Coca Cola has been offering hockey fans here in Toronto the chance to win free tickets to go watch a Maple Leafs exhibition game. Canadians love their hockey and to go watch a Leafs game is like being able to go watch a baseball game at Fenway Park, a football (soccer) game in Santiago Bernabeu, or a basketball game at the Staples Center. While I’m not a huge hockey fan, I have been following the boys in blue since the early 90’s when they had Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour. So to finally have a chance to go watch the Leafs at the Air Canada Centre, and have gold seats/tickets made me feel overwhelmingly euphoric. Ordinarily these tickets are very expensive to buy, despite the fact that the Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967. A friend of mine once told me that parents put the names of their babies on a waiting list with hope’s that one day their kid (as an adult) will be able to buy season tickets. Win or lose Toronto loves the Leafs.

So when I finally got to the ACC, despite it being the new home of the Leafs it wasn’t so much the building that made it all exciting but seeing all the fans and how much they love and support our team that made it special. The inside of the ACC is very stylish and clean, and the staff was kind and courteous (maybe because it was the first game). The seats were comfortable and the view was better than any television coverage can match. My only complaint about my visit was how expensive food and beverage was, but I guess it’s no different from any other sports stadium I’ve been to. Although the Leafs lost that night 5-0, I still had lots of fun and even got to see a fight up close and personal. So here’s hoping the Leafs have a wonderful 2010-11 season this year, all-the-way! Go Leafs Go!

Official website of the Toronto Maple Leafs:
http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/
YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAK5SEci9bA