Santa Monica

Back home
I dream of the water
beyond the break
and wake older
angry at borders
that keep me foreign
and dry.

Did my wretched ancestors
who walked inward
abandoning shorelines
and settling centered
fear the power
tides gift me?

And will my absence
pull from both coasts
to my landlocked city
salt water so deep
as to drown
their evil
guiding star?

— July, 2017, Toronto

Your Call Pulses Through Me With A Glorious Dynamism

I've felt this wave before,
in Havana and Piles, too. 
You were with me, then,
and the water senses your absence.
I lay back and conspire with the tide.
The sunlit Santa Monica sky turns black and star-pricked.
I drift, whispering your name,
until I feel your faint but unmistakable touch.

— December, 2017, Santa Monica

Nick Tauro Jr has a series of refracted photos taken in Paris.

More on Nick's website.

Brighten up a gloomy Sunday with illustrations by Yellena James.

More on their site.

Ambyence is a collection of live streaming microphones from around the world. Many of these are run by universities, but others are businesses or personal residences.

Along with a connection to the live audio, each location displays local time and weather as well as a brief description of the environment. Satellite images from Google Maps show the general location from above.

Tremendous use of the web and a fantastic interface on the site.

Ambyence

Listen to a collection of live, streaming, microphones from around the world.

Ambyence

If you've ever been in my home, you'll recognize these paintings, some of which I've owned for almost 30 years. They're all by Toronto artist, Dana Boettger.

Here's a shot of two of her works in my space. Unfortunately, I don't recall the name of the red one. The one on the right is Waiting, which is also pictured above.

Though her site hasn't been updated in some time, she attended my birthday party not too long ago and confirmed that she's still painting.

Phoebe Todd-Parrish's woodprints of Toronto area eateries are fantastic. You can view the whole series on her site. Phoebe's the proprietor of Flycatcher Press, a Toronto letterpress and printmaking studio.

Andy Baio's Kind of Bloop is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a vinyl release.

If you're not familiar, it's an 8-Bit interpretation of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Baio was sued over it way back when.

You can order the vinyl starting Saturday at noon, Toronto time or download the audio now for free.

Australian Story is an ABC program that does 30 minute pieces on Australian figures. In anticipation of his forthcoming album, Wild God, they spoke with Nick Cave.

And of course, Cave's Red Hand Files is among the best of the internet.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has the largest collection of Amish quilts in the world. Some of them are quite stunning.

Unfortunately, none of the quilters names are known, probably because they were considered utilitarian rather than works of art. Probably, also, because it was "women's work."

Nice 5min doc on them here:

The SAAM exhibition, Pattern and Paradox, runs through August 26, 2024.

Maybe I'm way behind the curve on this one as it's been a few years since I've been able to travel, but today I learned about Global eSims. Companies that offer eSims to hundreds of countries or regions around the world. You download an app, purchase a plan, and have data / minutes / texts in your travel destination without the hassle of visiting a local TelCo and trying to navigate their plan options.

The two big companies seem to be Airalo and Saily. I'll definitely use one the next time I'm taking a trip.