Shawn Micallef Walk: The rest of the vids, maps and more photo links

Here we go.
Lots of media.
It might take a few visits to this post to get through most of them.

Stephen approaches the bus station and we realize that the radio is left playing 24-hours a day. Good or bad? I like the sound of activity when walking past. One thing I have never liked is just how quiet the VIA rail station is when you’re waiting for the train. Don’t get me wrong, I like quiet, but it’s nice to have the option of going outside and listening to “something”.

Marissa and I laugh after I stomp a water bottle that erupts and sprays her coat. A few walkers observe the bright red sign of Caesars Windsor.

We pass the Salvation Army, and find interesting graffiti. Michelle notices that there are two earthen paths worn through the field, leading directly to the front doors of the Sally-Anne.

We hear a hissing gas meter, critique the downtown LCBO, and I learn (after being scolded) that ALL batteries are taken to a depot where they are safely disposed of…so I dig through garbage to find the ones I threw “at” the garbage. I learned my lesson.

We discover a “product below”, notice the bright Caesars lights, and I take a phone call from Jhoan. We also see a rare phone booth. Stephen explains how it works while he holds something in his mouth. We discuss the disappearing phone booths…but not the reasons. I wonder if there’s a place for phone booths in the not-too-distant future.

Outside of Chatham Street Grill, there’s a few seats and benches that the city has screwed into the pavement. We try ringing an old bell. We notice a wrought-iron fence is actually plastic – yuck. A mailbox that has never crossed my path of vision emerges, and I learn that it’s been there for a long while. We also see some vandalism at Jackrabbit Slims. Lastly, we see a city-planted tree that has been razed, making a very odd framed stump.

Stephen and Michelle have fun running, and we see a “Wotherspoon” utility cover. What is that?

We see that the letter “r” has burned out on the Radisson Hotel. Odd. We then notice that Coke machines are located on every floor in the same place, which is a cool pattern, but depressingly formulaic. Then a parking garage ad catches our eye. One has to wonder how a parking garage owner decides to advertise. Where do you put the banner? When you look at it from the ground, it makes no sense to see it where it is, but if you think outside of the box, it makes total sense to advertise to drivers who are blocks away.

Michelle finds a calculator in front of the Baby Museum. We then look at the interesting historic display they have out front, with images we’ve never seen, as most of us have never bothered looking at this set-up.

The Hilton/Radisson has a hidden atrium that is virtually un-usable, but it has a basement window leading to a gravel patio. Huh? We see another smoking ashtray outside of the St. Clair Centre for the Arts and some detritus-rubble that must’ve fallen off of the building from the high winds the day before.

A revolving door full of hockey players. They cannot resist making a stupid face at Stephen. Ah…traveling sports teams…

Stephen treats us to the best treat of the walk: an acoustic stairwell leading to parking in the Candarel building. This is arguably the best thing about this building.

More from the acoustic stairwell, and then we laugh at the empty Candarel main floor. We’d rather cry, but we try to cope by making fun of it. And according to Ryan, Jay Zeman’s office is observable from the parking lot behind The Loop.

Lastly, we have the discussion and review of the walk with some of the participants. We talk to Adam Rideout as he maps his progress on the Google Earth Map projection. We talk with Chris Holt, Elaine Weeks, Ryan Fields, Matthew Baker, and Stephen Hargreaves. This is bar-none, my favourite event we’ve held at Phog, especially because it was followed up by music from A Welcome Breeze and What Seas, What Shores.

And now for the map…
Michael Johnson made a lovely little Google Map of his group’s walk, which is peppered with great information, as Andrew Foot of International Metropolis has tons of insight about the landmarks they observe. First, Michael tried to overlap the drawn map we made with an actual Google Map image from his computer. This is a difficult thing to match up, but I think he did a great job. It might be clearer only if we lightened and brightened the markings on the map.

Here’s the link to Michael’s multi-media map (that’s a mouthful). Take some time and click some links. It’s pretty sweet. Michael will be imparting what he knows about Google Maps on January 27th at Phog Lounge during the tech night for the Creative Class.

Also, here are some links to photos taken by people on that night in their respective groups.
Photos, and more photos.

Thanks again to Shawn for making this happen.
We’ll be doing another one soon, but we’re not sure when.
Should know by tomorrow night.