Ever wondered what stood on the grounds of Queen’s Park before the provincial parliament buildings were built? Ever thought about the workers who keep the dinosaurs at the Royal Ontario Museum company at night? Want to know a secret about the family of Mr. Christie who makes such good cookies?

I’ve just come back from “The Ghosts of the University of Toronto,” a 75-minute walking tour of some particularly spooky sites in that area of the downtown. Dressed in period garb, the tour guide animates a series of buildings lit only by moonlight and the odd streetlamp (the tour starts at 10pm), telling fascinating stories made all the more haunting by being present at the relevant sites as the stories are told. In these tales of ghost sightings and strange events, a bygone Toronto of the 1800s or the 1940s springs to life. Despite the name of the tour, it doesn’t just cover University of Toronto buildings but several adjacent sites, some of which have had some ghastly things occur in their 150-odd year history.

If you’ve been to Rocky Horror one too many times or are just looking for something new this Halloween, it’s something fun to consider that will have you looking at Toronto in a very different way. Not to mention give you plenty of reasons to believe in ghosts!

For more info visit Muddy York Walking Tours.

The streets of my neighbourhood are dotted with Christmas trees tonight—tomorrow morning is the last day the City picks up those final green remnants of holiday cheer. It’s one way to mark the end of the season.

The holidays were short, but lovely. A few highlights, expressed in weblinks:

• A “Christmas Basket Party” in support of the Parkdale Parents Primary Prevention Project
• Playing “Thieving Santa” at the office Christmas party. Got a fabulous and festive CD (100% CanCon!): The Gospel Christmas Project
• The Festival of Lights in Kensington Market
• Montreal comes to visit: Cameron House, Ronnie’s, La Hacienda, Fresh on Spadina
• Mini high school reunion at Victory Café
• Dirty Dancing at the Royal Alexandra Theatre
  
• Enchanted
• Midnight Mass
• Mom’s favourite: Almond Roca.
• 32nd Annual Christmas Treats Walk at the Toronto Zoo. (Narrowly escaping death?)
• Celebrating New Year’s at a ’smelly condo’: in the absence of Cranium, making our own mad-libs inspired game out of red and green construction paper; watching the 100th anniversary of the ball dropping in Times Square
• Afternoon tea at the Royal York Hotel

Autumn colours at the local florist

Victims of the Children of the Corn?

All those years bandaged up and entombed… not so good for the eyesight…