Bright colours and shiny things

Old City Hall is a Richardsonian Romanesque building designed by E. J. Lennox. It opened in 1899 and was city hall until 1965. It is now a courthouse.

Click 'er to make 'er bigger.

In the early twentieth century in Toronto a lot of the new houses featured porch roofs supported by wooden columns mounted on taller brick piers. By the 1950s the columns and piers were often out of alignment. Many were replaced by ironwork like that here. This is a festive group of porches; others are more traditionally staid.

A souped-up version of an old photo. It looks both blacker and orangier on black (click the pic or type Z to see if you agree). I do not know who designed this installation.

I like the big version better. You be the judge -- click the pic or type Z.

One of the most important breakthroughs of the twentieth century, the plastic snow shovel. Lighter than a metal shovel, and the blade doesn't get deformed. Snow shovelling is arduous work; just think of the number of lives that have been saved by the plastic shovel and another twentieth-century invention, the snow-blower. ====== The comments below suggest that many regions don't have ice chippers. A metal shovel would have an advantage there, then. But the ice would still destroy the shovel's blade. Ice chippers have a short heavy blade that doesn't crumple.

For the big version type Z or click the pic.

The West Tower of MaRS going up in Toronto on September 3, 2011. MaRS is a not-for-profit corporation that markets publicly funded medical research. The name originally had no meaning, then was said to mean "Medical and Related Services", and then went back to having no meaning when non-medical organizations began participating. A more recent view from around this spot: www.google.ca/maps/@43.6600269,-79.3907097,3a,75y,126.67h,109.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGkgjDjK1AF2WBEgfbyEgiw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

At the Wallaceburg Antique Motor and Boat Outing (WAMBO) in 2011. Wallaceburg is in southwestern Ontario near Lake St. Clair. Please try the large view (type Z). Pulleeeeez.