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Aperte.org » Photos http://aperte.org Jeremy Handcock Sun, 08 Aug 2010 00:42:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 pride toronto highlights http://aperte.org/2008/06/30/pride-toronto-highlights/ http://aperte.org/2008/06/30/pride-toronto-highlights/#comments Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:10:13 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2008/06/30/pride-toronto-highlights/ Pride Toronto is hands-down the best party of the year in this city and one of the biggest Pride festivals in the world. This year I started off the weekend by dragging myself out of bed bright and early on Saturday for the 5km Pride and Remembrance run with the University of Toronto Pacer Bunnies team. It looks like we placed 4th overall -- nice running everyone!

Running star Jeremy at the Pride and Remembrance run

The parade on Sunday was over-the-top super fun as it always is. Somehow TD Bank managed to snap up a bunch of hot go-go girls and boys for their corporate contingent, which left me wondering if I should instead pursue a career in banking.

The Bears By Nature group had a great float in the parade with a full-on bear den guarded by some of the papa bears. Grrrr!!!

My favorite float was from the National Gay Pilots Association: they rocked out on a giant glittery airplane while scantily clad air men and women danced all the way down Yonge Street together.

I was really happy and proud to see the Canadian Forces participate in Pride Toronto for the first time.

The Hamilton Pride committee put on a ridiculous display and banned their participation this year, but the Forces were very well received in Toronto and their contingent definitely attracted the largest cheers from the crowd. Thankfully, Canadian military policy puts Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to shame. My friend Jodie and I took Pride weekend as an opportunity to put on our Sunday best. Don’t let those shy, innocent smiles fool you. We discovered that wearing fetish gear in public places attracts a seriously high amount of attention. Go figure.

It was also Pride weekend at my old stomping grounds in Seattle. My friend Jorge reports a spiritual experience with the Flying Spaghetti Monster after being touched by His Noodly Appendage! More photos and larger versions available here. Share:

]]> http://aperte.org/2008/06/30/pride-toronto-highlights/feed/ 3 ottawa race weekend http://aperte.org/2008/05/29/ottawa-race-weekend/ http://aperte.org/2008/05/29/ottawa-race-weekend/#comments Thu, 29 May 2008 04:16:19 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2008/05/29/ottawa-race-weekend/ Ottawa Race Weekend half marathon. I'm more of the short and fast type and had hoped to tear it up in the 5km race, but alas, I didn't register in time and the event sold out. My bad. Cheering on the team was still a big responsibility, however, and I'm happy to report that my efforts were successful! Jodie, Nicholas, and Jill all crossed the line with finishes that exceeded their expectations (1:48, 1:53, and 2:06). Congrats, team! Apart from some sore knees and Nicholas' Frankenstein-like shuffle for the next couple days, all is well on the recovery side.

From there we got down to the business of celebrating and hopped over to Hull, Québec to acquire the materials for our hotel room kegger. Feeling a little cloudy and regretting the drunk dials of the evening before -- my specialty, I might add -- we set out the next morning for a day on Parliament Hill.

I've been to Ottawa on a handful of occasions but I've never had time to do the touristy things. It's dorky, but I was actually a bit giddy with excitement. We even managed to score some seats in Question Period! As a Canadian politics junkie it was really fun to see. No surprises, really: Peter MacKay was hot and on it, Stockwell Day was a loser, and Michael Ignatieff carried the Liberals while Stéphane Dion was nowhere to be seen. For once though it was actually an exciting day in Canadian politics: right after the House finished sitting Stephen Harper fired Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier. It's about time. I do lament the loss of one of the Conservative cabinet's better-dressed ministers, though.

We also checked out Centre Block, the National Gallery and the Supreme Court. My friend Jill is being called to the Alberta bar in a few months and we're pretty sure that she'll be in that court some day.

I forgot how beautiful Ottawa is in the summer and it was great to finally see the insides of Parliament Hill. The buildings are stunning and full of so many lovely relics. I was up at the top of the Peace Tower at sunset and found this little gem from Bruce Hutchison's The Unknown Country mounted on the wall:

No Canadian can stand and look at this cluster of buildings [...] without feeling that somewhere on this Hill, perhaps by a happy accident, architects, masons, and stone carvers have managed to grasp and materialize the beauty of Canada, the vastness of its land, its loneliness, its youth and its hope.

]]> http://aperte.org/2008/05/29/ottawa-race-weekend/feed/ 0 spring trip to seattle http://aperte.org/2008/05/12/spring-trip-to-seattle/ http://aperte.org/2008/05/12/spring-trip-to-seattle/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 15:19:32 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2008/05/12/spring-trip-to-seattle/

I was also a spectator at one of Rob's tennis matches. Seriously Rob, I had no idea that you're such a fierce tennis player! Hot! That serve is on fire. I was going to paint my chest and hold up a "Rock 'em Rob!" sign at the court side, but since tennis is a sport of civility, I decided against it. Besides, they weren't selling draft beer in plastic cups at the tennis club and that's an essential part of the look. The big news is that I made a firm decision to move back to Seattle in January when I finish up my degree. I always kinda knew it would end up that way. There's still a lot left to be done: write my M.Sc. thesis, find exciting work, and get a U.S. work visa to name a few. Technicalities, really. In local news, I landed in Toronto and received the unfortunate news that my brother, Jodie, and I are being kicked to the curb. Our landlord sold the townhouse we've been renting and the new owners want to take it over and renovate once our lease is up in July. Sigh. Moving again is exactly what I do not need right now. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to calling Seattle home next year. Share:

]]> http://aperte.org/2008/05/12/spring-trip-to-seattle/feed/ 1 toronto on two wheels http://aperte.org/2008/04/14/toronto-on-two-wheels/ http://aperte.org/2008/04/14/toronto-on-two-wheels/#comments Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:17:51 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2008/04/14/toronto-on-two-wheels/

Just as cars are an icon of personal independence in North America -- especially in more rural areas -- bicycles offer a bit of freedom that no public transit system can match. I've found that a bike is really the perfect tool for exploring a city. So, after some coffee to clear a mild hangover, I set out on Sunday morning to have a little adventure in parts of Toronto I had never been to before.

I mostly followed the waterfront trail from Bathurst west to the Humber Bay Parks. I pedaled this route a couple times just to get in some good cardio and on the second lap I went to check out High Park. I know it's cliché to take a photo of the Humber River pedestrian bridge, but I really love the geometric patterns as you look up from the middle of the bridge.

There was a lot of garbage on the lakeshore, which was disappointing, but it was a lovely ride and it felt great to get out of downtown and do something unusual. There are some nice relics from the old city mixed in with the shiny new bits down on the lakeshore.

I leave you with a bike lane to a magical world (shot in Montréal, below) and some urban wisdom from the blogTO Flickr pool.

Bike lane through painted wall in Montreal

]]> http://aperte.org/2008/04/14/toronto-on-two-wheels/feed/ 3 ski trip http://aperte.org/2008/02/25/ski-trip/ http://aperte.org/2008/02/25/ski-trip/#comments Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:28:04 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2008/02/25/ski-trip/ Revelstoke to ski the brand-new development at Mount MacKenzie. Get to this mountain as soon as possible. Insane vertical, beautiful Rockies snow, awesome terrain, and zero lift lines make this mountain a gem. A billion dollars in planned real estate development means that it won't stay an untouched mountain for much longer.

Late in the afternoon we hiked up to the summit of Mount MacKenzie and dropped into the North Bowl from the back side. The view from the summit was absolutely incredible that day and the North Bowl was a sweet, sweet ride.

Snow Rodeo, a top-to-bottom groomer with fun stuff on the sides, is an absolute dream to ride on. There was no one around, so I used up the whole mountain carving sweet turns with incredible views for all 1500 vertical metres. It'll be over 1800 vertical metres next year when the new gondola from the base opens.

We set out for Golden that evening to ski the steeps at Kicking Horse. We had another two days of great weather and crystal blue skies. No fresh snow, but there was enough left over from the last dump to give us lots to play on. We had our best luck over in the Feuz Bowl after a short hike across the ridge from Stairway to Heaven.

We saw part of a rather dramatic rescue on Terminator Ridge after a boarder presumably picked the wrong blind chute and ended up clutching to a tree at the top of a sheer cliff. Seriously dude, what were you thinking?! I don't think hanging off a helicopter on a long line harness is for me. It looked really quite terrifying. I like the approach of having a high-speed gondola straight from the base to the summit that both Revelstoke and Kicking Horse have taken. It makes doing laps on some terrain difficult, but the amount of vertical that you can get in with one ride up the lift is hard to beat. More photos from the trip are here.

As a side note, I watched Sean Penn's adaptation of Into the Wild while I was flying home to Toronto tonight. It's the best film I've seen in a while and Eddie Vedder's soundtrack for the film is perfect. It's definitely worth checking out. Share:

]]> http://aperte.org/2008/02/25/ski-trip/feed/ 0 something non-technical http://aperte.org/2007/11/12/something-non-technical/ http://aperte.org/2007/11/12/something-non-technical/#comments Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:01:34 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2007/11/12/something-non-technical/

This painting on a concrete wall near my friend's place in MontrÃ©al is pretty cute. I'm sure I could ride my bike right through it and end up somewhere magical.

I was at a wedding recently that had the most lovely and simple ceremony that I've been to. Sure, it was a little bit exhausting to fly back to the west coast for just a weekend, but it was great. I don't remember actually taking this photo so I can't take credit for it (guess: Rob?).

Here I was walking through a park on a late night in MontrÃ©al with my brother and some friends. Somehow my brother was standing right in front of my flash. Sorry about your eyes man. I'm turning 25 in a couple weeks, which means that my twin and I are going to be 50. It warrants a big celebration. Share:

]]> http://aperte.org/2007/11/12/something-non-technical/feed/ 0 made it to toronto! http://aperte.org/2007/08/29/made-it-to-toronto/ http://aperte.org/2007/08/29/made-it-to-toronto/#comments Thu, 30 Aug 2007 04:47:45 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2007/08/29/made-it-to-toronto/ map

It was pretty uneventful and there were really no interesting places to stop, which explains the sore lack of pictures from the last two days. Here we are checking out the insect grave on the front of our truck on day 4. Tasty! This was right after Nicholas locked the keys inside the truck and we had to call a garage to come get us unlocked. I figured it was inevitable that we'd either lose the keys or lock ourselves out at some point.

We stopped for some cheese in Wisconsin and then headed for Chicago. Driving through Chicago was awful. I had to drive through the city in rush hour traffic in the worst thunderstorm I've ever seen. It was the kind where you have the wipers on full but still can't see a thing. On top of that, the freeway was under construction and the detour signage sucked. I think we spent two hours in traffic there. It made me more thoroughly anti-car. Day 5 was border crossing day. I was really nervous that we'd have our truck picked apart and spend the whole day at Canadian Customs unpacking and repacking everything, but it was pleasantly surprising to find that they didn't even want to open the back to take a peek. We could have stuffed that truck full of contraband! There was even enough room for a Rob in there. We arrived in Toronto at rush hour on Friday and got caught in a bit of traffic but we made it here by early evening. Overall I had a great time. Driving through the interior heartland of the United States, while boring at times, offered a glimpse into why things are the way they are right now. I do regret the 1300 liters (343 gallons) of gasoline that I burned through on the way over here. To my own credit, I haven't owned a car for 6 years now so my carbon footprint is still small on average. Our new house is super cute and I can't wait to get settled in here. I'll post some pictures shortly. Share:

]]> http://aperte.org/2007/08/29/made-it-to-toronto/feed/ 0 day 3 of road tripping http://aperte.org/2007/08/22/day-3-of-road-tripping/ http://aperte.org/2007/08/22/day-3-of-road-tripping/#comments Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:32:52 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2007/08/22/day-3-of-road-tripping/ mount rushmore

Along the flat, monotonous drive through South Dakota we ran into a town called Wall that consisted of nothing but a giant drugstore that wasn't really a drugstore. They had western wear (I was really tempted to get a cowboy hat), buffalo burgers (tasty!), and I even found myself in the arms of a nice saloon girl. Nicholas scored some awesome cowboy/cowgirl duckies. It was totally worth the stop.

We had a bit of a shorter day today and stopped for the night in Fairmont, Minnesota.

Tomorrow we're going to head into Wisconsin (I'll wave to the homeland, Rob!) and then get past Chicago before calling it a day. Share:

]]> http://aperte.org/2007/08/22/day-3-of-road-tripping/feed/ 2 2 days of road tripping http://aperte.org/2007/08/21/2-days-of-road-tripping/ http://aperte.org/2007/08/21/2-days-of-road-tripping/#comments Wed, 22 Aug 2007 06:41:03 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2007/08/21/2-days-of-road-tripping/ map

We started out with a stop at the King County dump in Bellevue to dispose of some junk. Nicholas got some great video footage of me throwing junk into the dump, including a zoom-in on the guy operating the crusher yelling at us, "Get that camera outta here!". Pure gold. Just wait for the YouTube edit. We were surprised at how pretty Montana is, especially in the mountains and the foothills.

Past central Montana, the land turns pretty flat. It's just like driving in Alberta. In a Hummer. Our UHaul is sucking back fuel like a monster! I think we're getting somewhere around 8 miles per gallon by my rough calculations. Tomorrow we're hitting up Mount Rushmore, "a life-changing patriotic experience," according to the billboard. Good times ahead! Share:

]]> http://aperte.org/2007/08/21/2-days-of-road-tripping/feed/ 0 olympic peninsula http://aperte.org/2007/08/01/olympic-peninsula/ http://aperte.org/2007/08/01/olympic-peninsula/#comments Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:33:17 +0000 Jeremy Handcock http://aperte.org/2007/08/01/olympic-peninsula/ hurricane ridge trail

We took a ton of great photos while we were out there. I made Rob the official trip photographer after seeing that he has much better photographic composition skills than I do. Must be the BFA.

Hurricane Ridge was our starting point and we picked a camp site just inside the park called Heart O' the Hills. We kept calling out our camp in an Irish accent. We were quite pleased with ourselves about that.

We hiked up to the highest point at Hurricane Ridge. Apparently on a clear day you can see all the way across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Vancouver Island and the mainland, but unfortunately it was pretty cloudy when we were up there and we only got a glimpse of the ocean. Nevertheless, we got some cool photos from the ridge.

olympic mountain range from hurricane ridge

After seeking out a shower the next morning, we hit up some trails near Lake Crescent and went on a hike into the forest to see Sol Duc Falls.

A theme that became common on the trip was to see decaying, warped, and broken natural forms combined with interesting new growths. Wood under natural stress does amazing and beautiful things.

The next day we packed up our camp early and after tracking down another shower, we drove out to see the Hoh Rainforest on the west side of the park. Minus the nasty, biting flies and the exceptional number of recreational vehicles, the Hoh was quite lovely. The amount of moss and rich vegetation was the most impressive part of the Hoh.

We had a quick picnic in the Hoh, but those biting flies were serious carnivores and we had to cut it short. Given that no one else seemed to be bothered by them, we theorized that they were attracted to the Aveda shampoo that we used earlier. It's just one of the hazards of smelling botanical. So, we turned our sexy Ford Taurus rental toward the coast. The Olympic coast is breathtakingly gorgeous. It reminded me a lot of the untouched coast I saw on my trip to Cape Town a few years ago.

The fierce, chilly winds make the trees take on a wind-blown look and the tides drag thousands of those fallen trees onto the shore as driftwood, piling them in occasionally interesting formations.

Our last night ended with a perfect sunset and yielded one of my favorite photos. Rob's driftwood stick typography was superb and the composition of this photo couldn't be any better.

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