WordPress database error: [Table './tanabec_wrdp1/wp_visitor_maps_wo' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
DELETE from wp_visitor_maps_wo WHERE (time_last_click < 1765888300 and nickname = '') OR (time_last_click < 1765888300 and nickname IS NULL)

WordPress database error: [Table './tanabec_wrdp1/wp_visitor_maps_wo' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
SELECT ip_address, country_code, nickname, hostname, time_last_click, num_visits FROM wp_visitor_maps_wo WHERE session_id = '216.73.216.130'

WordPress database error: [Table './tanabec_wrdp1/wp_visitor_maps_wo' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
INSERT IGNORE INTO wp_visitor_maps_wo (session_id, ip_address, user_id, name, country_name, country_code, city_name, state_name, state_code, latitude, longitude, last_page_url, http_referer, user_agent, hostname, time_entry, time_last_click, num_visits) values ( '216.73.216.130', '216.73.216.130', '0', 'mozilla/5.0 applewebkit/537.36 (khtml, like gecko; compatible; c', 'United States', 'US', 'Los Angeles', 'California', 'CA', '34.0416', '-118.2988', '/page/48/', 'https://tanabe.ca/page/48', 'Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)', 'n/a', '1768480300', '1768480300', '1')

WordPress database error: [Table './tanabec_wrdp1/wp_visitor_maps_wo' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
SELECT count(*) FROM wp_visitor_maps_wo WHERE (name = 'Guest' AND time_last_click > 1768479400) OR (user_id > '0' AND time_last_click > 1768479400)

WordPress database error: [Table './tanabec_wrdp1/wp_visitor_maps_wo' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
SELECT count(*) FROM wp_visitor_maps_wo WHERE user_id = '0' AND name = 'Guest' AND time_last_click > 1768479400

WordPress database error: [Table './tanabec_wrdp1/wp_visitor_maps_wo' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
SELECT count(*) FROM wp_visitor_maps_wo WHERE user_id > '0' AND time_last_click > 1768479400

Chicago Day 5

May 10, 2013
Chicago2013

We had a late flight out of O’Hare back to Toronto on Friday, so after checking out of our hotel room we headed to The Art Institute of Chicago. There was a Picasso exhibition that was ending on Sunday. We started the day at Daley Plaza to see the Picasso statue.

City Hall.

The Atrium Mall inside the James R Thompson Building.

Monument With Standing Beast.

Looking up inside the building.

A McDonald’s in the Theatre District. You would never know with the tiny sign.

The front of the Marshall Field and Company Building which now houses the Macy’s.

Looking down an alley.

Cloud Gate not as busy on a cloudy day.

The temperature on Friday was only 10°C and foggy early in the morning.

Nighthawks by Edward Hooper.

American Gothic by Grant Wood

Mother and Child by Pablo Picasso.

The Red Armchair by Pablo Picasso.

Head of a Woman with Straw Hat on a Pink Background by Pablo Picasso

Nude Under a Pine Tree by Pablo Picasso.

The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso.

The exhibit was busy, especially since it was the final weekend it would be showing.

The main staircase.

Two Sisters (on the Terrace) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

One of the many galleries.

Old Man with a Gold Chain by Rembrandt

Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh.

After the Art Institute, it was back to the hotel to pick up our bags and then the subway out to O’Hare.

We had a great week in Chicago, we walked and walked and walked some more. The weather was good for most part and it only rained the one night. We look forward to returning here one day for another visit. We were delayed about 30 minutes leaving Chicago and Angela and Gillian came to pick us up at the airport.

Chicago Day 4

May 9, 2013
Chicago2013

This Lego scene and mosaic is made of lego blocks.

We were enjoying a coffee outside the John Hancock Center people watching. We watched these cops on bikes pull over a Porsche.

Thursday’s weather was overcast, but the rain held off for most of the day.

One of the many water taxis along the river.

Looking down Michigan Avenue.

Looking west along the Chicago River.

This McDonald’s span a city block.

Wrigley Field

May 8, 2013
Chicago2013

Wednesday was our anniversary and another great weather day. We also had tickets to the Chicago Cubs game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

The John Hancock Center.

The Weber Grill Restaurant on State Street.

We had some time in the morning so we headed for the Target store downtown.

We took the Red Line subway out to Wrigley Field. As soon as we got off there was a throng of people outside the stadium.

Inside the stadium.

Wrigley Field is the second oldest stadium in the majors, it was built in 1914 and has been home of the Cubs since 1916.

Making our way up to our seats.

We had seats in the upper deck down the right field line.

We were sitting in row one.

The grounds crew grooming the field after the 3rd inning.

We shared a bag of peanuts.

Looking over the rail during the 7th inning stretch.

Look at the seats on the roof of the buildings surrounding the stadium.

It was a good game considering the Cardinals lead the division and the Cubs are in last. The final score was 5-4 for St. Louis.

Susan and I at Wrigley.

 

 

Taking our time leaving the stadium.

Outside the stadium.

Susan with a giant piece of KD.

Me in front of  Wrigley Field.

We walked around the stadium along West Waveland Avenue.

The Harry Caray statue.

There are bleachers on almost all of the buildings.

A statue of Ron Santo, he was elected to the hall of Fame last year.

Our night view from the hotel room.

The fire escape.

Chicago Day 2

May 7, 2013
Chicago2013

Tuesday was another great day weather wise. We woke to this view of Michigan Avenue.

We headed down to the river for a boat tour. Looking south on Michigan Avenue towards the Wrigley building.

The entrance to the Chicago Tribune building.

The Wrigley Building undergoing some renovations at the street level.

We spent most of the walk down to the river looking up.

The Trump Tower on the left and the Wrigley Building on the right.

Looking back north on Michigan Avenue towards the John Hancock Centre and our hotel in the middle of the picture.

The Marina City buildings, these are 65 storey buildings.

The first 19 floors are for parking.

The elevated L train in the Loop.

More tulips along State Street.

We did the Wendella River and Lake boat tour.

We had some time before the boat tour, so we headed to the Eddie Bauer store.

The start of the boat tour.

The Boeing building.

The CTA rapid transit train.

Heading back up the river towards the lake.

Looking back at the Trump Tower.

Waiting in the lock to head out to Lake Michigan.

The Chicago skyline.

A view of Navy Pier. It was a little chilly out on the lake. It was a great boat tour, we really enjoyed it.

We grabbed some lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern. It is located under Michigan Avenue. It is famous for the “Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheep, Cheep” skit from Saturday Night Live.

Under North Michigan Avenue.

After lunch we headed down to Millennium Park.

These are Dangos (meaning rounded forms or dumplings in Japanese) by Jun Kaneko.

Cloud Gate or the “Bean”.

Susan and I reflecting in the Bean.

Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park, it was built in 1927. There were some artists that had set up shop and were painting the fountain.

A statue of Abraham Lincoln in Grant Park.

The Crown Fountain in Millennium Park.

We headed to the Navy Pier for dinner.

There wasn’t much happening, but it is probably hopping in the summer months.

We ended up at Harry Caray’s for dinner.

A Week In Chicago

May 6, 2013
Chicago2013ios WordPress

We landed at Chicago O’Hare on Monday morning and took the subway from the airport to downtown. Our room wasn’t ready so we dropped off our bags and headed out. Not quite the load of the people in Shanna’s Viet-Nam photos, this was the delivery guy for the sandwich shop we had lunch at.

20130507-080956.jpg

The Water Tower in downtown Chicago, one of the few surviving buildings from the Great Fire of 1871.

20130507-081016.jpg

There were beds and beds of tulips in the downtown core.

20130507-081025.jpg

Looking south on Michigan Avenue.

20130507-081043.jpg

Outside a candy store in The Water Tower Place mall.

20130507-081101.jpg

The dresses were made from Skittles wrappers and Jelly Belly wrappers.

20130507-081054.jpg

The Hershey Store.

20130507-081034.jpg

We were staying at the Allerton Hotel right on Michigan Avenue.

20130507-081136.jpg

With both the Blackhawks and the Bulls in the playoffs, there were a lot of jerseys arounds, even on these statues outside one of the hotels.

20130507-081122.jpg

20130507-081128.jpg

We had dinner at Giordano’s and had some deep dish pizza.

20130507-081111.jpg

After dinner we headed to the Signature lounge on the 96th floor of the John Hancock Center. The lounge is free to visit, but the drinks are pricey. We were able to get a table by the window with a view of the south.

20130507-081240.jpg

20130507-081337.jpg

NADP Spring Meeting

April 26, 2013
ios WordPressWork Posts

I was down in Madison, Wisconsin this past week for work.

20130427-223545.jpg

I flew out of Toronto Monday morning with a connection through Chicago. I didn’t experience any delays due to the air traffic controllers being on furlough, I did experience a 90 minute delay due to a broken latch on the cargo door. The meeting hotel is right across from the state capitol.

20130427-210506.jpg

The Solidarity Singers Have been protesting daily at the Capitol against Governor Walker. He was the one who passed into law the measure to strip most public union workers of many of their bargaining powers, while forcing them to pay more for their benefits. It led to massive protests back in 2011.

20130427-210519.jpg

Looking down State Street.

20130427-210544.jpg

This the third Wisconsin Capitol, it was completed in 1917.

20130427-210552.jpg

Chalk protest.

20130427-210558.jpg

The capitol building at night with a full moon.

20130427-210611.jpg

I flew back Thursday, but not before more delays, my flight left Madison on time. When I landed in Chicago my connection to Toronto was already delayed two hours, in the end it was almost three hours late taking off. I came back on American Airlines.

20130427-210621.jpg

Encarnacion Bobblehead Day

April 21, 2013
ios WordPressRainwater

We headed down to Rogers Centre early on Sunday morning for the Blue Jays game against the New York Yankees. It was Edwin Encarnacion bobblehead day so the crowds were lining up early.

20130421-213428.jpg

We weren’t sure what this guy was suppose to be dressed up as, he had a crown (homemade), a cape (a blanket), a shield (out of cardboard) and blue hair.

20130421-214808.jpg

After we got in, we looked back out and there was still a line.

20130421-214826.jpg

There are three bobblehead days this year, we have tickets to all of them.

20130421-214845.jpg

Our seats were in section 517, third row.

20130421-214850.jpg

The Jays dugout prior to the game.

20130421-214902.jpg

A meeting of the umpires.

20130421-214908.jpg

JP Arencebia.

20130421-214924.jpg

Josh Johnson.

20130421-214933.jpg

Munenori Kawasaki.

20130421-214958.jpg

Melky Cabrera.

20130421-215030.jpg

Jose Bautista.

20130421-215047.jpg

Adam Lind walked four times.

20130421-215059.jpg

Lind was on base when JP Arencebia hit his home run.

20130421-215120.jpg

Arencebia crossing the plate to make it 8-4.

20130421-215131.jpg

I’m still partial to the original BJ Birdy mascot.

20130421-215140.jpg

Kawasaki waiting on deck.

20130421-215147.jpg

Lots of construction around the CN Tower with the new Ripley’s Aquarium.

20130421-215158.jpg

The people around the Rogers Centre never change they just move around.

20130421-215207.jpg

Front Street is a mess in front of Union and the Royal York. It is closed at York St.

20130421-215217.jpg

Grand Slam of Curling

April 18, 2013
Rainwater

Gillian and Angela had the opportunity to go to the Grand Slam of Curling Player’s Championship with their school curling team. This years event was at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre at the old Maple Leaf Gardens. Claudia wanted to go, so I bought tickets for the two of us and we headed down as well. The corner of Carleton and Church. We went into the Loblaws to buy some snacks.

The main entrance on Carleton.

There is an NHL sized hockey rink on the third level. The facility can seat 2,539 people. Seating is mainly on the east and west sides, with a couple of rows of end balcony seats.

The Players Championship is the world’s 15 highest ranked men and 15 highest ranked women curlers competing for high stakes, but more importantly for some of the Canadian teams a berth in the Olympic Trials in Winnipeg in December.

We were there for the 7th and 8th draws. Here is Team Howard warming up.

Manitoba’s Chelsea Carey.

Team Koe’s Rycroft and Simmons.

Mirjam Ott of Switzerland, Kevin Koe and Glenn Howard.

Team Gushue, they played Team Howard in the feature game. Team Howard won 5-4.

Brad Gushue.

Kevin Koe lost to Team Frans 7-6 in extra ends.

The curling zamboni.

Gushue pondering his next move.

Glenn Howard.

Jennifer Jones watching the action.

After each draw they kick everyone out of the seating area.

Warm-ups for the 8th draw.

Rachel Homan and Heather Nedohin were playing on the far sheet.

Claudia had a good time, any time you get off school is a good time.

The Mount Carmel curling team.

Angela hidden in the photo above.

Team Jones beat Team Tirinzoni (SUI) 8-6.

Claudia and I moved down to sit in the first row. Nkeiruka Ezekh of Team Sidorova of Russia.

2013 World Champion Eve Muirhead.

Stephanie Lawton of Saskatchewan defeated Team Muirhead 7-5.

Team Jones third Kaitlyn Lawes.

We had a good time, our seats were up in the end balcony right above Claudia’s head. It gave you a good view down the sheets of ice. It was kind of tricky figuring out how to get there initially and to get food or go to the washroom you had to go out and then go to the side areas. For the second game we had a waitress come around and take orders.

Afterwards the Mount Carmel curling team got to meet Team Middaugh, the lead for the team is Leigh Armstrong who one of the coaches knows well.

They sign autographs for the kids who bought scarves.

Angela and Gillian came with Claudia and I instead of going back on the school bus. We walked down to Yonge to have dinner at Kenzo, the Japanes noodle house on Dundas, west of Bay St.

We stopped at Dundas Square to watch Billions Cobra a street performer.

He uses fire in his show, he starts with some juggling.

Then moves up to a flaming bull whip.

And his grand finale is fitting his body through a tennis racquet on fire.

A little contortion juggling.

The flaming tennis racquet.

Rattray Marsh Clean-up 2013

April 13, 2013
ios WordPressRainwater

Today was the annual clean-up at the Rattray Marsh. There were a lot of volunteers helping out.

20130413-183942.jpg

Angela and Claudia’s Pathfinder group were one of the volunteer groups.

20130413-190225.jpg

This was definitely a rubber boots activity.

20130413-190314.jpg

Each year we have been doing this, there seems to be less and less garbage, or other people are getting there earlier.

20130413-190427.jpg

The 281st Mississauga Pathfinders (at least those who came out).

20130413-190527.jpg

A dreary day in southern Ontario.

20130413-190606.jpg

Chloe had a great time on her walk. She was pretty tired when she got home.

20130413-190710.jpg

The Rattray Marsh in Mississauga.

Chicago

April 8, 2013
Chicago2013

Susan and I are off to Chicago for 5 days in May. We will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. I cashed in some Aeroplan points and we fly Pearson to O’Hare. We’ll be staying downtown in the Magnificent Mile area. We are planning on taking the Chicago Architectural Foundation boat tour and we have tickets for the Cardinals vs. Cubs afternoon game.