Sam the Backdoor Man

The ever-decomposing Sam the Record Man store in downtown Toronto still has some interesting pieces around the rear perimeter. Soon, all will be lost as Ryerson University creeps onto Yonge Street.

Photos taken with way too high an ISO on O'Keefe Lane, Toronto, Ontario on November 18, 2010.

Walls Come Tumbling Down

Everyone and their brother has posted photos of yesterday's brickslide on Gould, but since I was in the neighbourhood, I thought I'd...pile on.

Hello Yellow-Lined Road

You've always got time.....

Ticketing Littering

Photos taken on April 16, 2010 on Gould and Yonge Streets, Toronto, Ontario.

The Death of Sam's -- 2009 Version

It was announced on Thursday that Wal-Mart would be closing down the (always empty, higher prices than Costco, lousier selection, worse-tasting $1.99 hotdogs) six Sam's Club stores which dot the Southern Ontario landscape. Now, I got me a membership through work for $10 which basically allowed me to confirm that indeed they were nowhere near as good as Costco (at least in Canada), so I wasn't out all that much when they decided to shut the doors.

Meanwhile, back on Yonge Street...

The demolition of Sam the Record Man continues in earnest. They've already torn down the former CIBC building, leaving an empty corner, and revealing some of the old hand-painted signage that used to adorn the exposed brick on the south wall of the orginal Sam's store.

Also, the original facades of 347 and 349 Yonge Street are now exposed for the first time in nearly 40 years, having had the spinning discs (and for you sticklers, the previous THRIFTYS THRIFTYS THRIFTYS sign on 349) removed.

Photos taken near Silver Linden and Highway 7, Richmond Hill, Ontario and at 347-349 Yonge Street (where yes, the bus still stops), Toronto, Ontario