Simon St. Laurent

Movie Poster: Metropolis My own pick for the greatest motion picture, feature length, ever made can change daily due to a number of influencing factors, including wh...

Movie Poster: Metropolis
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2024/08/movi...

"My own pick for the greatest motion picture, feature length, ever made can change daily due to a number of influencing factors, including what day of the week it is."

My VHS Purge: Chuck's Choice Cuts As part of a downsizing project eight years ago I purged most of my pre-recorded VHS tape collection. I've never been a big collecto...

My VHS Purge: Chuck's Choice Cuts
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2017/02/my-v...

I grabbed this tape in the early 'nineties from After Dark Video on Bathurst Street here in Toronto. The store itself had a fine collection of off-beat videos and a decor to match. (After Dark closed its doors years ago.)

Sometimes (Friends) Say the Funniest Things Many years ago, when I had roommates, I was kidded about something and it did not offend me at all, simply because there was a kernel of tru...

Sometimes (Friends) Say the Funniest Things
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2020/02/some...

"This humorous roommate of mine was a musician, and a very fine one at that. I have a couple of his albums."

Picturing: Construction Room at TTC Spadina Station After making my way down the pedestrian tunnel at the Toronto Transit Commission's "Spadina" station, I had a choice of going to the left, w...

Picturing: Construction Room at TTC Spadina Station
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2024/11/pict...

The Toronto Sun's Excellent Online Polls (Parasite)
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2020/02/the-...

The Toronto Sun is precious and its faithful are precious.

Picturing: A TTC Subway Train Enters Bay Station Lately I've been getting into street photography mode; a mode which often finds me shooting below the streets of this great city, Toronto. L...

Picturing: A TTC Subway Train Enters Bay Station
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2024/12/pict...

"Lately I've been getting into street photography mode; a mode which often finds me shooting below the streets of this great city, Toronto."

A Forever Question: Movies, Movies, Movies....
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2021/06/a-fo...

Too much 'movies'.

Conductor's 8 x 10: Carlo Maria Guilini When I was nineteen or twenty years of age I decided to collect some eight-by-tens of orchestra conductors. Back in the days before the ...

Conductor's 8 x 10: Carlo Maria Guilini
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2017/03/cond...

"When I mailed off for his eight-by-ten he was principal conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra."

Sunday Fun: Fawlty Towers — Opening Titles "Basil!" Whenever I hear Mr Fawlty's name called, propelled, by his trouser-wearing wife, Sybil, I know I've checked into the right hotel. L...

Fawlty Towers — Opening Titles
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/04/sund...

"Basil!"

Whenever I hear Mr Fawlty's name called, propelled, by his trouser-wearing wife, Sybil, I know I've checked into the right hotel.

Paramount Pictures' Stage M — Elmer Bernstein In a piece I wrote last December I mentioned a 'famous' film studio's music recording stage: Paramount Pictures' Stage M.  Many scores were...

Paramount Pictures' Stage M — Elmer Bernstein
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/04/para...

Recordings were not limited to instrumental parts. "White Christmas", "Mona Lisa", "Que Sera, Sera", and "Moon River" are some famous motion picture songs laid down at Stage M.

Richard Van de Water on the Physics of Humans
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2021/05/rich...

Unfortunately for us.

Athot for the Day: Taking it Day to Day Please forgive those of us who feel that, to Conservatives, every day is their worst day.

My website post yesterday:
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/08/atho...
Athot for the Day: Taking it Day to Day

Not recommended for Cons.

My new website post:
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/08/atho...
Athot for the Day: Taking it Day to Day

Conservatives!

A Story: The Misguided Moviegoer The Astral Theatre in CFB Borden, Ontario, was a veritable movie funhouse of eclectic and varied flicks, old and new. In essence it was a re...

A Story: The Misguided Moviegoer
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/03/a-st...

The Astral Theatre in CFB Borden, Ontario, was a veritable movie funhouse of eclectic and varied flicks, old and new. In essence it was a rep cinema.

Athot for the Day: On Losers' Row
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/06/atho...

They both need to be razed, and rebuilt from the ground up.

Toronto Is an Overheated Swimming Pool
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/07/toro...

"I order you to stop!"

An Admission: There Was A Fifth?
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/07/an-a...

This fan of a certain school ("Simon and his big Russian music") was more than familiar with four of the five: Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin, and César Cui.

Picturing: A Freshly Fallen Toronto Maple Leaf Strolling down a freshly minted sidewalk here in Toronto brought me to the above beauty: a freshly fallen maple leaf. (No Toronto Maple Leaf...

Picturing: A Freshly Fallen Toronto Maple Leaf
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2024/06/pict...

Isn't nature beautiful?

A Story: Discovering Film & Television Music When I work on projects at home I will listen to music, or, if my task requires little concentration: discussions, spoken-word or narrated p...

A Story: Discovering Film & Television Music
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/03/a-st...

"(Sorry, Han Zimmer's a B-rate film composer.)"

A Forever Question: Colour Temperature “Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question." Sir. Can an orange be blue?

A Forever Question: Colour Temperature
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2021/09/a-fo...

Dope Sheet for Optical Effects (Photographic Effects) I've posted a few times on this blog about my unfinished symphony: a 35mm short film titled Hyper-Reality . Above is a optical printin...

Dope Sheet for Optical Effects (Photographic Effects)
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2020/07/dope...

At Film Opticals of Canada Ltd I worked as an optical printer/camera operator. For most jobs the standard procedure was the layout guys would draw up the "dope sheets" (a blueprint of sorts).

Suspect Video and Culture (1991-2017) I first heard about Suspect Video and Culture in September of 1991, a month after the store first opened. Included in the news given to m...

Suspect Video and Culture (1991-2017)
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2016/12/susp...

I first heard about Suspect Video and Culture in September of 1991, a month after the store first opened.

It's ridiculous. Dealing with Trump is basically impossible. Poilievre is a TFI. He's also a nobody right now. Why is the press even featuring him?

PP hates Canada; and Canadians, unless they support him.

Picturing: Colours of Jean Sibelius Sq Park Toronto —  From October of 2020, but sure to be applicable this coming October  — We're in the last week of August, already. My dad warned me about ...

Picturing: Colours of Jean Sibelius Sq Park Toronto
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2024/08/pict...
... from the Fall. Not now.

My dad warned me about something like this.

"Once you hit twenty, life goes like a rocket. Every time you turn around, another year's gone."

Steven Spielberg's Dark Television Series
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2019/06/stev...

I remember Amazing Stories. The year was 1985, the year of the television anthology format, and we waited with some enthusiasm for Steven Spielberg's effort to tell some "amazing stories". Well, that did not....

Toronto 1971: Wayne and Shuster Play City Golf When I was a kid I looked forward to the Wayne and Shuster television specials. Though the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) was th...

Toronto 1971: Wayne and Shuster Play City Golf
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/04/toro...

"Though the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) was the electronic home of Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster, Canada's greatest comedy duo, they travelled outside our borders."

Toronto Building Recladding Job I could have been an architect or engineer! Well, if I had have done better in school, and had a much greater penchant for math, o...

Toronto Building Recladding Job
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2016/05/toro...

This building is at the north west corner of Dundas and University Avenue in Toronto.

The Dogs and Cats Difference
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/05/the-...

While doing some work here at home, I realized something very important... something that ethologists may want to consider as being important to their research. (No doubt they know.)

Athot of the Day: There's No Pussyfootin' Around! I love cats so much that I cannot stay faithful to just one. Wilhelm knows! He 'senses' it....

Athot of the Day: There's No Pussyfootin' Around!
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/05/atho...

#cat #cats #katze #katzen #gato #chat #humour #humor

My website post yesterday:
www.simonstlaurent.ca/2025/08/nick...
Nick Zedd on One's Destiny

#quote #quotes #humour #humor