Ontario – Decaseconds

Inside the Brockville Railway Tunnel

2023-May-032023-May-04 adohertyhLeave a comment

The first railway tunnel in Canada ran from the docks on the St. Lawrence Seaway to downtown Brockville, beneath businesses above. In one case, ventilation for the tunnel ran up through the building above and was hidden as a bank of chimneys on the building’s roof. Though the narrow tunnel has long since finished serving its use, it was recently rehabbed into this fascinating community focus. LED light strips along the walls shift through rainbow colors and pass red blocks of light down the corridor to simulate the passage of a train.

Joining the St. Lawrence

2020-Aug-282020-Aug-27 adohertyhLeave a comment

In a too-on-the-nose metaphor, here the Oswegatchie River joints the St. Lawrence River, with Canada looking on; this week, a new class (2024!) of Laurentians arrived to St. Lawrence University’s campus.

Ottawide 2014

2016-Jun-012016-Jun-01 adohertyhLeave a comment

Visiting nearby Canada means looking at a mirror-version of the United States, reflected across the border. Like looking in a mirror, everything is still recognizable. Up is still up. Down is still down. But the brands and the metric units and the nationalism is different. Does looking in the reflection of Ottawa in the Shaw Centre reverse the transformation?

An added bonus: this is technically a self-portrait, with my tiny self down in the foreground.

Ottawa Scene

2015-Jun-012015-Jun-02 adohertyh1 Comment

Is there any sight more quintessentially Canadian than folks politely queuing for BeaverTails in sub-zero temperatures?

Winter Ninjas

2015-Mar-23 adohertyhLeave a comment

Spring may be here, but it was still 7ºF when I awoke this morning. Thinking back to the coldest I’ve ever been (and the appropriately Canadian/ninja response), this image seemed appropriate to convey the feeling of “spring” in the north.

Capital and Canal

2015-Mar-11 adohertyh2 Comments

The Canadian Capital has this charming, European flair to it in the winter. Between the stone walls, steep hills, and canal locks (not to mention the bridge), I’m left waiting for a sophisticated spy thriller to begin.

Ottawa Dredd

2015-Mar-062015-Mar-06 adohertyhLeave a comment

Continuing on the Ottawa theme, today’s image is much farther to the other end of the “clean——dirt” spectrum than my last. There’s something about the grimy copper colors of the bridge, the salty road, and the slushy sidewalk that speak to an alternate-reality, Judge-Dredd-esque, cyberpunky Canada.

Au Château

2015-Mar-04 adohertyh1 Comment

Visiting Ottawa often means a visit to the surreal and somewhat overwhelming Château Laurier. The outside of the hotel, I’ve noted previously, is pretty impressive; the interior doesn’t disappoint, either. For all the polished-floor touches and deep wood paneling, I find the most charming (and perhaps old-school Canadian) feature of the scene is the portrait of Winston Churchill.

Icicles, or Almost Canada

2015-Feb-25 adohertyhLeave a comment

Dotting the road to Ogdensburg’s bridge to Canada are tiny, abandoned houses like this one. It’s rather charming, and just a bit sad, but mostly it reminds me of Neal Stephenson’s Anathem, and the obversations that a society can retreat from the frontiers and back into the cities over time. Sprawl and civilization are not inevitable.

Technogothic

2014-Aug-04 adohertyhLeave a comment

Wandering around Ottawa’s Parliament Hill, I kept waiting to find a security checkpoint and guards with assault rifles; I guess I never got far enough before I had to swing back to my chemistry conference. The combination of Gothic architecture with the modern buildings of Ottawa’s skyline, and with the tiny technotouches of modern security systems, made for a delightful combination. This is our science-fiction present, I suppose.

Canal Escape

2014-Jul-25 adohertyhLeave a comment

The heart of Ottawa clusters Neo-Gothic architecture around Parliament Hill and the canal. Whether hosting a Lupin-III-esque heist or serving as the perfect setting for a James-Bondian escape scene, it’s hard to shake the imagined adventures of speed boats and thugs on motorcycles negotiating the steps of the lock system

Canadian Death Star

2014-Jul-21 adohertyh2 Comments

The Ottawa Convention Centre’s fantastical facade of fenestration is a lovely example of the way a pattern of triangles can be assembled to form all sorts of other surfaces with complicated geometries. From the standpoint of symmetry and group theory, it’s quite elegant; from the standpoint of a passer-by on the street, it seems a bit sinister.

The Impossible Hotel

2014-Jul-09 adohertyh3 Comments

The Fairmont Château Laurier dominates downtown Ottawa; the effect is only exaggerated by the distorted effect of this multi-shot panorama. The people and buses and even the capital seem normal, but as it rises, the structure becomes increasingly Hogwartsian.