London Soap and Cosmetic Company

In 1985 the oldest surviving soap factory in Canada was destroyed by fire. Today this is all that remains. How very, very sad. This was a interesting plant, and with some imagination it could have been a really cool museum with a great location beside the Thames River.

According to the plaque, from 1875 until 1984 the factory on this site produced a profuse variety of soap products. For the last four years the property was owned by the City of London and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.

The rusting artifact is a toilet soap milling machine that mixed soap flakes with different fragrances to produce bars of fine soap. The flakes of soap are long gone and in their place flakes of rust are appearing on the massive gears.

In the coming days, I am going to be running pictures from this core London neighbourhood, a neighbourhood under stress. More has been lost in this neighbourhood than the century soap plant.

Annual London Arthritis Walk was Sunday

Iota Chi Chapter: UWO sorority sisters from Alpha Omicron Pi cheer on the walkers at the 1 km. mark Sunday. AOIIs are committed to improving the world and to that end the chapter supports the battle against juvenile arthritis.
The Second Annual London Arthritis Walk was held Sunday morning with supporters gathering at Springbank Gardens, the former Wonderland Gardens, for a five km walk along the paved Thames River pathway.

Start: Laff Guard Bill Paul starts walk with Nick Paparella, left.





Arthritis Walks are being held in communities across Ontario this Fall. This was the second one for London and already the society is building on this year's success to stage a bigger and better fundraiser in 2010.













Doug Roberts, of Tai Chi for Arthritis, led the participants in gentle, fluid, yet effective, exercises prior to the walk. Tai Chi has been used in China for centuries by those dealing with arthritis.

Depite battling arthritis, this woman, accompanied by her daughter-in-law and young grandson, jogs ahead of the main pack of walkers .

Supporters: The young lady on the right has arthritis, but she also has supportive friends to accompany her on the walk.
Winning Team: These five raised the most money of any team. They got a lot of help from the lady second from the right. She won the award for bringing in the most contributions of any walker Sunday.










Chris Bentley, MPP for London West, with Libby owned by Angela Bertin of the Arthritis Society. Libby obviously has good taste in men as she takes a ready shine to Bentley.

Move over Marcel

Marcel Duchamp's ready-made urinal was voted the most influential work of art of all time by 500 art experts back in 2004. Well, it is 2009 and it's time for Marcel. Duchamp to step aside. It was so long ago, 1917, when he shocked the art establishment by taking a urinal, calling it Fountain, signing it, and putting it on display. It was a brilliant addition to avant garde art. Oops! I forgot to sign my art. Aaahhh!

In 1915 Duchamp coined the term "readymade" for these found objects which he chose and presented as art. His first readymade, an inverted bicycle wheel mounted on a stool, was presented in 1913 and actually predates the term.

Jane McIntosh tells us on her blog that Fountain was an example of Dadaism, which was not art but anti-art bent on rejecting traditional culture and embracing chaos and irrationality.

Hey, that's me — irrational, chaotic and rejecting of just about everything; why stop at culture? (For a more in-depth look at "Is it art?", please check Rockin' On: the blog.)

Black-eyed Susan

I knew it was called Black-eyed Susan but when I googled it for more information it appeared on the Ontario government's list of weeds. According to the government site, Black-eyed Susan is a native plant in the Great Plains but was introduced into Ontario where it has spread aggressively throughout the province in meadows, pastures, edges of woods, river valleys, lakeshores and roadsides. Clearly, like most who move to Ontario, Susan likes it here.

Red dress draws attention, smile keeps it

I don't imagine many photographers could stand idly by while this young woman walked past. The bright red dress, the large purple sunglasses, both work to attract attention. But it's the smile that keeps the attention and says don't miss this.

I didn't.

Cheers,
Rockinon

Addendum: pictures that work because of a smile are usually best when we can see the eyes, eyes with bright catch lights. This smile has enough sparkle to be successful all on its own.

Dog days of summer past, unless you're a dog

While walking through Victoria Park, in downtown London, Ontario, I caught sight of this dog sleeping at the feet of its owner. I crawled under the park bench for the picture but I worried pooch would awaken and be upset having a camera tight in its face. There was no need to be concerned. This dog was out and I didn't have to explain myself to a curious pooch. Now, explaining myself to a curious owner, that was another matter.

Cheers,
Rockinon

Skateboarders are cool

No matter what you think of skateboarders prowling downtown London for challenges, skateboarders are cool daredevils. I rode a skateboard, once. I started at the top of a hill and rode the borrowed skateboard to the bottom, where a low-hanging rope blocked my way. The skateboard went under the rope, I jumped and went over, landing with numerous stumbling, forward-lurching steps; I wasn't cool.

The skateboarder, left, was going airborne in order to land at speed on the edge of a stainless steel topped concrete bench. He then slid some distance along the metal edge before wrapping up the trick with a leap to the pavement. Cool!