What is this man doing?

If there were no words, would this sign say "Hazardous bridge ahead" to you?
Or would it say "Watch the road when you ride your bike"?
I shot this while on a tram tour of Saguaro National Park outside Tucson in 2003. When I picked up the processed film (yes, it was in the olden, film days), the woman who had done the work pulled this picture out of the pack and said, "It looks like he's peeing!"
The picture could have been used to illustrate this story from Bloomington, Minn., last April about a man who was trying to pee off a bridge but fell to marshy area below. The awkward headline was "Man Falls Urinating Off Highway 77 Bridge."

New Year's resolutions

Having a parking gate come crashing down on your head is a little like making New Year's resolutions, isn't it?
Aw, it's the holidays. I just put up a picture and write some words. Sometimes they match.

Believe

Again, I did NOT PhotoShop the red nose into this picture. I shot this outside Tucson, Ariz. I saw two of these signs - the other was on the other side of the highway.
I shit you not.
If you don't believe me, Rudolph will bypass your house completely and you won't even get a lump of coal!

Basket case

Straighten up, Toronto!

There are a lot of differences between Toronto and Montreal. Bagels, for one. Toronto bagels: not so hot. Montreal bagels: The best.
Oh, yeah, and language for another. Toronto: English. Montreal: French. Unlike the bagels, neither language is better than the other.
Now I've discovered another difference - and a shocking one - between Canada's two major cities: children's posture.

These are Montreal children walking to school. Their posture is so impeccable, they could carry their books on their heads (if their heads were flat, which they clearly aren't). Their stride suggests a sense of purpose. Possibly even joy.

What of the youths of Toronto? Apart from the surrounding city looking an unhealthy yellow, these children are slouching, shuffling, dispirited.
Hold your heads high, youth of Toronto. Straighten up! Put a spring in your step! (It's not officially winter yet anyway.)

Okay, I'll post architecture stuff next time.

Have you seen this man?

I understand the need for pictograms, but what is this one saying? That you shouldn't steal? That you shouldn't dress up in the way movies portray burglars? Burglars not allowed? This sign appears in a parking gararge in Yorkville and is meant to warn car-parkers not to leave valuables in their cars because these forbidden burglars might make off with them. The valuables, that is. Or maybe just the poorly packed but eco-friendly shopping bags.

Enjoy bacon!

I don't usually take pictures in washrooms—public or otherwise—but I couldn't resist this interpretation of hand-drying symbols.