A puzzle

This piece by Daniel Olsen is currently on the wall of the Mercer Union gallery, part of the Infinity Etc. show, which closes on Saturday.

The digits are arranged in a sequence. Can you figure out what kind of order they're in?

For a hint, highlight the following invisible text: The answer is very simple; it's kind of a trick question. Also: The sequence only works in English.

Update: Still stumped? Click on the photo to go to its Flickr page, where an alert Flickrite has posted the correct answer in the comments -- scroll down, you'll find it.

Mild-mannered librarians by day...

Mild-mannered librarians by day..., originally uploaded by squiddity of toronto.

Working on a paper, about some studies by Joshua Knobe. Was in Robarts Library and saw this. Someone at Robarts is Batman! I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Quote of the day

"I am the king, I am the king, I am the king! I am the king of avocadoes, pink and noodles!"

The littlest treehouse

Tiny treehouse, originally uploaded by squiddity of toronto.

It was too nice outside to stay in all day, so I went for a walk. I'd never noticed this tiny treehouse, next to the patio at Kilgour's on Bloor, before, though it looks like it's been there for awhile. Is it meant as a birdhouse? A shrine of some kind? It looks like it might be an old Christmas creche with all the figures removed. What kind of shrine would contain a lighter, a highball glass, and a tin pencil case? The Remembrance Day poppy and ba gua mirror don't make this any less perplexing.

Picked up Neko Case's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood at CD Replay. Best cover art EVAR.

To suburbia and back

Sean and Dylan and I met up at Don Mills station and walked around Willowdale, where I'd never been. It consists mainly of large highrise apartment buildings, what appears to be a public housing complex, and suburbs built in the 1960s. The housing complex has a system of pedestrian paths lacing through it, which we wandered. The suburbs are aging gracefully: the prefab house designs of 40 years ago have developed an aura of chic nostalgia, the trees have grown to full size, the sidewalks have browned and cracked just a little. The homes looked well-maintained without being ostentatious, and some owners have modified their cookie-cutter "little boxes" to show some personality; I liked the house whose entire front had been knocked out & replaced with ground-to-roof windows. There were playgrounds everywhere, and the streets were all twisty. We somehow managed to walk in a complete circle without realizing we were doing so, and were very surprised to see the Fairview Mall appear before us once more. Dylan found this hilarious.

On the way back we sat in the front of the subway, and I took pictures of the Sheppard tunnel, which is oddly well-lit compared to other tunnels in the system. I recommend sitting at the front, it's very exciting. The tunnel dips and swoops, the train swerves sharply at forks in the tracks. Turn your dull commute into a fairground ride!

Winter continues

Sorry about the unplanned blog break -- I went to Ottawa, then I was sick with a nasty cold. Better now. There was a walk last night through Leslieville, starting at Queen and Pape. It was dark, and so cold I lost all feeling in my fingers, but as always we saw some curious things: what were all those junked cars doing behind that residential complex, anyway? We watched GO trains roar by on their way to Scarborough, and found broken beer bottles littering a drained skating rink. A white van with music pumping out of it moved slowly down one street, stopping frequently as the driver jumped out, pulled objects out of the trash that had been set out at the curb for the next morning's pickup, and threw them in the back. "We're witnessing a tertiary economy at work here," noted one psychogeographer. We wound up at the Only, which I hadn't been to in years. Above is a photo of what Shawn constructed out of his beer mat & some change.

Also: Remember Walter Willems' amazing drum kit made of cheese? I was contacted by an inventor in the UK who wanted to use my photo of the cheese drums on his website. He has created something called Midisticks -- digital drumsticks that can be used to play random objects as if they were drums. You could use them to play a drumkit made of cheese, even if you were not Han Bennink. Check it out!