The Bay Street Bull 4.4

WHAT’S NEXT In Techno Gadgets and High Fidelity

ROCK CAMP

Legendary Producer David Fishof Turns Fans Into Stars FALL 2007

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TEMPTATION ISLAND Macau Gambles On The Future

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IN THE ISSUE:

fe a t u re s

TECH TOYS 22 What's next in speakers, cells and go-anywhere GPS.

departments

UP FRONT 6 Cellar-worthy whisky, vintage mementos and more.

STYLE 34 Be bold in black.

THE ARTS 44 Opera Atelier shuns conventions with its modern interpretation of baroque drama.

8

FAMILY MATTERS Three family businesses share their secrets of success.

18

IMAGE + FASHION Iconic shoe emporium Davids is always a step ahead.

28

WINE REVIEW Kiwi Wines: A vinter’s journey Down Under.

30

ROCK CAMP Legendary entertainment producer David Fishof truns music fans into stars during his 5-day retreats.

40

GETAWAYS Temptation Island: Macau gambles on the future.

42

LEARNING CURVE Writer Jason Zweig talks about the new science of neuroeconomics and how it can make you rich.

50

ON THE SHELF New fall fiction.

COVER PHOTO: Coneyl Jay/GETTYIMAGES

FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 3

PUBLISHERʼS NOTE

BAY STREET PUBLISHING

Photo: Ruslan Sarkisian

Vol. 4, No. 4

ay Street is known as the centre of Toronto’s financial district, a hub of high-powered corporations. Yet Bay Street is much more than that. Many smaller—but no less dynamic—companies play an important role in defining the area’s character and flavour.

In this issue we turn the spotlight on several of these businesses. While they differ in the products and services they offer, they all have one thing in common: they are highly successful family businesses. Sarah Scott’s visit to luxury shoe store Davids (page 18) is a delightful look at how four generations of the Markowitz family epitomize harmonious working relationships.

While Carolyn Leitch (page 9) showcases three more healthy family operations: Budds’ Imported Cars; Ridpath’s Fine Furniture; and Hull & Hull, a legal firm specializing in succession planning.

Because you’re looking to make the most from your investments, you may be especially interested in Mike Dojc’s interview with Jason Zweig, author of Your Money & Your Brain (page 42).

Turning to the arts, on page 44, Moira Daly takes us backstage with Opera Atelier, a Toronto company specializing in baroque drama. For those who who prefer more contemporary music, the Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, featured by Chris Powell on page 30, may be just the ticket.

Not to be missed is Dick Singer’s review of New Zealand’s wine regions and its products (page 28), and in our travel section, Fred Espina considers the coming-of-age of Macau, the former Portuguese colony that has overtaken Las Vegas to become the world’s highest-grossing gaming Mecca (page 40).

We are always interested to hear how you think we’re doing. If you want to write in about this issue, or have an idea that you would like to see featured in the magazine, please address your letter to The Publisher, The Bay Street Bull, 305 Evans Avenue, Suite 305, Etobicoke, Ontario M8Z 1K2 or e-mail me at fred.sanders@cdnpub.com.

B

FALL 2007

VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLISHER Fred Sanders EDITOR Catherine Roberts CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Dianne Fowlie ASSOCIATE EDITOR, SPORTS & MUSIC Sean Littlejean ART DIRECTOR Mark Tzerelshtein CONTRIBUTORS Moira Daly Mike Dojc Fred Espina Carolyn Leitch Patricia Post Chris Powell Laura Pratt Sarah Scott Dick Singer PROOFREADER Clélie Rich PHOTOGRAPHERS John Hryniuk Ruslan Sarkisian DIRECTOR, ADVERTISING SALES Bill Percy COMMUNICATIONS FACILITATOR David Rees The Bay Street Bull is published six times yearly and distributed in Toronto’s financial and business districts. Distribution method: hand-delivered, inserted, mailed and retail. Editorial + subscription + retail advertising enquiries 305 Evans Ave., Suite 305, Etobicoke, Ontario M8Z 1K2. info@thebaystreetbull.ca WWW.THEBAYSTREETBULL.CA

Fred Sanders, Publisher

4 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

1 (888) 866-2855 or (416) 252-4356 Printed by Signature Printing Inc.

U P

F R O N T

nal 18th-century Coromandel screens, antique Chinese lamps, and Fortuni and Rubelli fabrics. The airy bedroom and elegant pink-marble bathroom fairly float above the peaceful gardens that surround this stately architectural tribute to the age of the Renaissance. Rates: $4,000 per person during low season and $6,500 during peak season. hotelcipriani.com

Dylan Tribute Bob Dylan is most definitely there— at least in spirit—in I’m Not There, the soundtrack that accompanies the autumn 2007 release of Todd Hayne’s biopic of the same name. Here, 29 musicians cover some of this superstar’s finest, including Eddie Vedder and The Million Dollar Bashers having a crack at “All Along the Watchtower” and Chan Marshall mimicking Dylan’s distinctive cadences in “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again.” Most notably, the album also includes the bonus track of the man himself warbling the legendary lost track “I’m Not There,” an obscure outtake recorded during the production of The Basement Tapes (Sessions) but not included in the studio album. sony.com

6 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

Ron Kimball

Room With A View Step into a painting and a poem in the Dogaressa Suite, the newest addition to the venerable Hotel Cipriani situated at the tip of Giudecca Island. The suite is named in honour of the first lady of the Republic of Venice, the Dogaressa Loredana Mocenigo Marcello, who owned a princely, Renaissance-style garden on the island in the early 16th-century. Its principal feature is the splendid view of the worldfamous Piazza San Marco, afforded through its four Gothic windows. The sitting room, the largest in the Palazzo, is decorated with origi-

Speed Demon Accelerate your understanding of luxury with a flight inside the remarkable C16 Speedster, the latest supercharged and intercooled unveiling from Callaway. This made-to-order beauty (drivers can personalize interior and exterior colour to taste) joins its Coupe and Cabrio siblings as pinnacles of exquisite automobile design. The C16, the flagship model, is remarkable for a range of reasons, including a six-speed manual Corvette transmission, ultra-lightweight wheels, a curvy fibreglass body, and a truly mighty engine: a V8 with 700 horses under its lid. The car can reach a maximum velocity of more than 338 kilometres per hour. And the topless cockpit and twin wind deflectors take the wind-in-your-hair archetype to the most blustery of heights. Indeed, “spirited” drivers are encouraged to let loose with a pair of matching, colourcoordinated Formula One helmets that are actually built into the C16’s extended headrests. callawaycars.com

Cellar Worthy A trip to Scotland’s fertile, brushstroked glens needn’t require the bother of a boarding pass. Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch Whisky’s rare 1969 vintage, the only one plucked from the Glenlivet Distillery to be added to the Cellar Collection this September, takes you there in a mouthful.

Valued at $750 a bottle, the golden elixir calls upon a rich collection of inspirations, including hazelnut, orange marmalade, and an entire meadow’s worth of fragrant spices. This liquid treasure boasts a natural cask strength of 50.8% alcohol (a far cry from the standard 40% ABV), so splash your glass with a couple of drops of water before draining it. Each bottle of this eminently collectible limited release is individually numbered, labelled with the bottling date and whisky strength, and presented in a solid ash frame decked out in leather and brass. Happy travels. glenlivet.com

Vintage Mementos Careen joyfully across the boundaries that separate cinematic art from the kind you might hang in your entranceway with a pop-in to Christie’s on November 20. There, peruse the fabulous array of vintage film posters on the block, each more evocative than the last for its ability to summon up a time and a place. Westerns, James Bond, horror, and science fiction come to glorious light in these writ-large announcements of what drew the crowds way back when. Devout film buffs, serious collectors, and curious movie fans alike can snatch up a wall-sized memento of Audrey Hepburn, Boris Karloff, Alfred Hitchcock, and more. Highlights of this impressive compilation of handsome and fanciful advertisements in the style of the day that these icons so famously ruled include a 1968 poster for Bullitt starring Steve McQueen (estimated to sell for between $975 and $1,364) and a 1962 poster for Dr. No starring Sean Connery (plan to shell out from $2,924 to $4,874). christies.com

BENTLEY CONTINENTAL FAMILY. YOU’VE CLIMBED TO THE TOP. NOW DRIVE.

In the world of ultra luxury vehicles, there is Bentley and then there is everyone else. For 2007, Bentley Motors continues its 80-plus year history of designing and manufacturing the world’s most sought-after luxury vehicles with the addition of the all-new Continental GTC convertible to the Bentley Continental model range.The launch of the convertible follows the introduction of the highly successful Continental GT coupé in 2003 and four-door Continental Flying Spur in 2005.

With a top speed of 195mph, a sophisticated all-wheel drive system, state-of-the-art 12-cylinder engine, advanced air suspension and ultra-stiff body structure, each of the Continental range vehicles display all the poise, exhilarating performance and dynamic handling expected in an ultra luxury automobile.The Continental GT coupé, Continental Flying Spur sedan and Continental GTC convertible feature an interior that provides an unrivaled standard of craftsmanship, utilizing natural wood veneers and leather hides of the finest quality, which are on full display when you lower the elegant, electro-hydraulically operated soft-top roof.

“Whereas the GT coupé may be the driver’s car and the Continental Flying Spur the more practical four-door Grand Tourer, the new Continental GTC is the show piece for Bentley design,” explains Bentley Motors’ Chairman and Chief Executive, Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen.

“It is very elegant and at the same time effortlessly modern. It will appeal to many different customers: people who are tired of driving sports cars that require too much effort; people who want to move up from more standard convertibles; and people who want to make a statement about what they drive, yet still own a car that they can use every day of the year.”

The Continental GTC becomes the second convertible to grace the current Bentley range. It follows the recently

announced return of the evocative Azure name for Bentley’s Arnage-derived flagship four-seater convertible.

The Mulliner Driving Specification is now available for the Continental Flying Spur and its stablemate Continental GT coupé as part of an array of enhancements for the 2007 model year. The Continental Flying Spur, which has played a key role in Bentley’s revitalization, now offers customers even more style, comfort and technology as well as the ability to specify a car to their individual needs.

The Mulliner Driving Specification was first introduced on the Continental GT coupé in 2004 and has been a major success with customers who prefer their Bentley with a more overtly sporting, contemporary character. Designed

by Bentley’s bespoke coachbuilding division, the Mulliner Driving Specification now becomes available on Bentley’s four-door Grand Tourer, the Continental Flying Spur.

In true Bentley tradition, the Continental Flying Spur customer will now be able to create a bespoke car with the introduction of Bentley’s exterior paint-matching service that allows the creation of a truly unique color palette. The 2007 model year Continental Flying Spur may also be specified in any color from the current Arnage range of paint colors. This brings the Continental Flying Spur into line with the Continental GT coupé.

The Continental GT coupé has been updated for 2007 with many new features including the DVD-based satellite navigation system and the Bluetooth® remote SIM access profile (rSAP) telephone system, both of which are standard fitment. The new 19-inch, 5-spoke alloy wheel also became standard fitment on the Continental GT, while customers may now also specify the 20-inch seven-spoke alloy wheel, in bright machined or chromed finish, previously restricted to the four-door model.

‘Bentley’ and the ‘B in wings’ device are registered trademarks. European models shown. © 2007 Bentley Motors, Inc.

FAMILY MATTERS

© Apiebalgs | Dreamstime.

Sometimes it’s hard to know which is worse—working with family or without them.

Some of the most storied names in Canadian capitalism—the McCains, the Molsons, and the Billes come to mind—have endured searing family feuds, while other dynasties—think the Thomsons and Richardsons—have thrived because of the strength of their working relationships.

Family businesses can have great virtues. Such firms are free to focus on the long term rather than the next shareholders’ meeting. The family members are often highly committed. But risks and challenges are intense too, and the businesses with great longevity have usually found innovative ways to survive changing market trends, tricky successions, the recruitment of outsiders, and the recent raft of mega-mergers.

Writer Carolyn Leitch and photographer John Hryniuk take a look at three businesses serving Bay Street that have adapted to those shifts in different ways. The ambitious Budd brothers of Budds’ Imported Cars are hoping that the appeal of sexy cars and working with interesting people will draw their children into the family enterprise.

At Ridpath’s Fine Furniture, the Ridpath clan ran out of young scions who were interested in joining the venerable furniture maker, but a family friend stepped up to keep the tradition going while appealing to a new generation.

And in the law offices of Hull & Hull, Ian Hull has enlisted partners to expand a practice whose bread-and-butter is smoothing the transitions at family firms. >>

FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 9

Chris, Darryl and Terry Budd at Budds’ BMW dealership.

The Budds here was no going back for Don Dal Bianco after the business executive bought his first luxury car in the mid-1980s. It was a six-cylinder Jaguar from Budds’ Imported Cars.

“That’s where it all started.”

Today Dal Bianco runs his own family business, and his latest Jag is the XK in Radiance Red with a beige leather interior. It’s actually his wife’s car, but he drives it when he gets the chance. “Everybody’s head pops up when they see that car,” he says. “It’s an absolutely gorgeous car.”

And, as Dal Bianco’s fondness for the Jaguar has deepened over the past 20 years, so has his association with the three Budd brothers. (When he’s not behind the wheel of the Jag, Dal Bianco drives a silver BMW XV, also from Budds’.) “I have my own family business so I can relate to them that way,” he says.

Dal Bianco is one of Budds’ staunchest customers, but in a way he’s not atypical. Chris, Terry, and Darryl Budd have engendered tremendous loyalty on Bay Street since they started out in 1973 with Budds’ Imported Cars in Oakville, selling Triumphs, Jaguars, and Land Rovers.

Like many young men in their early twenties, the Budd brothers were zealots for the MGs and Triumph Spitfires of British racing legend. And like many young men, the brothers approached Dad for a loan. But the Budds didn’t ask their father to help them buy a car—they wanted the dealership.

Stuart Budd had been in the car business all of his life when Chris, Darryl, and Terry approached him with the idea of selling vehicles from British Leyland Motor Corp.

“We were young, enthusiastic sports car nuts,” says Chris. “But he was smart enough to know that if he was going to invest his money, he should come in with us.”

In 1977 they added Saab. They rolled out Saturns in 1992 and BMWs in 1996.

The brothers added buildings as well, with showrooms in Mississauga, Oakville, and Hamilton.

Drive to the border of Oakville-Burlington border. Just at the edge of the QEW is a veritable emporium of Budds’ showrooms. The brothers are in their fifties now and the family empire has swelled to six locations plus a body shop. Their sales tally at the end of the year will hit about $240 million. Essentially, says Chris, the brothers choose cars that they themselves like to drive. “I think every brand we have, we have a passion for.”

Despite the brothers’ expansion throughout Southern Ontario, Budds’ has always been associated with

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Bay Street. Budds’ staff will pick up cars from the corridors of the financial district, take them into the shop for service, and deliver them back to their owners freshly washed, Chris says. A big part of the service they offer is aimed at saving time for hard-pressed bank executives, CEOs, and hedge fund managers.

Salesmen will run a Saab down to King Street for a test drive at 10 a.m. or any other time that suits a stockbroker’s schedule. “Just ask and we’ll figure it out,” says Chris.

Working with family is an advantage, in Chris’s opinion, because the men have a thorough knowledge of the business but also of each other. “We started out together, and we all came up together.”

The brothers divide up the responsibility by brand: Chris oversees Saab, Terry handles Jaguar, Land Rover, and Saturn, and Darryl runs BMW. They rotate their weekly meetings through each location. They hash out the big decisions together but mostly leave decisions about each line of business to the brother in charge.

The brothers don’t spend a lot of time building a hierarchy or jockeying for position, says Chris. Instead, the business has evolved by each working in his realm.

The men have high hopes for the next generation: each has two children, and most of those in the younger generation have put in plenty of hours at the dealership, working behind the service counter, washing cars, and driving customers to and from their offices.

Chris’s daughter Sarah is heading off to work with BMW in Spain for a year so that she can gain some experience on the wholesale side of the business. “She loves the car business,” says Chris. He hopes more siblings and cousins are on their way to the family firm.

He believes that dealing with a family business that has been around for 30-odd years appeals to many of its clients. “We have dealt with the same customers for years and years.”

Chris figures that the brothers are really just carrying on the traditions taught to them by their father, who died several years ago. Stuart Budd, he says, started off in leasing trucks and cars to businesses. For years he sold General Motors vehicles at a dealership in Toronto. “Our dad really was our mentor. He was just one of those guys who never made anyone mad at him.”

But their father also taught the three a lot about hard work and putting in time to earn respect, he adds. And those are lessons the brothers are passing on to their own children as they spend some of their summer vacations and weekends in the family fold.

“We started out together, and we all came up together.”

FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 11

Ian and Rodney Hull

Hull & Hull an Hull is mystified by the way that family dynasties can disintegrate into mayhem. “Every day I think I’ve heard everything; I kick myself because I go ‘Wow, I didn’t know people treated each other that way.’”

Hull has a unique perspective on family businesses: he specializes in trust mediation and succession planning.

He also runs the family firm, Toronto-based Hull & Hull, which he co-founded with his father, Rodney Hull.

He followed his father into the business because he thought that helping the wealthy sort out the frazzled business of who gets what would be interesting. He also thought there would be lots of work. He was right on both counts.

Family firms seem to be dwindling on Bay Street as mega-mergers see more companies swallowed up. Hull & Hull has been in business since the early 1990s, but the father and son team has been able to survive that trend. They’ve also responded to societal changes that seem to bring about more litigation among family members.

Hull figures that if families spent more time talking to each other, he’d have far less work. But he is continually baffled at how quickly brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers turn to third parties when the bickering and backstabbing begins.

“I’ve just seen too many fights that could be avoided,” he says.

“People let the lawyers step in too soon.”

Hull, who is the author of four books on estate law issues (one co-authored with his father), says decadesold slights and rivalries are often at the root of the dissonance. “It is ultimately about money, but it’s about 95 percent emotion to get to that,” he says of his role as a mediator.

Often he’s brought in by family members after a business magnate has died. “If you don’t deal with issues when you’re alive, things start to go sour with the estate, and I’ve seen that for years.”

In many cases, a successful businessperson builds a thriving business but gives almost no thought to preserving family harmony. “Too often these people who are entrepreneurs haven’t spent the time to educate their children on the transition,” says Hull.

The lawyer likes to bring the parties together amidst the calm austerity of corporate surroundings. He finds that family members communicate more easily that way.

The meetings set around the dining-room table can get bogged down in an emotional quagmire. Sometimes the patriarch or matriarch tries to wrestle control of the agenda. Meetings go more smoothly when Hull takes on

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the role of potentate himself. “The family dialogue isn’t going to happen if you wait for Thanksgiving dinner.

That is just the wrong place to have it.”

Once he has the family members assembled in the boardroom, he directly attacks the emotions. In some cases, the roadblock is something as intangible as damaged pride. In the classic scenario, ideal for creating dissension, one child makes a career in the family firm, while another opts out. In one case, one family scion had decided to become an actor,, then felt marginalized when it came to business matters. “It turns out all he wanted was a seat on the board,” says Hull.

Hull was a young lawyer a couple of years out of law school when he agreed to team up with his father in 1992. The partnership worked well, he says, because Hull senior needed help after 35 years of practice and Hull junior was hungry for experience in case law.

“My dad handed the business operations over to me.

He was exhausted,” says Hull.

Over time, Hull took on more cases himself. His father, he says, was an exceptional mentor. “My father, right from the start, was very generous with his time with me,” he says. “He gave me an opportunity to watch him.” He could not have been in better hands. Rodney Hull’s qualifications and experience are impressive: he graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1953, was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1969, and has authored reference works and professional publications relating to estates, trusts, and fiduciary matters. He is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the presentation of this year’s Law Society Medal by the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Hull finds that the number of family firms is indeed shrinking as small firms struggle against high overheads.

At the same time, in a business such as law, based on intellectual property, passing on the firm to another generation becomes more difficult. “There is no handing on of the widget, so to speak.”

At the law firm, Rodney Hull decided to scale back his involvement during an amicable transition, Ian says.

More recently, the business has grown to the point where Ian Hull has opened up positions for four other partners.

It’s difficult to attract new talent, he says, if young lawyers don’t see an opportunity for an equity stake down the road. And he reckons there will be lots of business to come as long as family members are letting lawyers settle their disputes.

“Meaningful communication would solve many, many of the problems,” he laments. “It’s the DNA effect—just sit down and talk.”

“There is no handing on of the widget, so to speak.”

FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 13

Jack Lochhead and portrait of John Ridpath

Ridpath’s hen Ridpath’s Fine Furniture celebrated its 100th anniversary in September, John Ridpath was there, gesturing to the burnished oak carvings his father had crafted on the walls of the old family store. He also acted as a de facto tour guide for Jack Lochhead, who recently took over as general manager.

The carvings in the Oak Room have stood pretty much untouched since John (Jack) Ridpath hand-carved them in the 1930s in the Yonge Street showroom that fronted his furniture factory. Back then, the room served as something of a gentlemen’s club for Bay Street tycoons who would drop in after work for a Scotch and a cigar.

The creaky old passenger elevator is still there, and so is the polishing room, where staff wax and buff every piece of furniture before it goes out the door. Proud of its past, Ridpath’s houses a small museum on its main floor featuring old ads, early design sketches, and even a few original pieces of furniture.

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For Lochhead, this nostalgic turn was especially poignant because he is making changes at the vaunted furniture store.

While the Oak Room hasn’t changed in 75 years or so, much about the furniture business has. “We’ve built our reputation on fine traditional furniture. We’ve done that for 100 years,” he says. “Now we want to let people know that we also have condo-sized furniture.”

He points to the ways that Ridpath’s is doing just that: There’s a new lighting gallery with one-of-a-kind lamps and glittering chandeliers. At the rear of the store, they’ve constructed a 760-square-foot condo layout so customers can see how smaller pieces fit into the space. New lines of contemporary furniture have modern twists on the fittings and finishes. Silver handles gleam on a glamorous 1930s Art Deco-style piece. A credenza is lightened by a metallic glow. >>

HELEN KERR may be the only woman in Rosedale with a hand-medown from Queen Elizabeth II in her living room.

It’s a sturdy table of dark-stained wood. A chair, affixed with a label from Ridpath’s, sits nearby in the study. The monarch used the chair, pulled up to the table, when she signed the documents to officially open the St. Lawrence Seaway in June of 1959.

Kerr is an octogenarian whose condominium’s living room is filled with pieces from Ridpath’s Fine Furniture on Yonge Street. Her mother, Maude Brock, worked at the store as a saleswoman well into her eighties.

“Old Ridpath took a shine to her,” says Kerr of the store’s founder, John Ridpath.

Kerr has owned the royal table since her husband purchased it shortly after the Queen’s visit to Canada. Her son Frank recalls how it came about: His father, William, had picked out another table and 12 chairs for the family dining room at their house on Inglewood Drive.

The deal was struck, but when Dr.

Kerr called to make arrangements for delivery, Ridpath’s informed him that the table had been sold to a corporation for its boardroom.

But perhaps he would be interested in purchasing a different table? One used by the Queen of England herself? Dr. Kerr agreed to that piece and, eventually, another dining table too.

Frank says every family birthday and Christmas celebration for the family of six took place around the tables from Ridpath’s for years.

But Kerr doesn’t treat the table with a great degree of sentimentality. “It used to be in the dining room as a serving table,” she says. Frank is surprised that it has survived unscathed as long as it has. “We had a handful of St. Bernards,” he says.

“Just the right height to chew a corner off.”

Helen Kerr made many visits to the Ridpath’s store over the years as she picked her mother up from work. She came to know Peter Dalglish, who took over the family business from the Ridpaths. “He used to give us the remnants—any-

Photo: Ruslan Sarkisian

A Royal Purchase

thing that was left over from the upholstering,” she says. That fabric was often sold during Kerr’s fundraising efforts for the Toronto General Hospital. Some of those brocades and velvets helped to buy the hospital’s first magnetic resonance imaging machine.

As a young woman, Kerr worked as a technician in the laboratory of Frederick Banting, one of the codiscoverers of insulin. There she met her future husband, William, who went on to become an acclaimed urologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

Years later, when colleagues at Dr. Kerr’s Sunnybrook laboratory honoured him for his research with a table that had their names carved into it, they went to Ridpath’s. Of course.

FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 15

A significant trend in recent years has been the exodus of the older baby boomers—the empty nesters—from their Rosedale and Forest Hill houses into luxury condominiums in Yorkville or on Avenue Road and St. Clair.

At the same time, explains Lochhead, those at the tail end of the baby-boom generation are buying the stately old residences for their young families. They prefer to have their Rosedale house accommodate a stylish, child-friendly lifestyle without clashing with the home’s heritage.

“They want that Ridpath’s tradition,” says Lochhead. “They want the truck to pull up out front and signify to the neighbours that they’ve purchased furniture from a fine store.”

Lochhead has received his mandate from Ridpath’s owner of 47 years, Peter Dalglish, who took over from the Ridpath family after Jack Ridpath died suddenly. The plan had been to have his son, John Jr., take the helm, but John instead chose a career in teaching. Dalglish’s parents had close ties with the Ridpaths, and a deal was struck between old family friends. Dalglish, a young entrepreneur, took over the business in 1959 and has headed it ever since.

Much of the store’s longevity stems from its ability to

engender customer loyalty over the years—loyalty that has had a lot to do with the staff, who work at building relationships with clients. The showroom’s longest-serving sales representative, Marika Maxwell, has been there for more than 20 years. Lochhead says that while relationships are well-established with long-time customers, he hopes the new mix of furniture and art will offer styles more suited to today’s diverse lifestyles and living spaces.

To that end, Lochhead and Dalglish do not intend to stray too far from the Ridpath’s traditions.

There’s no plan to replace the old passenger elevator, and shoppers can still watch through the glass at the rear of the store as an employee polishes and buffs up every piece of furniture before it goes out to the customer’s home.

The showroom will still feature such things as the $36,000 cherry wood partner’s desk with leather inlays—a favourite among Bay Street lawyers and bankers— or the $100,000 traditional dining table.

The store has added a lighting gallery (with collectiable pieces), a bedding collection of fine linens, and original works of art. All served up in the only way Ridpath’s knows—with quality.

“They want that Ridpath’s tradition. They want the truck to pull up out front and signify to the neighbours that they’ve purchased furniture from a fine store.”

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16 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

I M A G E + FA S H I O N

DAVIDS Photo: Ruslan Sarkisian

F O O T W E A R T H AT ’ S A LW AY S A S T E P A H E A D

BY SARAH SCOTT couple of years ago, I received a wonderful gift—a sparkling pair of Rene Caovilla black sandals.

They came in a soft red bag from Davids, the luxury shoe emporium on Bay and Bloor. I felt like a princess whenever I wore them. Women often mentioned them; men rarely did. I loved them. But now, they needed a little fix, so I put on a pair of black pumps I bought last year in Italy instead of my usual scruffy ones and walked to the store.

There, Richard Markowitz, representing the fourth generation of shoe salesmen in his family, was waiting for me beside the front table on which was displayed a white orchid instead of the cash register one would ordinarily expect to

A

18 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

see. (I had called him in advance to let him know I was writing about the store for this magazine.) Wearing a spotless pair of brown handmade Gravati shoes under and dark grey pants, Richard was eager to show me around. In this handsome 5,000-square-foot store space, which underwent a $2-million renovation in the spring, the designers have created a shimmering study of the grey palette, a perfect backdrop for the architectural black shoes and the wall of mouthwatering handbags. It was a midweek afternoon, and women lingered on the custom-made dark brown ottomans while they considered the shoes. But, Richard explained, Davids is far more than just a high-end shoe shop where the

latest diamond-soled woman’s sock-boot from Italy can set you back $1,500.

Davids is one of the last remaining family businesses on the street, a firm where the CEO works hand in hand with his wife and son—an achievement that few Bay Streeters can match. The CEO of the company is Richard’s father, David Markowitz. The company was named for him in 1951, the year he was born. David grew up in the store that his parents, Louis and Julia, founded.

“There’s always a Markowitz in the store,” Richard had told me, and as I continue the tour with his father, I realize he wasn’t kidding—they’re everywhere.

David takes me to the crowded office a few steps from the showroom, where his

Photo: John Hyrnuik Standing (from left to right): Morry Schwartz, David Markowitz, Alan Markowitz.

Sitting (from left to right): Faye Markowitz, Richard Markowitz, Ilana Markowitz.

have a great deal of respect for our name—our store’s and our family’s,” says David. “We take it very personally. We pay a lot of attention to detail in every facet of the business.”

Not surprisingly, the discussion at the family dinner table usually focuses on the shoe business. “We live the business 24/7,” says David. He’s proud to say that his store has built an international reputation. It was voted one of the world’s top 10 shoe stores by the trade journal Footwear News. “It’s wonderful that we as

Richard Markowitz in Davids’ flagship store on Bay Street.

sells shoes at more modest prices). Alan’s wife, Ilana, works in the office. David’s uncle, Morry Schwartz, is on the floor selling shoes. And Louis and Julia still visit the store every day.

With such careful familial nurturing, the business has flourished. There are now three Davids stores and six Capezio stores in the GTA. The family enterprise dates back to the time when David’s grandmother, Riva, came home with 200 slightly damaged shoes she had picked up at a factory. David’s father, Louis, was 15 at the time. Get on your bicycle, Riva told her son, and sell these shoes at $1 each.

Louis sold the lot; she bought more. A family business was born. Louis got married, and his wife, Julia, had an idea: Why not import high-end shoes? They were the first to bring brands like Bruno Mali and Charles Jourdan to Canada, and in 1971, they moved into their present location.

David is proud to still be there; a lot of family-owned stores from the neighbourhood, like Creeds, didn’t make it. “We 20 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

There’s always a “ Markowitz in the store. ”

Photo: John Hyrnuik

wife, Faye, is monitoring sales on a computer. Faye has worked for the family store ever since she married David 36 years ago. “He married me because I’m a sample shoe size, size 7,” she laughs, never looking away from the computer screen.

Faye is in charge of selecting the women’s shoes on family buying trips to Italy; she tries on each shoe herself before deciding. David’s brother Alan buys the men’s shoes. Lorne, Alan’s twin, supervises family’s six Capezio stores (including the one next door to Davids, which

a family can compete with the Guccis and Pradas,” says David.

Do they ever. Richard leads me past the curtain of 6,000 Lucite tubes that serves as a veil on the glass wall along Bay Street to the delectable wall of bags. I suspect they understand the psychology of the woman who wants to feel fashionable without losing that annoying 10 or 20 pounds. “You can be any size and pick up a handbag and a pair of shoes,” Faye tells me. We don’t spend much time upstairs in the men’s club, all leather and comfort, where Bay Streeters shop for the ultimate power shoe. After all, that’s not really where my interest lies. I only note that the men’s shoes, mostly in the $200 to $700 range, are considerably cheaper— if one could use that word—than the women’s shoes, which start at $200 but can easily set you back $900. Perhaps

that’s why the cash register is placed discreetly in a back room. The women’s shoes have more detail, David explains.

“Men have a hard time justifying the cost of shoes,” notes Richard. Women, I suspect, can often find a way to rationalize spending a princely sum on their feet.

Richard, who does a little bit of everything in the store, is nuts about shoes. He has 25 pairs of dress shoes, as well as a collection of 75 pairs of sneakers, most of them still in boxes. He watches trends all the time—in magazines, online, on T.V., on the feet of men and women walking down Bay Street, in the night clubs and restaurants. After one of the store sales clerks whisked away my Rene Caovilla sandals for repair, Richard showed me some of the other luxury offerings. He diplomatically avoided making any comment about the plain black Italian pumps I had carefully chosen for the day, although my purse, a present from Italy, did win a thumbs-up. “A lot of people dress from the bottom up,” he said as he pointed out the riding boot-look, with the round toe and round heel style that’s fashionable these days. “But pointy is always in fashion,” he reassured me. Davids is not the kind of retailer to jump on a trend and abandon the look that endures.

We stop at the Walter Steiger, shoes and Richard singles out the Surrey shoe that Oscar-winning actor Jodie Foster bought during the Toronto International Film Festival. It’s a choice for a “sophisticated lady,” he says. We move on to the Christian Louboutin, this season’s hot seller with the red soles. Actor Liv Tyler also dropped in to pick up an Ernesto Tstrap shoe. They looked great on the red carpet, says Richard. When you wear a high heel and a sexy strap, you’re making a statement: “Hey, I’m here,” he adds.

The woman who wears a black suede and patent leather “Gatsby” shoe by Alexandra Neel, on the other hand, is saying something different: “I’m non-traditonal, funky, sexy.” A society lady, the kind who drops in for the afternoon after lunch with her dress designer, would probably look at the shoes a few steps away, the classic Spectator pumps by Silvia Fiorentina.

Finally we stop at the small display of Rene Caovilla shoes. There, under the lights, is a Celeste sock shoe, with a Swarovski-encrusted heel. Apparently, high-fashion Torontonians bought nine pairs of them in the first three weeks after Davids brought them in. Crazy? Maybe.

But I guarantee you: People will notice.

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BY MIKE DOJC

TECH TOYS

What’s Next in Chi-Chi Speakers, Cutting Edge Cells, and Go-Anywhere GPS.

T

ech toys’ MSRPs get slashed as often as Sidney Crosby’s hockey stick. It’s mainly a function of the increasing speed at which today’s new technology becomes yesterday’s news. But not all gadgets have the shelf life of a Christmas fruit cake. Beyond the purview of big-box-store stockrooms lurks a new breed of shiny gee-whiz gizmos built to age more like precious stones than baked goods.

Common touches shared by haute couture tech are limited production runs, the use of exotic materials, superior craftsmanship, and a discerning target market with an insatiable appetite for what’s next.

GPS:

SATSKI Tired of freezing your thumbs off when opening up the route map to find your way to the nearest lodge while blazing your way down Blackcomb? Next time, hit the slopes with a specialized GPS that does way more than just help you plot your route of descent. This parka-pocketsized device also tracks your performance: average ski speed, maximum speed achieved, distance, altitude, distance skied and altitude climbed/descended, and many more skiing statistics. Another cool feature is that all the routes traversed can be uploaded to Google Earth so you can share your adventures with family and friends.

When you’re in the lodge, you can use it as an entertainment system.

The GPS goes for £1,500 ($3,000) in the UK where it debuted this October, and can be rented for the day for £28 ($54) at select ski resorts. It should be available on this continent in a year.

BLU:SENS G01 & G02 With in-dash GPS systems becoming as standard as ABS brakes, the wow factor of the ubiquitous turn-by-turn destination-finding touch screens has been greatly diminished.

Blu:sens brings it back by upgrading the primary colour palette used by run-of-the-mill GPS systems. The amped-up graphical interface displays actual bird’s-eye-view satellite renderings of the buildings around you. This is particularly impressive when cruising the streets of landmarkpacked cities like New York, Paris, and London. The G01 is 4.3 inches with a 30GB hard drive and supports video, audio and image playback. Initial price was €499 ($677). No word yet on the North American release date. The G02 holds 40 GB and includes Bluetooth 2.0 and A2DP support, and will be released in early 2008.

Photos: (opposite page) Designer Ross Lovegrove with KEF’s new Muon speakes. (left) Satski GPS System, Blue:sens G02 and G01. (Right) Apple iPhone.

FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 23

Speakers:

Muon, KEF’s new Yao Ming-sized speakers, engineered out of superformed aluminum sheets, look like something you’d encounter on a visit to the Guggenheim. The brainchild of Ross Lovegrove, the brilliant aesthetic mind behind the original Sony Walkman and the iMac, the 253-lb curvy towers of sound are inspired by the abstract sculptures of British artists Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. The Muon rollout is limited to 100 and retails for $140,000 a pair. Another stereophile delight is Cabasse’s La Sphere coaxial speakers. The unique eyeball-shaped speakers claim to deliver the best linear response time and coherency up to 25,000 HZ. These wondrous woofers are listed at $150,000 a pair.

If high fidelity is as important to you as your house, then put Sweden’s Perfect8 flagship Force loudspeakers on your wish list. The statuesque twin glass ceiling-scrapers stand 6'7" and weigh in at a hefty 350 lbs apiece. The company’s slogan, “music sculptures of glass and gold,” says it all. At $277,000 a pair, they go for about the same as a one-bedroom condo in downtown Toronto. These room-revolutionizing pinnacles of audio artistry take 6–12 months to deliver, thanks to a 200-hour meticulous assembly process. For some perspective on that, it takes about 36 hours for a brand-new Corvette to roll off the assembly line.

Photos: (clockwise) Nokia Skypephone, KEF's Muon speaker, Perfect8 flagship Force loudspeakers and Cabasse's La Sphere coaxial speakers.

Cells:

Apple’s eye-popping iPhone makes the last buzz-cell, Motorola’s Razr, look like an antiquity. But Google’s much anticipated Gphone is expected to take a big bite out of Apple’s aspirations of handset domination, especially if the rampant rumours of the Gphone being advertiser-supported come to fruition. Details of Google’s mobile offering are set to be released just as we go to print. A future feature we’ll still be dreaming about even after Gphone hits shelves is a concept by Stefano Casanova. The flirtatious visionary has designed a handset that with a flip downwards could project its screen onto a flat surface. This would be stellar for photo sharing and off-the-cuff business presentations and is probably only two years away from realization. Closer on the horizon is a Skype-enabled mobile handset.

Hutchison 3G, known as 3 in the UK, recently started selling Skypephones that allow free calls between Skype users anywhere in the world. Watch for a North American Skypephone within a year.

24 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

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For more information on Northwest and the new Corporate Class and Quadrant Portfolios call 1888 809 3333 or visit us at northwestfunds.com.

E U Q I T BOU

TREET BAY S

CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE “Where landscapes go to escape the ordinary.”

The emerging Master of Modern Landscape, Ford Smith, is the talk of the Art World. He has brought a fresh contemporary approach to a traditional subject. His unique style and vision derive from studying in Japan early in life and an extensive fashion photography background. Ford Smith originals, giclee canvas and hand embellished pieces are available at Liss Gallery, 140 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto, 416-787-9872, lissgallery.com.

ARCTIC ART Why not give a gift that will increase in value? The Kipling Gallery offers a large collection of original handcrafted sculptures that reflect the history and culture of Arctic Canada. Working exclusively with Inuit and Dene artists through Canadian Arctic Producers—the Aboriginal-owned and controlled co-operative—Kipling Gallery is able to promote and highlight artwork of these distinct First Nation cultures. Each unique piece is certified by the Government of Canada. For consultations and presentations: Contact Kipling Gallery, 7938 Kipling Ave., Vaughan, ON, 905-265-2160 or visit kiplinggallery.com.

SOUND SOLUTIONS New from dCS, known for first-class digital playback gear, comes the Paganini system. The Paganini is a three-box unit: Transport, D-A Converter and a Master Clock. Reads CD and SACD2 channel CDs. Price: $52,000. Distributed by Audiopathways Inc., 9251 Yonge Street, Suite 506, Richmond Hill, ON 416-788-8844 or visit audiopathways.com for dealer information.

26 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

CONTINENTAL GT. APPROACH YOUR DESTINATION.

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BENTLEY TORONTO 740 Dupont Street, Toronto, ON M6G 1Z6 For information call 866 475 8112 www.bentleymotors.com/bentleytoronto ‘Bentley’ and the ‘B in wings’ device are registered trademarks. © 2006 Bentley Motors Canada, Ltd.

BENTLEY TORONTO

W I N E

R E V I E W

Kiwi Wines

BY DICK SINGER

he roast lamb and baked potatoes were delightful. Ditto for the spring salad and seafood starters.

In New Zealand, one expects such things. But it was the wines that blew me away. New Zealand may be a tiny country at the bottom of the world, but when it comes to wines, it’s huge.

The burgeoning wine industry is spread over 10 regions, encompassing some 1,200 kilometres, and distributed over two major islands. Most travellers begin their stay and tours in Auckland, on the North Island.

But wine lovers need to head south to Marlborough, the country’s largest wineproducing region and wine capital.

The first vines were planted in Marlborough in 1973. They produced wines that had such a distinctive pungency and zesty fruit flavour that they were an instant success, fuelling an unparalleled boom in vineyards.

T

28 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

The free-draining alluvial loam and gravelly subsoils in of the Wairau and Awatere river valleys provide fantastic growing conditions. Abundant sunshine, cool nights, and a long growing season are ideal for the Sauvignon Blanc grape variety which Marlborough is now famous for.

Wine, however, is not the only gem to be found in Marlborough. It is a gourmet’s paradise filled with olive groves, seafood, and fruit and vegetables. Surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on the other, the area also offers a mix of out-

door activities including kayaking, hiking, biking, and swimming with dolphins.

If Chardonnay is more your style, then Hawke’s Bay, on the North Island’s east coast, is a must. It is the country’s secondlargest wine region but it has the longest history of wine production.

The varied topography and wide range of soil types—there are 22 different kinds of soil in the Heretaunga Plains alone— allow for the production of a considerable selection of wines. The region also boasts one of the best wine trails in New Zealand.

The most well-known of the area’s distinct sub-regions is Gimblett Road. Picture perfect, it is excellent for later-ripening grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah (Shiraz), which are particularly suited to the stony soil. Be sure to dine at one of the many first-class restaurants, visit the country’s largest wine museum at the Church Road winery, and check out Napier, an interesting city filled with unique 1930s Art Deco architecture.

In less than 20 years, New Zealand wines have shouldered their way into our cellars, first with clean, fruity sauvignon blancs and now with Pinot Noirs and Merlots. Selection in Canada has been limited, but given New Zealand’s consistent good quality, it’s a safe bet that won’t be the situation for long.

MARTINBOROUGH VINEYARD 2005 Te Tera Sauvignon Blanc $21.90 A brisk, incredibly clean, complex varietal displaying an array of flavours including ripe, luscious passion fruit, gooseberry, citrus peel, and a dollop of lychee, with a hint of herbaceousness.

Savour this gem on its own or with shellfish, fresh lobster, pasta dishes, veal, roast chicken or pork, and medium cheeses. Can stand to be cellared for a year or two.

MARTINBOROUGH 2006 Oyster Bay Pinot Noir $25.95 Oyster Bay Winery is not a newcomer to Ontario.

Its white wines were among the first to gain popularity here and launched the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc craze. Now comes its Pinot Noir from last year’s vintage, and it’s a classic. Created by vintner Michael Ivicevich, this is a mediumweight red with loads of cherry and berry flavours, touched by spice and a note of mineral.

An easy sipper, this wine needs a slight agitation to release the bouquet. Sniff, then sip. You will appreciate the generous flavours and balanced, refined finish. Try it with duck, game, or pan-fried Atlantic salmon.

MISSION ESTATE WINERY 2005 Reserve Syrah

Photos: Ruslan Sarkisian and Ant Clausen/Dreamstime (opposite page)

$23.95 This is a true, well-bred, deep ruby Syrah exhibiting finesse and balance. It fills the mouth with intense spice and berry, red fruit, black pepper, oak, and vanilla—a true cornucopia of flavours. It is soft, with mature tannins and a fruit-versuslength agreement that mask its higher alcohol level. Long and lingering, it goes nicely with roasted red meats, barbecued and seasoned steak, and wild game.

FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 29

Where

BY CHRIS POWELL

30 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

s r a t S o t n i n r u T Fans

J

im Dalrymple’s heart was hammering like a Keith Moon drum solo.

His insides were coiled tighter than the strings on his Gibson Les Paul. He and his band, Fieger Optics, were about to make their live debut at the famed House of Blues on L.A.’s Sunset Strip.

There were 1,000 people in the audience, including Prince, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jim’s mom and dad.

The first number planned for that February night in 2006 was “Summertime Blues,” an Eddie Cochran song made famous by legendary British Invasion rockers The Who. For the past week, Fieger Optics had spent 10-hour days in L.A.’s SIR Studios perfecting the song.

Backstage, a nervous Dalrymple glanced over at his lead singer. The man getting ready to raise a fuss and holler

to be able to share this with all the fans out there,” he says. “I didn’t realize what a life-changing impact it would have on people. It just started to grow and I asked more and more rock stars to do it.

Each camp got bigger and campers started returning. It’s been quite a successful operation.”

ducer responsible for creating concert tours including Dirty Dancing: The Concert Tour, Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Tour, and the American Gladiators Live Tour.

It was while on the road with another of his creations, Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band, that Fishof came up with the idea for a rock and roll fantasy camp. “I lived with these great rock stars, and I wanted

Since its inception in 1997, the Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp has grown into a quarterly event in four cities (L.A., New York, Las Vegas, and London). A 25-city tour of one-day camps, tentatively including Toronto, is scheduled for 2008.

To date, Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp has attracted more than 1,000 “campers,” who have received instruction and guidance from some of the biggest names in rock and roll, including Daltrey, Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Jack Bruce (Cream), and Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones).

The camp is open to anyone with an affinity for music, although guitar and drums are the two most popular instruments. “You can play a month, you can be a wannabe player, we’ll group you,” says Fishof. “If you’re an amazing player, we’ll

Journey's Neal Schon on stage with campers (above), Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead jams with campers (below).

group you with Alan White from Yes, who’s an amazing musician. If you’re a starter, Spike Edney from Queen enjoys working with a new band.”

Camp attendees are divided into groups and assigned professional “counsellors” who work with each band in preparation for a “Battle of the Bands”type showdown at the camp’s conclusion.

At his first camp in L.A. last year, Dalrymple’s counsellor was Doug Fieger, a member of L.A. power poppers The Knack (whose “My Sharona” was a worldwide hit in 1979). When he returned this year, he was paired with Edney, a British musician who has toured with Queen since 1984.

About half of the campers are returnees, many of them veterans of four or even five camps. “There’s a lot of team building and they learn a lot,” says Fishof. “They get more out of it than just

Photos courtesy Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp

about workin’ all summer just to try and earn a dollar was one of the most famous singers in rock and roll history.

“The curtains were closed, the guitar tech came up and plugged my guitar in, we checked the volume, and I turned around and there’s The Who’s Roger Daltrey standing right beside me,” Dalrymple recalls. “He looked at me and said, ‘OK, let’s go.’ He turned around, the curtains opened up, and I thought, ‘Here’s a place with 1,000 people in it and I’m standing right beside Roger Daltrey.’”

Not a bad way for a tech writer from Halifax to get his first taste of rock and roll stardom.

Dalrymple was among 80 guitarists, drummers, singers, keyboard players, and other musicians participating in the Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, a five-day experience that gives any would-be Jimi or Ringo with a spare $9,000 the opportunity to jam with and learn from rock stars including members of KISS, The Doobie Brothers, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp is the brainchild of David Fishof, a renowned New York entertainment pro-

FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 31

Deep Purple at BB King’s in NY with campers (above), Paul Stanley of KISS in a duet (left), Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's on stage, and Spike Edney jams with campers on the plane (opposite page).

jamming with a bunch of rock stars. It really becomes a life-changing experience.

Their passions come out, and they start playing their music when they leave, and they start making friends and writing and learning music. Their life comes together.”

Fishof relates the story of one camp attendee who returned home and gave up a 30-year career in finance to learn drums at the London Music School. “He just gave it all up,” he says. “He said, ‘The good news is I gave up

my gig; the bad news is I can’t come to your next camp because I don’t want to miss any of my classes.’”

Dalrymple has no plans to quit his day job as news director with the tech publication Macworld. Before attending the camp, he was what he calls “your typical closet rock and roller.” He’d amassed a collection of guitars and recording gear, not to mention a stack of songs that nobody had ever heard.

The camp experience, though, has encouraged him to share his music with others. “I’ve

been in contact with several people about forming a band, and I’ve played with a couple of local bands,” he says. “I’d get on stage for a song, and I’m very comfortable doing that. That’s something that without, I never would have done.”

A typical day at Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp begins at 8:30 a.m. and can run until 10:30 p.m. including the after-dinner jam sessions. “It’s a lot of fun, but it’s work,” says Dalrymple. “Especially when you have a Les Paul guitar strapped around your neck. It’s like carrying around a 50-pound bag of bricks.”

Veteran camp counsellor Simon Kirke, who drummed with 70s arena rockers Free and Bad Company (that’s him on such classic rock staples as “All Right Now”

and “Feel Like Making Love”) says he asks only two things of his campers: show up on time, and make sure you’re in tune.

“You’d be amazed at the amount of time that’s wasted because Joe Blow hasn’t tuned his bloody guitar,” says Kirke, who will be attending his seventh camp in Las Vegas this month (other scheduled guests include Joe Walsh, Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash).

“I’ve come to an age now where I like to give something back,” says Kirke, explaining his ongoing involvement in the camp. “And it’s very flattering when people come up and say, ‘I grew up with your music, and by the way, how do you play this, or what’s the chord structure to that song?’ It’s part of my makeup now,” he adds. “I just want to impart some of my knowledge to people who have a desire to improve their playing.”

And sure, some camp attendees indulge in the rock and roll lifestyle while away

from their families.

Not that they get any sympathy from guys like Kirke— who, with his 70s peers, practically invented the concept of rock and roll debauchery—when they show up for rehearsals hung over.

“Every camp, I’ve had some relative youngsters who come dragging their arses in the next morning, and they’ve been in the bar until one in the morning . . . and if only they knew what we went through in the 70s. My God,” says Kirke, who has completed the 12-step program. “They couldn’t hold a candle to us.”

Dalrymple says he was content to simply have a few beers and mingle with his

fellow campers and counsellors, even occasionally throwing some good-natured jibes at counsellors like KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick and Slaughter guitarist Mark Slaughter.

“I would walk by them and say, ‘You need any help with the guitar, or are you OK?’” he says. “They were just laughing. I don’t think there was an egotistical person there. When you actually sit down and start talking to them, they’re just regular people,” he says.

“This is fun for them too, and each one of them has told me that.”

Dalrymple says he’s already considering attending a third camp in 2008—if he can get his wife to agree.

“It’s not something that you do once and say, ‘Okay, that’s as good as it’s ever going to get,’” he explains. “That’s what I thought with the first one, but when I went to the second one it was even better.

I could do this every year.”

There may still be no cure for the summertime blues. But Dalrymple seems to have come up with a pretty effective wintertime prescription.

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FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 33

S T Y L E

Head Over Heels

T

his fall, be bold. Make a statement. And what better way than with a stunning new pair of shoes and a bag to match. From Swarovskidiamond encrusted slingbacks to a Walter Steiger pewter booty, Toronto’s iconic shoe emporium, Davids has them all.

Photography by Ruslan Sarkisian

C

hristian Louboutin black leather T-Strap ($890) paired with a black nappa Rodo clutch ($650).

34 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

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rom the sky the Hong Kong International Airport looks like the shape of a plane. Its outstretched wings house the two terminals through which 40 million people pass each year.

The enormous windows allow a view of the many skyscrapers sprouting out of the mountainside. For some, this is the gateway to China; for others, it is a place to hitch a ride on a turbo hydrofoil to Macau, the self-styled Las Vegas of the East.

The comparison might sound overblown; it’s not. Last year Macau’s annual gambling revenues surpassed those of Vegas. By the end of 2008, the charismatic-butsleepy Macau will be home to almost 30 casinos. And the next 10 years will see the city’s total number of hotel rooms grow from 12,000 to more than 50,000.

The former European colony is an intriguing fusion of East and West. Portuguese influence is everywhere: the swirling patterns of the cobbled streets, the baroque churches (Macau has a remarkable collection of restored Catholic

40 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

churches), and the Mediterranean colonnades painted in signature creamy yellow.

Cantonese is heard everywhere, and the local food borrows from Chinese and other Asian cuisines.

Real pleasures can be had in roaming the back streets, stumbling on the en-

claves of antique houses, or the hilltop Guia Fortress, a 19th-century lighthouse abutting a fresco-decorated chapel. But change happens fast in Macau, and one wonders how much antiquity will survive.

Located 60 kilometres southwest of Hong Kong, Macau consists of a penin-

MACAU GAMBLES ON THE FUTURE

BY FRED ESPINA

sula, and the islands of Taipa and Coloane and the reclaimed area of Cotai.

Three bridges connect the Macau peninsula to the Taipa Island, which is in turn connected to Coloane by the Cotai Strip, home to casino resorts.

The area has a dense urban environment but no arable land, pastures, forest, or woodland.

In December of 1999, Macau was returned to China and became a Special Administrative Region. (Under the “one country, two systems” union, Macau, like Hong Kong, has autonomy in all areas except defence and foreign affairs for 50 years.) But before any new investments were made, the Chinese authorities ended the 40-year gaming monopoly of casino mogul Stanley Ho, a.k.a. “Big Brother Sun.” From 1961 until 2002 Macau was Ho’s town. His Hotel Lisboa housed the world's highest grossing casino. Ho and some of his 17 children (from four wives) owned all 11 gambling spots. They and his various companies still own 16 casi-

nos plus the high-speed ferries, part of the airport, and the landmark Macau Tower.

The casinos of yore were noted for their thick fog of smoke and cacophony of noise. Bathroom attendants were famous for handing out toilet paper one sheet at a time (apparently to prevent mainland Chinese from overusing it). And gamblers actually had to pay for their drinks.

Yet despite having none of the eyepopping casino architecture or luxury services known on the Vegas Strip, Ho’s casinos were raking in $3 billion a year.

All this changed in 2002 when the Macau government offered opportunities to several other casino operators including Sheldon Adelson’s Sands Corp, Steve Wynn, and Hong Kong-based Galaxy.

The Sands Macao was the first western-operated casino. After a recent two-year expansion, it is now one of the hottest tourist attractions in Asia. The casino floor is over 21,000 square metres and holds 740 tables.

The Venetian, also a Sands property, opened this summer and features more than 55,000 square metres of gaming, a 15,000-seat sports arena, a rooftop 18hole putting course, lavish VIP suites, and a wave pool. One of the three indoor canals has dragon boats instead of gondolas. A Cirque de Soleil franchise and aqua theatre are coming soon.

If the typical over-the-top Las Vegas fare isn’t for you, head to one of the destinations created by Adelson’s nemesis, casino resort developer Steve Wynn. Wynn is not only a great salesman (he persuaded nice, wholesome American families to fly to Vegas to gamble and got slot players to pay to see Picassos and Gauguins), but the gaming industry’s most innovative designer.

He spearheaded the dramatic resurgence and expansion of the Vegas strip in the 1990s by refurbishing or building some of the most widely recognized resorts such as the Golden Nugget, The Mirage, and Bellagio.

Then, in 2005, Wynn Las Vegas opened. Wynn spent $2.7 billion on the project and broke all the most basic casino rules while doing so. He dropped the theme-hotel motif; made hallways low and intimate; and (gasp) flooded the place with natural light. Spectacle was out.

Serenity was in.

Now Wynn is transporting his Vegas vision to China with the Wynn Macau.

The resort, which opened in September 2006, features 600 rooms, including apartmentstyle two-bedroom suites.

These sumptuous 278square-metre suites have separate entertainment and dining rooms, a private spa therapy suite, a view of the South China Sea, and a 24-hour private butler. The casino has plush bright red carpets and offers 200 table games and 380 slot machines in a hall of 9,300 square metres. The complex also has a spa, six gourmet restaurants, and a shopping esplanade with Bulgari, Chanel, Fendi, Prada, and Armani stores.

The front of the casino has a performance lake with 3 million litres of water.

The hotel’s lobby looks out over a lush garden with a blue-tile tropical swimming pool. Wynn, famous for displaying fine art at his resorts, has graced the reception area with two original French Impressionist paintings: Henri Matisse’s “The Persian Robe” and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “Among the Roses”. And there’s much, much more. But some things need to be seen to be believed.

As casino and hotel construction on the Cotai Strip continues at a frenzied pace, Macau is emerging from the shadow of Las Vegas and is en route to becoming the world’s largest Sin City.

Photos: Opposite page: Macau City (above) and Macau Tower. Clockwise: Winge Lei Hallway; Sky Casino Entrance; Tropical Pool; Suite Bath; and Chinnebar at the Wynn Macau.

FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 41

LEARNING

CURVE

MIND GAMES A confluence of market psychology, neuroscience, and economics, the emerging field of neuroeconomics seeks to explain what’s happening inside our heads when we make investment decisions. If we can understand how our biochemistry governs our trading impulses, we can—so the theory holds—become smarter investors. The Bull’s Mike Dojc has an illuminating tête-à-tête with Jason Zweig, author of Your Money & Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich.

What would you say is the most fascinating big-picture insight this emerging science has revealed about investor behaviour?

We don’t realize how often we’re in the grip of what psychologists call unconscious bias. We rarely realize the real reason for a lot of the things we do. I believe it was JP Morgan who said every man has two reasons for everything he does: the reason he says and the real reason. Neuroeconomics has done a lot to expose the real reason, the real core functions in our brain that are driving our decisions.

And it’s not just that we’re making decisions for reasons we are not aware of; it’s also that often we are feeling emotions that we are not aware of, and those two things combined are so important for investors and corporate managers to realize. We always think we’re thinking when we make decisions, and just as often we’re feeling, but we’re telling ourselves that we’re thinking.

Can we extrapolate, then, that humans are hardwired biologically to make poor financial decisions—can we blame poor investing decisions on the circuitry of our brains?

In a lot of ways I would agree with that.

The human brain is a pattern recognition machine. It is a very efficient mechanism for identifying simple repetition. Unfortunately, in the modern financial markets simple repetition is not a very common phenomenon. If there really was a stock that was guaranteed to go up every single year then everybody would buy it, it would cease to be cheap, and it would 42 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

stop going up. But the brain is designed to think there are lots of investments like that. So, we pursue them and get overexcited by reward, and over-alarmed by risk, and we tend to overreact both on the upside and the downside.

Despite ample evidence to the contrary, why do many people believe they can predict future stock movement based on past performance?

It’s largely because automatic pattern finding is ingrained in the brain. It’s also because people tend to distort their own predictive track record. We have a much more sticky memory of the times we were right than of the times we were wrong. Being right is a very profound emotional experience in the brain and making a correct prediction of a future reward is itself a kind of reward to the circuitry in the brain. So when you think back to the times you were right, those memories are really burned into your brain and rise to the surface very vividly.

Your neurons are stimulated by the reward of having been right before, and you actually become addicted to that sense of being right.

So the experience of being right in the past has an almost narcotic effect?

This is what I call the prediction addiction. There is an almost perfect correspondence in the brain between someone who is a drug addict about to take a hit of cocaine or morphine and someone who has been predicting stock returns, has been right, and expects to be right again.

If we could somehow suppress the emotional component of our brain, would we be much more effective traders?

Emotion in investing is like everything else in life. In moderation it’s a good thing. In excess it’s really bad. If someone were completely unemotional and completely rational in the economic sense of the term, I doubt that he or she would actually be all that good an investor. What great investors do is not turn their emotions off but turn their emotions inside out. The best way investors can do this is by actually tracking their emotions over time.

What can we hope to learn from keeping an emotional investment diary?

There is information in your emotion.

The trick is that it is usually contrary information. This past July most people were euphoric about how well the market was doing, and then in August most people were miserable. If investors took notes and looked back on those feelings in September, they would be able to realize that they were euphoric at the wrong time, so

maybe they were miserable at the wrong time too. The purpose of this is to become more mindful of your decision-making process and to be more introspective in order to understand why you are doing things.

If you realize that you are feeling overconfident, should you second-guess yourself?

You absolutely should, but most likely you won’t be able to do that unless you’ve tracked your feelings over time. It’s only by keeping records of your own emotions that you can persuade yourself that your emotions are a reverse indicator.

Can the neural shortcomings of the human brain explain why so many prospective homeowners accepted nomoney-down subprime mortgages to buy houses they couldn’t afford?

Absolutely. One of the oddities of the way the brain works in respect to money is that borrowing is treated as a form of reward. Why? Because when you borrow money, you get money. You go to the

bank or the mortgage lender, you sign your loan agreement and, in exchange you get a cheque. Of course you also get an enormous interest bill, but that doesn’t come right away, that comes down the road spread out over time, and that’s not what you think about at the moment you’re doing the transaction. What you actually think about is that enormous lump sum of money that will be conveyed to you through that cheque, and that is a very profound reward to the brain.

The brain thinks very differently about short-term and long-term consequences.

Short-term consequences are very emotional, and long-term consequences are very abstract.

Jason Zweig is a senior writer for Money magazine and a guest columnist for Time magazine and cnn.com. He is also the editor of the revised edition of Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, a classic that billionaire Warren Buffett has described as “by far the best book about investing ever written.” Zweig lives in New York.

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FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 43

T H E

A R T S

Opera telier A

BAROQUE AT ITS BEST

BY MOIRA DALY | PHOTOGRAPHY: BRUCE ZINGER

ometimes artistic inspiration comes from the most unlikely places. How else to explain Marshall Pynkoski, charismatic co-artistic director of Opera Atelier, the mid-size Toronto opera company which specializes in period productions of works from the baroque era, and non-sports fan, poring over a folder full of newspaper photographs from the world of sport with an intensity usually reserved only for the most fanatic of followers?

“We were just discussing how sometimes it is more moving when you are trying not to cry,” says Pynkoski, with characteristic enthusiasm and emphasis.

Pynkoski is holding a clipping of Bryan McCabe, multimillion-dollar defenceman for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In the photograph, McCabe’s head is turned to the side, and he is biting his lip. The picture dates back to an off-ice encounter the player had with reporters after he signed his lucrative new contract in June 2006.

McCabe was explaining how his wife’s illness had delayed negotiations for the deal, when he was suddenly overcome with emotion and had to turn away.

“Look at the way his hands are thrown up to his face,” Pynkoski continues, brandishing a second photograph of a baseball player being tagged out at home

S

44 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

plate. “And look how close joy is to sorrow,” Pynkoski adds, pulling out a close-up of American tennis star Andy Roddick, snapped after a victory.

Deep into rehearsals for Opera Atelier’s production of Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses, Pynkoski is using the photographs to illustrate the universality of certain emotions, and the gestures and expressions we use to convey them.

It is his belief that the unadulterated expression of sorrow, pain, joy, and love is the key to his company’s internationally acclaimed productions.

“The dilemmas are something we can all relate to,” Pynkoski says. “But their emotions were so much more on the surface than ours. That’s what

nearby, jerks his head in time with the music. When the two singers rush toward each other and engage in a heartrending embrace, Pynkoski shares the moment by wrapping his long, muscular arms around his body and hugging himself.

Although the scene lasts only 45 seconds, the company has spent about six hours rehearsing it over the last several weeks. It is the kind of meticulousness that Opera Atelier has become known for, and a necessary outgrowth of its decision to ignore the predominantly 19th-century repertoire presented by most opera companies and focus on the more esoteric works from the 17th and 18th centuries.

“That’s what makes our productions feel so modern.

Their emotions are described in such tremendous, almost aching detail.”

The Return of Ulysses: Carla Huhtanen and Cory Knight (left photo), Olivier Laquerre and Cory Knight (photo above), Stephanie Novacek and Olivier Laquerre (photo below).

Stephanie Novacek and Patrick Lavoie in Charpentier’s Médée (opposite page).

makes our productions feel so modern.

Their emotions are described in such tremendous, almost aching detail.”

On this warm afternoon in early October, it is clear that Pynkoski has no trouble channelling the inner life of those living in baroque times. Pynkoski and baritone Olivier Laquerre and tenor Cory Knight are rehearsing the scene in which Ulysses and his son Telemachus are reunited after a 20-year separation. At first Telemachus doesn’t recognize or accept that the gods have allowed his long-absent father to return. But in this pivotal moment, the realization hits home for both father and son. As Laquerre (Ulysses) and Knight (Telemachus) sing to each other from six feet apart, Pynkoski, seated

Presenting these pieces with attention to period detail has required academic commitment. But, fittingly, it was a physically charged experience which first attracted Pynkoski to the baroque world. He attended an early concert by Tafelmusik, Toronto’s renowned baroque music ensemble, and was stunned by the muscularity of the musicianship.

“When you see (Tafelmusik music director) Jeanne Lamon playing the violin, it sometimes looks like she is going to cut her instrument in half,” he says.

“I couldn’t believe it was actually exciting to sit in a concert, not just to listen, but to watch.”

The concert marked the beginning of what was to become Opera Atelier in FALL 2007 | THE BAY STREET BULL | 45

Over the years, what began as an endeavour mainly concerned with superficial accuracy has evolved into something much deeper.

Tenor Colin Ainsworth as Orpheus and artists of Atelier Ballet in Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice (photo above).

Nathalie Paulin and Dan Belcher in Opera Atelier's production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

46 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

another significant way: it was the first date between Pynkoski and his future wife, Jeannette Zingg, Opera Atelier’s other co-artistic director.

The couple met at Ryerson Theatre School in the late 1970s. They were married in 1980 and moved to Paris two years later. In Paris, they danced with the famed Moulin Rouge by night and researched at the Bibliothèque Nationale by day.

They also studied baroque dance and gesture, determined to bring the same sensibility they experienced at Tafelmusik to their baroque productions in Toronto.

After doing lecture-demonstrations at the Royal Ontario Museum and sporadic productions at the Art Gallery of Ontario in the early 1980s, Pynkoski and Zingg formed Opera Atelier in 1985. A brilliant period production of Handel’s The Choice of Hercules that year set the stage for the company’s rise to international prominence. The influence of Tafelmusik endures, as the ensemble acts as orchestra for many of the company’s productions.

Over the years, what began as an endeavour mainly concerned with superficial accuracy has evolved

into something much deeper. The gorgeous sets and costumes and carefully calibrated movements are no longer an end in themselves, Pynkoski says. “When we started, we were only about style,” he admits. “But at a certain point, what are you going to do when the novelty wears off?”

What Pynkoski and Zingg have chosen to do is to carefully strip away convention and artifice in order to deliver what they believe is a truer interpretation of the material. Powdered wigs, a baroque mainstay, were banished from Opera Atelier productions in 2002 because Pynkoski found they were interfering with the performers’ ability to express their characters’ emotional turmoil. Toned-down makeup soon followed.

With respect to the choreography, Zingg has shaken off what she has labelled the “straightjacket” of the traditional baroque vocabulary in favour of an approach that uses her extensive research as a jumpingoff point for her own creative input.

At times, this approach has proved controversial. Last year's decision to put dancers briefly en pointe for the first time in the company's pro-

Laird Macintosh and Meredith Hall in Opera Atelier's production of Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea

duction of Orpheus and Eurydice was criticized by some because it is well known that baroque dancers wore heeled shoes, not pointe shoes.

Pynkoski justifies the decision as perfectly in tune with the time and the material. There are no written records of the choreography from Orpheus and Eurydice, he points out, but it is known that the choreographer was one of the most avantgarde of his time. The first ballerina known to have appeared en pointe, meanwhile, emerged only a few decades later. “Historians love to tell you when the Battle of 1812 happened, but they hate when you play with ideas,” he says. “This was a calculated, but intelligent, guess.”

One stricture the company has had to learn to inhabit more comfortably is the financial responsibility that comes with growth and success. In 1992, Opera Atelier nearly went under after staging a production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro that was so successful, that scalpers were working streets outside the Elgin Theatre. Dumbfounded and in over their heads, Pynkoski and Zingg soon realized that they needed full-time, professional management and a new approach to funding that emphasized subscriber and corporate support. They staged the 1993 season in a church, and with the help of general manager Joan Bosworth and her successor David Baile, and generous donors such as Florence Minz, current chair of the The Royal Conservatory of Music, the company has doggedly made its way back to financial health.

Under Baile’s recently completed six-year tenure, Opera Atelier increased its annual budget for its two-show season from $1.5 to $2.5 million and wiped out its deficit. Pynkoski would dearly love to add a third show, but reckons it would require an annual budget in the range of $5 million for that to be possible. Instead, the company has chosen to celebrate its financial good fortune by doing two brand-new productions this season, something it has rarely attempted in the past. In addition to the fall production of Ulysses, the company will mount Mozart’s Idomeneo in the spring.

Both productions are set after the Trojan War with the main characters finally making their way home only to face new, overwhelming challenges. Reflecting on a journey that has taken him from Toronto to Paris and back with more than a few bumps along the way, Pynkoski feels it is a theme that speaks to all of us. “It is a process full of unknowns and you have to have faith you are going to get to the place you want to be,” he says. “But when I look back, it all makes perfect sense. It had to happen; it was going to happen. And that, I think, is wonderful.”

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T H E

S H E L F

FALL FICTION

Photo: Ruslan Sarkisian

O N

Exit Ghost by Philip Roth (Penguin) bids adieu to Nathan Zuckerman, Roth’s best-known alter ego, who was first introduced in The Ghost Writer more than 30 years ago. After more than a decade of reclusive country life, the writer Zuckerman, now elderly, is drawn back to New York. There he is forced to demythologize old relationships as he struggles to reconcile his taunting desire and diminished virility.

The final Zuckerman book is more than just a portrait of an artist as an old man; it is a moving study of obsession, forgetfulness, and resignation.

The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland (Random House) is a very funny yet touching story of an unlikely alliance between middle-aged Roger, who’s

50 | THE BAY STREET BULL | FALL 2007

writing a novel, and mid-twenties Bethany, who is evolving from her Goth phase. It’s an epistolary friendship of discontented co-workers in a Staples stationery store, whose lives unfold alongside Glove Pond, Roger’s oddly titled work-inprogress. The Gum Thief is a novel within a novel that highlights Coupland’s eye for comedy, loneliness, and all things contemporary.

Spook Country by William Gibson (Penguin Putnam) is a continuation of his much-acclaimed 2003 novel, Pattern Recognition. While both novels are set in the aftershock of 9/11, Spook Country is a far more skeptical examination of life after the aftershock, posing questions about the war against Iraq, intelligence, media, and cyber-reality. This modern-day thriller is filled with technobabble. But would

you expect anything less from the man who coined the term cyberspace, predicted the World Wide Web, and foresaw the role that technology would play in widening the gap between the haves and have-nots? I think not.

Conceit by Mary Novik (Doubleday) brings to life the teeming, bawdy streets of London, the intrigue-ridden court, and the lushness of the English countryside in this coming-of-age story set in the 17th century. More particularly, it takes us into the home of clergyman and poet John Donne, who is slowly passing away amid the clacker of his daughters.

Novik combines biography and fiction while skillfully using the literary device of “conceit” to create wonderful metaphors characteristic of Donne’s poetry.

The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro (Douglas Gibson) features 11 short stories that create a captivating mix of memoir, history, and fiction. Munro’s characteristic understanding of human behaviour and of how place can shape the human soul is ever present in these ancestral narratives derived from her Scottish immigrant forebears and from her life.

October by Richard Wright (HarperCollins) has an elegiac quality to it. After learning that his beloved daughter, Susan, is diagnosed with breast cancer, James Hillyer, a widower and retired literature professor, copes with central issues of loss and grief. Much more than a journey through illness, October is a powerful novel that deals with the male psyche.

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