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It is a party game that pretty much everyone has played at some time or other: name a famous Canadian. Generally these lists tend to get as far as Pamela Anderson and Bryan Adams before petering out with a tame Celine Dion. However, one name that is perhaps conspicuous by its absence is that of architect Frank Gehry. And this, when you think about it, really is something of a surprise. After all, isn鈥檛 he the most famous architect in the world?

It can surely only be a matter of time for Toronto-born Gehry however, as the blogging community now seems to be catching on to his talents. There was a flurry of activity last week when the man who put Bilbao on the map with his Guggenheim Museum was variously described as a 鈥渇ascinating builder鈥� by OneLoveAll and 鈥渨onderful鈥� by Stevey on .

But the reason for this Gehry-fest was not the publication in these august pages of the latest images of his Rioja winery (pictured). It was in fact due to the first airing on US terrestrial television last week of a documentary by director Sydney Pollack, entitled Sketches of Frank Gehry.

The film was generally given the thumbs up in cyberspace, with Jen from California, on , relieved Gehry didn鈥檛 turn out to be a 鈥渟nobby German or Englishman鈥�. There were one or two detractors, such as the intriguingly named The Masticator at , who admitted to not being fond of a lot of Gehry鈥檚 buildings as his fans 鈥渢end to confuse his arbitrariness with freedom, and his self-indulgence with expression鈥�. Ouch.

You wonder what Mr Masticator would make of some of Gehry鈥檚 latest projects. Not satisfied with just designing iconic buildings from Spain to Seattle, he has recently launched himself on the world of fashion 鈥� with a range of jewels for world-famous emporium Tiffany鈥檚 and a collection of 鈥渇ossil鈥� watches that thinks are 鈥渘eato鈥�. Even food outlets have received the Gehry touch. He has just completed a delicatessen called Delicious at his company鈥檚 Los Angeles headquarters.

The strategy of raising his profile seems to be working. The world is starting to talk back to Frank. Some, such as , feel the talents of the man who gave the world the Experience Music Project in Seattle should best be turned to the kitchen. To toasters to be precise. There鈥檚 even a mock-up of how a Gehry 鈥渢oaster tower鈥� might look.

Setting toasters aside for a moment, Gehry seems to have inspired all sorts of creative juices in all sorts of people. On viewing Pollack鈥檚 鈥渂rilliant鈥� tribute to Gehry, Deborah in Washington, at , was inspired to vent her emotions in verse:

鈥淚nspiration borne
Of light and movement and form
好色先生TV breathes true life.鈥�

Quite. It seems that, even if he鈥檚 never counted among other famous Canadians, Gehry鈥檚 place in the blogging world鈥檚 hall of fame is assured.