AGO
So the new AGO is georgeous. But the lines are not so pretty. Apparently the wait is running at 4 hours. It winds around 3 times in front of the AGO plus around the block. I'd love to see inside but I'd rather pay next week than wait in line. I'll come back then with a better camera when the weather is nicer. Till then I've included an iPhone pic.
Truth in Advertising
Clubland can be a strange place. Just try walking the streets there at night ok the weekend. I actually dread leaving the movie theatre knowing I'll need to navigate the club lineups, drunks and men, no boys, with their pathetic attempts at picking up the nearly naked women. I think this ad I came across crystalizes what goes on there. All those bored, cloistered suburbanites are busy pretending they are even a tiny bit urban while quite literally throwing up on the city. There is a reason most downtowners avoid clubland.
Saturday Night Burlesque
Irena and I spent Saturday night at the Bloor Cinema for a Burlesque review (see flyer below). What can I say... it was naughty, retro, entertaining and annoying all at once.
First, a short description. Basically they put together a variety of burlesque performers (think strippers with pasties and panties) with a retro-style band, a really bad comedy and vantriliquism performance, and a really good ESP performance all on the same stage (yes it was live in a move theatre). Overall it was very enjoyable. Some highlights:
- The band (Blue Mercury Coupe) was really good, great outfits and wondeful musicians (lots and lots of saxophones)
- The lead singer sang a song called 'lady in a pink canoe' which is an attempt to change the phrase 'man in a boat' which, until now I had no idea what it meant in a sexual manner (if you don't know, e-mail me and I'll tell you)
- A burlesque performer that literally sat on the face of an audience member on stage.... yea no kidding.
- An amazing ESP performance by Mysterion
- Some other really great burlesque performance - first time I've seen stripping in a non-strip bar venue
Some low-lights:
- It was WAY too long (in excess of 4 hours, from 8:30 to 12:30)Â It could of lost about an hour.
- The best looking women on stage didn't in fact give a burlesque performance (their 'names' were clicker lady and blue bird)
- Felt a bit unorganized, likley due to the venue, being a movie theater after all
- The sound system was squeaky and loud - gave me a headache
- Too much Liza Manelli (through a video presentation of parts of Cabaret)
Overall it was a great time, and I would definatly attend a burlesque show again, thought I may be more picky on the venue.
Annex Writers Design
Irena is putting together a new group to help writers connect with one another. The group, called Annex Writers can be found both on Facebook and at www.annexwriters.org All of the design work (site and above flyer) are my work so I thought I would share. If you are into writing and want to meet other writers, come out to the first event. Otherwise, I'd love to hear opinions on my design work.
WinterCity
The City of Toronto held the WinterCity festival this weekend (and next) in Nathan Philips Square. Irena and I went to check it out Saturday night, and I must say we had a blast. There is something that feels very Canadian about being at a winter festival, during a light snow, eating poutine.The festival itself had only a minor corporate visiblity (very minor) and the location was incredible (much better than Dundas Square). While the WinterCity Lodge was, at least in our opinion, a bit of a bust (its hard to hold a dance party with little kids in the tent), the fire display put on by France's Cie Carabosse was incredible. The entire square was surrounded by flamming flower pots and a number of large strucutres filled the centre of the square, all aflame. I have never seen anything so incredible at a city festival. The entire square became alive in the dead of winter.
For more pics of the flames, check out my photoblog at Urbanpix.ca
CCTV and TPSC
Today was my first CCTV cameras campaign meeting as the official coordinator. It was nice to kick off the campaing again, since it had effectively been dormant since Dan skipped town. However, it was not quit the start I would of liked. Once again proving Facebook's uselessness when it comes to events, there was a total of 3 people, including myself, at the meeting (Facebook had 11 confirmed I believe). But, even with the small turnout, some good ideas were generated.
First, we are planning to install hooks to the camera poles and hang flyers from them, TTC subway style. After all, if the cops are not going to do a good job alerting people to the fact that the cameras exist, then we'll do the job for them.
Secondly, we are setting up a panel discussion (St Lawrence Forum style) for April. The goal is to have all sides there and to generate discussion on the uselessness of these cameras. This should coincide with the introuducation of cameras to the corner of Bathurst and Queen, to watch over the homelss shelter. Oh, and yes Councillor Vaughan is supporting these cameras.
REAL Transit Cash
I haven't blogged in a while, but I couldn't let this go by. The Liberal government in Ontairo has announced a 17 billion dollar plan to improve tranist in the GTA. The list of projects is incredible and the highlights include:
- Fuding the TTC's Transit City Plan for light rail
- Expanding the Yonge subway to Highway 7
- Electifying the GO Lakeshore line, making it faster and reducing emmissions
Finally the province is seeing the value in funding transit projects and actually helping the municipalites to expand their transit infrastructure. Information is available on the Premier's website and the Globe and Mail.
I hate to admit it, but this alone is enough for me to vote for McGuinty in the coming election.
Standing up for Biking
The city of Toronto has an incredible Bike Plan designed to make this city friendly to biking. Passed years ago by city council, the plan includes:
- Bicycle Friendly Streets
- A 1,000km Bikeway Network criss-crossing the city
- A promise that all Toronto residents will be within a 5 minute ride of the Network
- And many other great promises.
However, city council continues to short-change the plan, failing to implement its major elements. This makes no sense. The city is eager to do its part on the environment and towards making the city more liveable. The quickest and cheapest way to help out is to implement this plan, make this city a biking haven. Yet, even the members of council who passed this plan, continue to mock these efforts. Take for example Rob Ford's recent comments:
From Eye Daily Blog
“How many people are riding outside today?†he asked at the March 7 council meeting. “We don’t live in Florida!â€
“I compare riding a bike to swimming with sharks,†the rebel councillor later went on to say. “You can do it for a while, but pretty soon you’re going to be bitten…. Roads are built for buses and cars and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.â€
If people want to ride their bikes, they should take the bike paths that meander through parks, Ford said, which prompted questioning from Giogio Mammoliti: “uh, I was going to keep quiet, but (pause) did you realize that when we proposed to extend bike lanes [not bike paths] in north western Etobicoke, you voted against it?â€
Ford didn’t see this as an inconsistency. “Yes,†he said confidently. “There’s a sufficient number of bike lanes as is.â€
The big guy argued that council should cut all the cash in the budget slated for bike lanes, traffic calming measures (speed bumps), the redesign of Nathan Phillips Square and renovations in City Hall, which will include new office space for the Mayor’s staff, committee meeting rooms and a media studio (Ford files all of this under “increasing the size of the Mayor’s officeâ€).
Forget the fact, that even through the middle of winter, I continued to reguarly seek bikes on the streets of Toronto. What are we ever going to do with politicians like Rob Ford and his co-consipirators Doug Holyday and Case Ootes. At least the rest of council pretends to be on-side. If only they took some initiative on the file. If you care about bikes in this city, e-mail or call your councillor. Let them know you care.
Spadina Subway Extension an (almost) Done Deal
So, after months (or years depending on who you are) of waiting, it looks like the subway extension to York U. and Vaughan is a go. The provincial and municipal governments had already chipped in their bits and it appears that the Federal Government is now preparing to contribute its part. The proposed layout of the stations looks like this: (from Spacing Wire)
I remember being a York student, and often cursing the fact that I had to take a bus everywhere I wanted to go. The existance of a subway would of made my life so much easier and so much more relaxing.
However, the more and more I think about it the more I realize that this may not be the best choice for Toronto. The billions that will go into this extension (all of 6 stations) could build us a modern and exciting streetcar network across the city. Imagine modern streetcars, running on thier own right-of-ways, criss-crossing Toronto. It would mean relaible, efficient transit throughout the city, which would draw people into the system, and out of their cars.
This extension however, will do nothing but make life easier for people who are already using the TTC. Furthermore, the chance of people who live in Vaughan switching to the subway because it is a few stops closer is very minimal. The stations are located in the middle of nowhere, in a car-centric neighbourhood. The car culture is so engrained in the 905 region, that a small extension won't many any differnece.
Lastly, nobody seems to be thinking of the financial implications of this. Whenever a TTC bus crosses Steeles Ave, people are required to pay a second fare. How will this ever been administered on the subway? The end result will be that we, as taxpayers of Toronto, will be subsidizing the transportation options of the residents of Vaughan.