[PHOTO] Looking south on Roncesvalles at Howard Park, Toronto

Looking south from the streetcar shelter on Roncesvalles at Howard Park Sunday afternoon, this is what I saw.

[MUSIC] In memoriam David Bowie

The video for "Lazarus", the last video David Bowie filmed for the last single he ever released, is especially haunting in light of the news early this morning that he had died yesterday.

"David Bowie - Lazarus" (Watch on YouTube)

Oh, I'll be free
Just like that bluebird
Oh, I'll be free
Ain't that just like me?"

We have indeed had confirmation, from the likes of the A.V. Club and The Telegraph and most notably NME that this video was Bowie's goodbye to the fans.

Released only four days ago, the video for single ‘Lazarus’ was Bowie’s parting shot, opening with a blindfolded, fragile-looking Bowie laying in bed. His first words “look up here, I’m in heaven/I’ve got scars that can’t be seen” are now obviously an admission of his ill health, rather than just a fantastical musing on mortality. It soon becomes obvious that the bed he's in is a hospital one and Bowie begins to float above it, signifying his transmutation to the other side – whatever, or wherever that may be. Watching it now, it’s a statement as bold as it is bleak.

As Bowie writhes around on the bed, trying to break free, another Bowie then appears, a Bowie clad in black and stood upright, a Bowie who can still pose, pout, pick up a pen and create. Inspiration hits him and he scrawls at speed in a notebook, while the other Bowie continues to convulse. As he writes, we see a skull sitting ominously on his writing desk, the spectre of death looming over Bowie and his final creation, before he steps backwards into a wooden wardrobe, a fitting kind of coffin for an icon of style and fashion.

"His death was no different from his life - a work of Art," explained Bowie's producer Tony Visconti, in tribute. "He made 'Blackstar' for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn't, however, prepared for it." Creative to the very end, the 'Lazarus' video is a heartbreakingly sad way to bid farewell, but a more than appropriate one.

The global reaction to the sad news of Bowie's passing has been intense. The blogs have been full of reactions: Crooked Timber, In Media Res, Joe. My. God., Lawyers, Guns and Money, and Towleroad all have also reacted.

It's difficult to know quite what to say--I find myself agreeing with Alan Cross that Bowie is just not supposed to die. He's just so important. His status as a LGBT icon is noteworthy, as is his influence on--say--science fiction.

Bowie’s first hit single, “Space Oddity,” established him not just as an artist who sang about science-fictional topics like space travel, but also as someone who embraced the discomfort of humanity juxtaposed against the cosmos. The song’s churning guitar riffs and psychedelic noises convey something of the disorientation of floating in a tin can, far from home. Over the years that followed, Bowie produced some of the most poignant representations ever of alien visitors, doomed grandeur and tormented supermen. I recently listened to his song “The Man Who Sold the World” on a loop while writing, and it reveals more and more layers of pathos, remorse and arrogance the more you hear it.

Bowie’s greatest gift to science fiction was that combination of pathos and dissocation, which comes across in a lot of his best songs. His album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, a rock opera about a band led by a mysterious figure, encapsulates the apocalypse, androgyny and rockstar excess with the same bohemian drama. (Click here to read Bowie explaining to William S. Burroughs the whole fascinating backstory of Ziggy Stardust.) Ziggy Stardust was just one of many personas that Bowie created over the years, including the zombie-like Thin White Duke.

(I revisisted my 2009 essay on his famous character of Major Tom. I wonder what's he's doing now.)

For now, all I can say is thanks for the music. I remember spending long times in bed at home on the Island, absorbed in his 3-CD Sound + Vision box set as it played out on my CD player. I owe him thanks, for everything. What else can I say?

[URBAN NOTE] "Changesbowietoronto"

Torontoist's Jamie Bradburn looks at the controversies and other things aroused in the 1970s in Toronto by David Bowie on his various visits.

In the days to come, much will be made of how David Bowie influenced other artists. But appreciating such talent takes time, and, especially for someone who confounded mainstream culture when he gained fame in North America during his “Ziggy Stardust” phase, Bowie was initially viewed with a mix of bemusement and disgust by Toronto’s press. As our city’s familiarity with Bowie grew, the fandom that appreciated his many creative aspects and personas resulted in hot tickets for three concert tours here that stopped here during the 1970s, and captured Bowie at the height of his fame.

“The new decadence is not only ugly, it lacks class,” screamed the headline of a 1972 Globe and Mail article criticizing the growth of adult movies and glam rock. “In the seamy wake of Alice Cooper,” the paper observed, “have come drag rock groups with names like Queen and the New York Dolls and singers like David Bowie who, in his lipstick and hot pants and Jane Fonda haircut, is taking a new step in decadence.”

Profiling several glam rockers for the Star the following year, Peter Goddard felt Bowie tempered some of the shock value of his orange hair and declarations of bisexuality through the strength of the songs on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. “By not allowing their audiences to clearly identify their sexual distinctions,” Goddard noted, “the new performers have the freedom to be more bizarre and hence more effective showmen.” Asked about playing glam rockers like Bowie, CHUM-FM program director Bob Laine observed that “we never try to analyze who they are, but just what their music is. There has always been this kind of sheer shock value in the entertainment industry. Only now it’s receiving a greater amount of expression.”

[LINK] "Years After Its Curfew Killed Theater, Ghana Gets A Second Act"

NPR's Goats and Soda features an article looking at the rebirth of live theatre in Ghana.

When the military took power in Ghana, imposing a curfew from the early 1980s, theaters in the West African country went dark. By the time elected-civilian government was restored in 1992, many Ghanaians had lost the habit of going out to watch a play.

Now one man is luring his compatriots back to live shows — and away from TV and videos. His name is James Ebo Whyte — "but everyone in Ghana calls me 'Uncle' Ebo Whyte, because of the program I do on radio," he says.

You can't miss the nattily dressed playwright. At 70 years old, he's small, dynamic and fit with a big smile. The one-time businessman regularly leaps on stage to talk to the audience for whatever reason — whether to explain a cut to the power supply or to encourage the enthusiastic theatergoers to pick up his magazine and buy tickets for his next play.

"I've been writing, directing and producing a play every quarter for the last seven years, and this is my 28th play in seven years," Whyte says.

[LINK] "The Gambia fashions itself as a kind of Islamic state"

The Economist notes how The Gambia is transitioning into an Islamic republic.

Its arrival was less bloody, its ambitions less grand. But as 2015 drew to a close, and the world’s attention was fixed firmly on Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq, the Gambia announced that it, too, was henceforth an Islamic state.

The president of the tiny west African nation, Yahya Jammeh, issued the proclamation, which came with no forewarning and seemingly on a whim, on December 11th, 2015. Mr Jammeh cited the wishes of the people (90% of Gambians are Muslim), and the need to distance the country from its “colonial legacy”. The Gambia now follows Mauritania as Africa’s second “Islamic Republic”, although the country’s secular constitution, ratified in 1996, remains unaltered.

On January 4th an executive order, leaked to the press, banned all female civil servants from leaving their hair uncovered during working hours. The national broadcaster has taken to referring to the Gambia as an “Islamic Republic” and the Supreme Islamic Council, a group of scholars, is to go around the country stirring up popular support for the decision. Legislation to enforce it will soon be introduced into parliament and the national flag will be changed to reflect the country’s new status, says the president.

But key details are still lacking. It is not clear, for instance, whether Mr Jammeh intends to implement fully-fledged sharia (Islamic law), as he was rumoured to be planning in the early 2000s, or whether he plans to put the issue to a referendum. In his original declaration in December he assured non-Muslims that their rights would be protected, and that there would be no mandatory dress codes. Such promises already look thin in light of the January 4th order.

Mr Jammeh’s government already has one of the worst human-rights records on the continent. Gay people are persecuted: Mr Jammeh has publicly vowed to slit their throats. Dissidents are brutalised in inventive ways in torture chambers not far from The Gambia’s tourist beaches. On one occasion the security forces rounded up hundreds of villagers suspected of witchcraft after the president’s aunt grew sick. During interrogations, many of the female “witches” were raped, according to Human Rights Watch.

[LINK] "Macaque monkey doesn’t own copyright to selfies, San Francisco judge rules"

Even smart animals cannot claim copyright in the United States, as Olga R. Rodriguez wrote for the Associated Press.

A macaque monkey who took now-famous selfie photographs cannot be declared the copyright owner of the photos, a federal judge said Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick said in federal court in San Francisco that “while Congress and the president can extend the protection of law to animals as well as humans, there is no indication that they did so in the Copyright Act.”

The lawsuit filed last year by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sought a court order allowing PETA to represent the monkey and let it to administer all proceeds from the photos for the benefit of the monkey, which it identified as 6-year-old Naruto, and other crested macaques living in a reserve on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The photos were taken during a 2011 trip to Sulawesi with an unattended camera owned by British nature photographer David Slater, who asked the court to dismiss the case. Slater says the British copyright obtained for the photos by his company, Wildlife Personalities Ltd., should be honoured worldwide.

PETA sued Slater and his San Francisco-based self-publishing company Blurb, which published a book called “Wildlife Personalities” that includes the “monkey selfie” photos.

[LINK] "‘Mahu’ demonstrate Hawaii’s shifting attitudes toward LGBT life"

Al Jazeera America's Jon Letman writes about how the social accepted transgenderism of Hawai'i's Polynesian past does, or does not, fit well into contemporary American Hawai'i.

Growing up in the largely Hawaiian community of Waianae on the west side of Oahu, Kalani Young enjoyed a diverse upbringing that included attending Catholic, Mormon and evangelical churches and a Buddhist temple, in addition to prayers and rituals rooted in Hawaiian spirituality.

However Young also recalled being an effeminate young boy who was bullied by male family members who, she said, wanted to “beat the girl out of her.”

The 33-year-old identifies as mahu — a gender role in traditional Hawaiian society that refers to people who exhibit both feminine and masculine traits.

“You’re someone in the middle. That’s all it means,” said Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, a hula and Hawaiian studies teacher on Oahu, about the mahu term, which she prefers to transgender for its inclusivity.

Known as a multicultural melting pot, Hawaii is often portrayed as among the most liberal states in the country based on its support for progressive positions on issues like climate change, gun control and same-sex marriage. Hawaii became the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2013 and the state constitution, enacted in 1959, protects equal rights for all sexes.

However LGBT communities undoubtedly still face discrimination in the Aloha State, a fact some advocates attribute to the imposition of Western values on the Hawaiian people that began in the 18th century.

[LINK] "Quebec opening market for local beer, wine"

The Toronto Star's Allan Woods writes about the liberalization of Québec's laws on the sale of domestically produced alcoholic beverages.

They share the language and many of the same cultural references, but there is a world of difference between the domestic wine industries in France and Quebec.

Even Ontario and British Columbia leave the French-speaking province in the dirt.

But the provincial government is taking steps to close that gap with legislation unveiled ahead of the Christmas break that could heap some well-needed sunshine on Quebec-made wines, as well as artisanal beers and ciders.

The bill would allow those alcohol producers to bypass the government-run liquor store and sell directly to grocery and convenience stores, giving them more choice in how and to whom their products are available. It would also allow microbreweries and brew-pubs to sell directly to customers at the place where the beer is produced.

Leon Courville, president of the Brome-Missisquoi Wine Growers Association in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, said the legal changes would allow alcohol producers to increase their visibility and profit from “buy local” shopping trends. He said it would also allow him to sell his product in stores specializing in things like cheese or charcuterie — things that are best washed down with a glass of wine.

[ISL] Gregory Howard on moving from PEI to Bermuda

Gregory Howard's personal essay in The Globe and Mail describing how a move from PEI to Bermuda a decade ago changed his life caught my attention.

I take a ferry to work.

Wide-beamed Coralita sidles up to the dock with a shudder and a bump. I go up the stairs with some of the others crowding aboard and sit on a bench on the upper deck looking out over the water.

Coralita has carried me in rain and high winds, in scorching heat at noon and, on the last run of the day, home in darkness. Aboard her, we are men, women and children of every human shade. Schoolchildren in pinafores and shorts, garrulous pensioners and those of us on our way to work on this tiny, fish-hook-shaped archipelago in the North Atlantic called Bermuda.

On any given workday, Americans and Brits, Scandinavians and South Africans take their seats beside white and black Bermudians aboard Coralita.

Those of us “from away” are interlopers employed in insurance, financial or legal services who have no memory of the riots here less than 50 years ago, when black people fought to gain access to equal wages and job opportunities that were available only to whites.

I take my seat beside a young Chinese man holding a slim book, the characters cascading down the page. Some of us never speak and some never shut up. Snippets of conversation float to me: a cautionary tale about a wife who has left Bermuda because she’s had enough of doing nothing while he works. A lovely house on the water couldn’t keep her in this paradise without something to do.

[URBAN NOTE] "Queen streetcar riders get what they’ve waited for: more service"

The Toronto Star's Verity Stevenson described earlier this month promises to increase service on the Queen Street streetcar line. Here's to hoping these get fulfilled.

If you take the Queen streetcar often, your experience may be similar to Effy Lustgarten’s.

“Sometimes I stand in the middle of the street to see if it’s coming,” Lustgarten said while aboard the city’s third busiest tram around noon Sunday, noting the wait was consistently more than 20 minutes. “Then, I might take the King Street car . . . it’s more frequent.”

A few seats back, Dave Crawford, who takes the 501 streetcar to church on Sundays from Carlaw Ave. to Spadina Ave., said he’s waited up to 30 minutes for it.

“There’s some mornings where I just start walking because it’s actually quicker,” Crawford said.

You could say their desire is named Streetcar. That is, until Sunday morning, when their yearning for service might have been gratified: as of Jan. 3, the Toronto Transit Commission has added extra morning trips and split the route in two for daytime ones.

Crawford waited no more than 10 minutes and another rider, Corey Jones, noticed the higher frequency, too. “Sundays are usually very crowded, but today it’s a special day,” Jones said as he disembarked. The streetcar, headed east, carried no more than 30 people, but Jones remained skeptical.

“It’s just one day, you see what I mean?” he said. “It’s too early to tell.”

[URBAN NOTE] Chris Selley in the National Post on the cost of commuting to the Toronto Islands

Chris Selley's article definitely caught my attention.

TTC fares went up again this week, but few seemed to have the energy to complain — perhaps because for once, Metropass users were spared the hike. The monthly pass stays at $141.50, a jolly 20 points above inflation from 15 years ago. But here’s something novel to get mad about, courtesy of Tony Araujo, who runs a product testing lab and takes an interest in the city’s budget-making process: Did you know the cost of a Metropass has gone up far, far quicker than the cost of a ferry pass?

It is rather striking. In 2000, a TTC monthly pass went for $88.50 and a Toronto Islands ferries pass for $85. The ferry pass now costs just $92 — only 8 per cent more, a jolly 24 points below inflation. The price of a ferry pass actually dropped by $10 in 1999, from $95 to $85. Only this year will it finally crest that mark again, at $95.75.

Over that time, the price of a single ferry ticket for adults rose 45 per cent, for students and seniors 58 per cent and for children 75 per cent.

“I can’t think of a single thing, in or out of the city, in my regular life, where I spend less on it today than I did in 1998,” says Araujo. “What gives? How come this particular community is getting sheltered from inflation?”

He refers to the islands’ residents, whose Cabbagetown-cubed lifestyle, 99-year leases and ample political clout — and willingness to use it — occasionally raise lesser Torontonians’ dander. They’re wealthier than average, Araujo argues. So why are mere mortals who just want a picnic and a swan boat ride subsidizing them?

[BLOG] Some Monday links

• blogTO reports on five up-and-coming Toronto neighbourhoods.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly discusses one issue of migrants: where is home?


• Centauri Dreams considers globular clusters as locations for starfaring civilizations.


• The Dragon's Gaze notes hot Neptune HD 175607b and brown dwarf Gliese 758b.


• The Dragon's Tales notes the importance of Neandertal genes in the modern human immune system and notes the climate impact of eclipses on the climate of Titan.


• Geocurrents maps crime in California.


• Language Log notes the popularity of "they" used in the singular third-person.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money suggests tariffs could play a useful role.


• The Map Room Blog shares a map of the biomes of an Earth where the continents were tilted 90 degrees.


• Nicholas Whyte notes J.R.R. Tolkein was a teacher of Mary Renault, and that the two writers were fans of each other's work.


• Cheri Lucas Rowlands shares photos from England.


• Peter Rukavina notes his work in assembling a Schedule for Charlottetown transit.


• The Russian Demographicsd Blog notes a global survey on the importance of religion in different countries.


• Torontoist looks at political turmoil in pre-1837 Upper Canada.


• Towleroad notes a gay couple that got on kiss cam in a Kings game.


• Window on Eurasia suggests nationalism in Tatarstan is on the point of boiling over, notes the dire demographics of even large Russophone communities like those in Latvia, and notes the arguments of a Ukrainian who suggests the example of Belarus shows Russian should not be given official status.

[NON BLOG] On the knee and the body

My left knee is continuing its recovery from the dislocation I mentioned Thursday. My leg can now comfortably bear my weight, but it's still weak, with a restricted range of motion and potential wobbliness. The knee brace is definitely still needed if I'm going to be on my feet for any length of time. I will look forward to my followup appointment on the 18th.



It still has me thinking about my relationship with my body. It is easy, isn't it, to become alienated from one's physicality until you encounter something, usually a weakness, that makes you recognize how dependent you are on it?

Ours is arguably an era of pop transhumanism, of the belief that things corporeal can be transcended somehow, shifted to a higher plane. Even if this is true, don't we at least have to know and understand our starting points? What would sustained attention to our bodies feel like outside of times of crisis, I wonder?