[PHOTO] Menu, Coach House Restaurant on Yonge, Toronto

I always liked the Coach House Restaurant, as an inexpensive restaurant serving decent food at convenient times (breakfast and lunch, specifically) and as an artifact of an older Yonge Street in the process of disappearing as condos advance.

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• blogTO notes that Québec chain Simons will be opening up stories in Toronto and Mississauga in the coming years.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly notes that The Devil Wears Prada actually offers good advice to job-seekers.


• Centauri Dreams notes a search program for planets at Proxima Centauri and considers Proxima's linkage to the Alpha Centauri A-B binary.


• The Dragon's Gaze notes distant gas giant HD 106906b.


• Joe. My. God. notes that acceptance of gays is at an all-time high.


• The Map Room Blog links to an exhibition of colonial cartography of Algeria and points to an essay on critical cartography.


• Marginal Revolution notes high levels of female mortality in the US South.


• Savage Minds considers the question of how to exhibit physical artifacts in an era of 3-D printing.


• John Scalzi's Whatever and Charlie Stross' Antipope mourn the death of science fiction editor David Hartwell.


• Window on Eurasia notes Russia's growing difficulties wth Chechen dictator Kadyrov, observes that most Tajiks recruited for ISIS are recruited as workers in Russia, suggests the annexation of Crimea helped bolster Russia's ethnic Russian and Slavic populations, and notes hostility in Chuvashia towards Russian language policy in education.

[URBAN NOTE] "New Scarborough transit plan ‘buys peace in the land’"

The Toronto Star's Lucas Oleniuk notes the latest modification of subway planning in Scarborough. This is what happens when mass transit becomes less a way of getting around a city and more a vainglorious badge of civic pride irrespective of, say, actual and likely traffic numbers.

A new proposal for transit in Scarborough is being hailed as defensible planning while brokering a “peace treaty” at city council and with the province.

A one-stop subway extension from the Bloor-Danforth line along McCowan Rd. to Scarborough’s city centre and the addition of a 17-stop LRT that will connect five underserved priority neighbourhoods all within the same $3.56-billion price tag will be officially announced Thursday ahead of executive committee next week.

After the Scarborough subway extension became one of the most polarizing issues at council in recent memory — with former mayor Rob Ford and Scarborough-area politicians arguing residents “deserve” a subway over a seven-stop, $1.48-billion LRT that was fully-funded by the province — council members from both sides agree the new plan is a vast improvement.

“My job here, I believe, is to get the best possible transit answer I can for Scarborough and I think we’ve really made huge strides forward in that regard by getting now both a subway to the centre of Scarborough and the LRT, and to build enough consensus to make sure it happens,” Mayor John Tory told the Star Wednesday.

“It’s going to develop a much broader base of support, it’s going to be much better from a transit perspective, it has the support of the chief planner ... and I think it’s going to be way better for Scarborough.”

The plan acknowledges Scarborough residents needs rapid transit in place of the aging SRT — not only to get downtown, but to get around Scarborough. The new configuration was developed after chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat approached the mayor’s office in October as criticism toward the controversial three-stop subway intensified.

[URBAN NOTE] "Uber’s Rise Draws a Big Boost in Number of Female Cab Drivers"

Torontoist's Arielle Piat-Sauvé writes about Uber's relative success in recruiting female drivers, certainly in comparison to the established taxi industries.

Esther Nerling is the UberX Queen of Toronto.

On most Saturday nights, the 60-year-old drives her black Volkswagen Jetta around the GTA, picking up customers through the ride-sharing app Uber.

Nerling, a former RBC banker who joined Uber back in 2014, says the flexible hours immediately attracted her to the job. Initially the gig was a way for Nerling to make extra money and help her pay for her daughter’s Master’s degree, but it has now become her primary source of income. She earns between $29 and $36 an hour and often finds herself driving until 4 a.m.

[. . .]

Nerling is part of a growing Uber trend. In Toronto, the company now boasts about 2,200 female drivers—a big jump from 1,200 in October 2015—and is recruiting more. Nationwide, Uber counts a total of 22,000 active drivers (male and female), and that number continues to grow.

“What we’re hearing from female driver partners is that they feel safe driving because of the features built into the app,” says Susie Heath, a spokesperson for Uber Canada. “Every ride is tracked by GPS, they know who is getting into their car, and there’s no cash exchanged.”

As part of its efforts to encourage more women to become drivers, last year Uber pledged to create job opportunities for one million women worldwide (the company currently operates in more than 360 cities and 60 countries). Recent numbers in the U.S. also show an increase in female drivers. According to survey paid for by Uber and administered by Benenson Strategy Group [PDF], 29 per cent of Uber drivers who started in the past three months were women and 19 per cent of all current Uber drivers in the U.S. are women, up from 14 per cent in December 2014.

Meanwhile, the traditional taxi industry in Canada remains predominantly male. Data from the 2006 long-form census found that 85 per cent of taxi drivers in Canada are men. A recent Toronto Star article suggests there are about 100 female taxi drivers in the city. But Beck Taxi, Uber’s prime competitor, has a meagre six drivers who are female working in Toronto.

[LINK] "The Pioneer Plaque: Science as a Universal Language"

At the Planetary Society Blog, Jake Rosenthal writes about the importance of the Pioneer Plaque, as the first intentional message of humanity to extraterrestrial intelligences.

The Pioneer Plaque is a physical, symbolic message affixed to the exterior of the Pioneer 10 spacecraft. At the core of this message is a fundamental concept that establishes a standard of distance and time, which, thereafter, is employed by the other components of the plaque. The design team postulated that hydrogen, being the most abundant element in the cosmos, would be one of the first elements to be studied by a civilization. With this in mind, they inscribed two hydrogen atoms at the top left of the plaque, each in a different energy state. When atoms of hydrogen change from one energy state to another—a process called the hyperfine transition—electromagnetic radiation is released. It is this wave that harbors the standard of measure used throughout the illustrations on the plaque. The wavelength (approximately 21 centimeters) serves as a spatial measurement, and the period (approximately .7 nanoseconds) serves as a measurement of time. The final detail of this schematic is a small tick between the atoms of hydrogen, assigning these values of distance and time to the binary number 1.

The most prominent figures on the plaque are those of two adult humans: a man and woman. The man bends his arm and displays an open palm—an international greeting, but one that, admittedly, may be meaningless to an extraterrestrial civilization. The woman hangs her arms by her sides and stands with her weight shifted rearward as to dispel any misunderstandings regarding a fixed body and limb position; we are mobile and flexible. Beside the illustrations of the humans is the binary number 8, inscribed between two ticks, indicating the height the woman. The civilization could then conclude that the woman is 8 units tall, the unit being the wavelength (21 centimeters) described by the hyperfine transition key; thus, the woman is 8 times 21 centimeters, or about 5.5 feet tall.

At the heart of the plaque is an array of lines and dashes—a cosmic address on the interstellar letter. In the center is our home star; the radial spokes signify the relative distances and directions to pulsars—rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit electromagnetic radiation at regular intervals. Accompanying each line is the period of the respective pulsar—once again, in binary. Not only does this map communicate position, but time as well—an epoch in the lifetime of the universe during which the message was sent. The rate of electromagnetic bursts from pulsars changes over time; thus, the period of the pulsars denoted on the plaque serves as a timestamp. It is presumed that a civilization that has developed radio astronomy will have the capability to comprehend the nature of pulsars. Given the information presented in the pulsar map, it is feasible that such a civilization could date back the message and triangulate our position. As further confirmation of our locale, our solar system’s planets (nine at the time) are depicted in the bottom margin of the plaque with their respective distances to the sun in binary. Supposedly, in the history of the Milky Way, only one star has ever fit the characteristics displayed on the plaque.

[URBAN NOTE] On the imminent end of Suspect Video in Toronto

Will Sloan's Torontoist post "A Quarter Century of Suspect Video", publicized by Exclaim!, mourns the imminent end of Toronto institution Suspect Video.

On August 4, 1991, Suspect Video opened its doors in the southwest corner of Honest Ed’s with an auspicious event: an autograph session with the late Gunnar Hansen. Following a busy day of meeting fans, the immortal Leatherface took some of the Suspect staff for a night on the town, climaxing with a visit to another local institution, the Brass Rail.

“The first thing he wanted to see was the strip joint,” remembers Glenn Salter, one of Suspect’s longtime register jockeys, “so, that’s where we went! Gunnar was a real hit with the strippers—they swarmed all over him. A lot of strippers are horror film fans—that’s what we figured out that night. A lot of them were really impressed, including the DJ. He specifically asked, ‘Were you the Leatherface in the original film or the second one?’ and Gunnar was like, ‘The original of course!’”

[. . .]

Salter worked fill-in shifts in those early years before joining the staff on a more full-time basis in 2002. I ask what has kept him at the store so long. “I guess there’s the lazy thing—too lazy to look for a new job,” he says. “But also, these are the kinds of people I like to be around. I like the discussions that come with this kind of job. That sense of community: the camaraderie of people who share similar tastes. … I think the real value—if there is a real value—to having a store is just that sense of community you build with the customer base. But obviously it’s a smaller customer base. It dwindles as the years go on.”

Suspect celebrates a quarter century this year, but this auspicious anniversary will also likely be its last. Along with the other businesses in Mirvish Village, it will have to shut its doors at the end of 2016 to make room for a new real estate development. The Mirvish Village bubble has so far insulated Suspect from the near-total collapse of the video store industry, but the store looks unlikely to find as fortunate circumstances elsewhere.

I ask Salter if he has any future plans. “Not really! Not at the moment. Find another similar job to this kind of job. My whole life has been slacker jobs. I’ve worked in bookstores, record stores, comic book stores, video stores… that’s what I know.”

[URBAN NOTE] "Which track is Smart Track on?"

At Spacing Toronto, John Lorinc examines the controversies of mass transit, specifically with Smart Track.

One of the enduring features of Toronto’s so-called transit debate is the uneven and treacherous information terrain that ordinary citizens are forced to navigate if they aspire to crazy goals, such as trying to make sense of the endlessly shape-shifting discussion about competing options.

Almost two years after city council voted to commit itself to the $3.5 billion Scarborough subway extension despite a shameful dearth of even cursory analysis, the City continues to crash along with that doomed scheme. While the City is readying itself for a bevy of environmental assessment (EA) reports on that line, there’s still nothing in the public domain by way of rigorous land-use analysis of the proposed routes, any sort of financial due diligence, or even ridership projections that weren’t plucked out of thin air. The City hasn’t released any kind of granular analysis about the projected cost, even as that other train wreck — the York-Spadina subway extension — continues to deliver stunning cost over-runs.

Then yesterday, as if to counterbalance the information vacuum on one big project, the City executes an impressive data dump with the other one — in this case, Smart Track — or Son of Smart Track — or whatever we’re now calling this project that is meant to carry the full freight of John Tory’s political legacy.

The data arrived in the form of a detailed usage scenario analysis done by the University of Toronto’s Transportation Research Institute, which is headed up by civil engineering expert Eric Miller, a renowned authority on trip modeling.

Miller’s group used an elaborate forecasting model, built and updated over many years, to estimate the ridership on various Smart Track permutations by using a range of long-term economic and land-use development assumptions that run from stagnation to hyper-growth. Miller’s scenarios tested various pricing options — TTC rates vs. more costly GO fares — as well as various service levels, with trains running at head times ranging from 5 to 15 minutes.

The study includes forecasts like this: if Toronto’s population rises slowly but the region experiences mid-range employment growth, and the Smart Track corridor (heavy rail to Eglinton, and then an LRT from Mt. Dennis over to the Mississauga Airport Corporate Centre, all running at five-minute intervals) itself attracts new development, then daily boardings, circa 2031, will be in the vicinity of 336,702, which represents almost 55,000 new riders on the TTC every day. Follow?

[URBAN NOTE] "Artscape Youngplace: Creative spirit haunts the halls of Shaw Street School"

The Globe and Mail's Dave Leblanc writes about the Artscape Youngplace on Shaw Street, once a school but now an art centre.

A black hole sucks away everything – light, energy, warmth – until nothing remains.

In architecture, an abandoned building performs in much the same way. And, like the ripples from a stone tossed into a pond, repercussions can be large or small based on the size of the black hole building: an empty house, and perhaps a half-block feels it; a 75,000-square-foot school, and a whole community hurts.

Such was the case in 2000, when the Toronto District School Board declared the former Shaw Street School – a handsome, three-storey, cruciform-shaped structure built in 1914 – as “surplus.” Residents on Argyle, Givins, Rebecca, Bruce and Halton streets felt the thrumming void daily.

Luckily, a pulse remained, says Artscape president Celia Smith, as neighbours fought “so strongly” to keep the 1957 addition at the rear of the site in operation, since, “as some of them would say: ‘The heart closes in a community when you close a school like this.’”

Local resident and architect Chris Radigan and Teeple Architects, his employer, performed the necessary surgery: by removing the bricks-and-mortar umbilical cord between the two buildings, the Givins/Shaw Junior School could continue to enjoy the echo of little footsteps and gleeful shouts against its walls while the old building could be sealed up and given a siphon containing just enough heat to survive.

[LINK] "Is Canada-EU trade getting bogged down?"

Paul Wells of MacLean's writes about the Canada-European Union trade deal and its issues.

Here’s a surprise from the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita (I read ’em all): An interview with Steve Verheul, Canada’s lead negotiator for the Canada-EU trade treaty known as CETA. There were many signing ceremonies for this treaty over the last months of Stephen Harper’s tenure as prime minister, but there’s been less news about the treaty’s fate since all the pomp and circumstance faded.

Verheul’s interview suggests not everything is hunky-dory. At issue, as anyone could have predicted (and Maclean’s did 10 months ago), is the so-called “investor-state dispute settlement” (ISDS) provisions in the trade deal. Here’s a random blog post from the nationalist Council of Canadians on ISDS provisions. Such concerns have been raised in mirror fashion by any number of trade-skeptical NGOs in Europe.

[LINK] "With Ivory Ban Imminent, What Will Happen to China’s Legal Stockpile?"

National Geographic's Rachael Bale wrote in November about the problems of China with ivory.

Tusks are displayed at an authorized auction in South Africa in 2008. China bought 73 tons of ivory at several sales over two weeks to supply its legal, domestic market.

After years of defending and supporting a legal domestic trade in ivory, China made a big announcement in September: It’s shutting down the trade.

The United States is, too. Together, the presidents of both countries have made an unprecedented public pledge to put a stop to all ivory trading—legal and illegal.

The U.S. is on track to approve new regulations within a year that essentially would fulfill its promise under the September pledge to take “significant and timely steps” to end the ivory trade. But the joint pledge doesn’t have any deadlines, and the Chinese government hasn’t said what time frame it’s aiming for.

The Chinese government may, however, consider an ivory buyback program, says Li Zhang, a professor at Beijing Normal University who is studying the feasibility of such a plan. The idea is that the government would use an eco-compensation fund, similar to those Beijing has used to improve watersheds, to buy back legal raw and unfinished ivory owned by licensed carving factories.

China’s state-sponsored industry has resulted in legal ivory from government stockpiles eventually mingling with illegal ivory, fueling the black market and driving the relentless poaching of African elephants.

[URBAN NOTE] On the sad failure of Goodwill in Ontario

I first saw the news that Goodwill's 26 stores across most of Ontario were shutting down on blogTO. Employees were greeted on Sunday by locked doors and uninformative signs. Alas, it has since been confirmed, among other places on the social sector chain's official website, that Goodwill's days are numbered.

The former members of the Board of Directors would like to reiterate our support for Goodwill operations, its mission and Keiko Nakamura’s leadership during this time.

On Friday evening at a meeting of the Board, the Board resolved to cease operations because Goodwill’s cash flow position and forecast had become unsustainable.

At the meeting the Board also passed a resolution instructing Ms. Nakamura to continue her role as CEO and her strategy, taking the necessary steps required to cease operations as quickly as possible.

There are significant business challenges, including shifts in the value of the salvage marketplace, declining retail sales and the need to restructure retail store costs. These are the business realities that led the board to resign.

The board has given Ms. Nakamura a mandate to continue discussions with the union to help address the financial realities facing the organization.

Goodwill is a unique social enterprise, where majority of funding and services are self-driven through consumer and donated goods. In its current state, Goodwill’s operations model was not sustainable. This was the imperative that led to our decision.

The Globe and Mail's Serena Ross outlined the scale of this.

After a nearly 80-year history, Southern Ontario-area Goodwill stores suddenly closed their doors on Sunday because of what their CEO called a “cash-flow crisis.”

The closings affect the jobs of more than 430 people, including many who had struggled to find employment, though it’s unclear if the move will be permanent.

“Currently, this is a fluid situation and Goodwill is exploring a variety of options to continue its decades-long mission,” chief executive officer Keiko Nakamura wrote in a statement on Sunday.

The non-profit – one of several Goodwill chapters in Canada, each of which is run separately – said it would release more information Monday afternoon.

In her statement, Ms. Nakamura blamed the financial problems on “a number of factors affecting the retail environment.”

Annual reports show growing operating deficits for Goodwill starting in 2013 and topping $1-million in 2014, after previously achieving small surpluses.

Apparently these employees will not get paid this week. It's worth noting that this failure occurred under Ms. Nakamura, a person who was fired in 2011 from her position as the head of Toronto Community Housing, on account of excessive expenditures.

I've visited different Goodwill locations in the city on occasions since I've moved to Toronto. I hope something can be salvaged of the chain, through reorganization or something. I certainly hope, if nothing else, that the employees will get paid. This whole thing is a terrible shame.

[MUSIC] David Bowie, "Blackstar"

The music video for David Bowie's "Blackstar", first single off of his last album, is exactly ten minutes long. I watched it with Glenn, taken by the song. The music evoked some of Bowie's more experimental 1970s tracks, perhaps some of the ambient tracks of the Berlin trilogy. The imagery was intensely vivid, only starting with what might well have been the bejewelled skeleton of Major Tom on a desolate lunar landscape.

"David Bowie - Blackstar" (Watch on YouTube)

The lyrics? They were obscure. It's tempting to read into them Bowie's sense of his own mortality, as the people over at Genius are. What I got from them, and still get from them, is a sense of uncertainty.

In the villa of Ormen, in the villa of Ormen
Stands a solitary candle, ah-ah, ah-ah
At the centre of it all, at the centre of it all
Your eyes
Ah-ah-ah

Is this the last candle? Will it light others? Is it doomed? What does this all mean? Nothing here is clear.

I am tempted to see hope. Bowie, I would suggest in the verse below, sees hope, sees the possibility of some sort of continuity even if it is only indirect.

Something happened on the day he died
Spirit rose a metre and stepped aside
Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried
(I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar)​

May we all be so brave.