[CAT] Shakespeare, at a right angle

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Gerry Canavan shares his curriculum for his course on the lives of animals.


• Centauri Dreams reflects on Pluto.


• The Everyday Sociology Blog notes the predominance of "dead white guys" in sociology.


• Geocurrents notes the awkward position of Tatarstan, caught between Russia and Turkey.


• Joe. My. God. notes same-sex marriage will be available in Greenland from the 1st of April.


• Language Hat reacts to the controversial French spelling reform.


• The Map Room Blog links to a site of judgemental maps of cities.


• Marginal Revolution notes the surprisingly strong resistance to anesthesia in the 19th century.


• Towleroad notes that the time Freddie Mercury and Princess Diana went to a London gay bar will be made into a musical.


• Window on Eurasia notes one response to separatism in the Russian Far East.

[URBAN NOTE] "Metrolinx reconsidering Union Pearson Express fares as ridership sinks"

The Toronto Star's Tess Kalinowski reports on the continuing underperformance of the Union Pearson Express.

Toronto’s new airport train is struggling to attract riders amid continuing criticism that the $456 million Union Pearson Express is simply too expensive.

On Friday, Metrolinx, the provincial agency that runs the train, said it will consider price adjustments among other options for building ridership.

The standard one-way adult fare on UPX is $27.50 but riders paying with a Presto card can board for $19.

Six months after it launched, Union Pearson Express (UPX) ridership levels were down significantly from the summer, hitting a low of 65,593 riders in November, 13,000 fewer passengers than the October high of 79,000.

A report to the Metrolinx board on Wednesday, argues that it will take time to change the ingrained habits of travellers accustomed to driving or taking a cab to the airport.

[URBAN NOTE] "The challenge of getting to the bus stop"

Spacing Toronto's Sean Marshall notes the role of often overlooked, but critical, bus routes in mass transit in the Greater Toronto Area.

In the Greater Toronto Area, we have a fixation on building transit, especially subways, but we’re less interested in transit operations, especially local bus routes. But the majority of TTC riders take buses at least once daily, and the local bus stop is the first point of contact with the transit system for many riders. Sadly, there’s often very little thought put in to accessing local bus stops.

Needless to say, transit has a harder time in the suburbs. Suburbs are built for the car, laid out with crescents, cul-de-sacs and winding street systems meant to discourage through traffic in residential areas. Backyard fences line arterial roads, safe pedestrian crossings might be a ten or fifteen minute walk down the road. These factors, often known as the “last mile problem” can make it difficult for people living in subdivisions and near busy streets to easily access a nearby bus stop. GO Transit’s solution to the last mile problem was simple: it built giant parking lots and garages and developed a successful commuter rail system that expected its riders to park their cars at its stations.

Last year, Streetsblog USA asked its readers to vote for the sorriest bus stop in America, and some of the submissions are truly awful. But in the Greater Toronto Area, there are many examples of poorly designed or located bus stops. I’ll mention two: one in Brampton and one in Scarborough, but there are hundreds of stops in the Greater Toronto Area that could use some attention.

Intersections like the one at Steeles Avenue West and McMurchy/Malta Avenue in Brampton, which, granted isn’t as bad as the StreetsblogUSA submissions, is just one example of how not to get people out of cars and onto public transit. Some thought into placing bus stops and improving access to local transit is necessary.

I like Brampton Transit and what they’ve been doing over the last decade in my hometown. Since 2005, the suburban transit agency began to re-organize its routes into a grid system, improved schedules, and introduced new connections to Toronto and Mississauga. In September 2010, Brampton Transit introduced Züm, a network of limited-stop bus routes. My hometown’s bus system was no longer a joke.

[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto’s Michelle DuBarry on being the oldest performing drag queen"

In The Globe and Mail, Brad Wheeler interviews DuBarry, the oldest performing drag queen not only in Toronto but the world.

There was a time when it was a drag for men to wear dresses, but times have changed. Last month, Toronto’s Michelle DuBarry (a.k.a. Russell Alldread) was recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest performing drag queen. We chatted with the celebrated performer by phone.

It’s improper to ask a lady her age, but is it okay to ask a drag queen?

Of course it is. I’m a man who wears dresses, and I’m 84 now. I don’t feel 84, actually.

Well, you don’t sound a day over 78. Can you talk about your early days as drag queen in Toronto?

Well, it was illegal in the 1950s, of course. We started off having little shows, wearing suits and ties, with a rose in the lapel. We would mime songs. Then we began to wear dresses, which started things. When the police came by to see what was happening, they wanted to charge us. They didn’t, but they did make sure we had men’s underwear on. [Laughs.]

So it was an underground thing?

I never thought of it as underground. I was doing what I wanted to do. In the fifties, I did midnight Shakespeare at the Trinity Quadrangle, where I was on stage with Lorne Greene. I was holding a spear. In the sixties, I got into professional drag at Club 511 [on Yonge Street]. It was all about loving theatre and doing miniature Broadway shows in drag. And, of course, there were Halloween nights at the St. Charles Tavern, where the crowds were out throwing ink and everything else.

[URBAN NOTE] On the shooting of the Drake and Rihanna video "Work" at The Real Jerk

blogTO let me know last night that Toronto's Drake and Rihanna were shooting the video for the song "Work" at east-end restaurant The Real Jerk. The Toronto Star had more today.

A local eatery received the kind of PR that money just can’t buy, thanks to some homegrown talent.

Fans of Drake and Rihanna flocked to the The Real Jerk restaurant located at 842 Gerrard St. E. on Friday night for a chance to glimpse the superstars. RiRi was reportedly in town filming scenes for her latest music video “Work,” featuring Drizzy.

The restaurant tweeted Friday morning that they would be closed until Saturday at noon, but did not specify why.

An open casting call was held in Toronto last week looking for dancers to appear in the music video.

Rihanna has previously released in-progress footage of “Work” to her Snapchat account, but Drake has not been seen, leading fans to speculate that his scenes will take place in The Real Jerk.