[PHOTO] Ice cream truck, Bloor at Russett

I did not cross the street to buy anything from this truck parked on Bloor just one street west of Dufferin. Perhaps I should have.

[BLOG] Some Friday links

• Anthrodendum takes a look at how surfing has been commodified.


• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at the stellar occultation that has revealed information about MU69, the next New Horizons target.


• Crooked Timber's Corey Robin takes issue with Mélenchon's take on anti-Semitism and the French role in the Holocaust.


• D-Brief notes that we really are not good at detecting faked photos.


• Dangerous Minds shares some vintage photos of strippers from the 1960s.


• Michael Sacasas of The Frailest Things looks, again, at the technologically enchanted world.


• Language Log takes issue with the dismissive treatment of "... in a woodpile." The expression is poison.


• The LRB Blog looks at the dual position of the camel among the Sahrawi, as wild and tame at once.


• Neuroskeptic looks at the problems of neuroscience, statistically.


• The NYR Daily considers the hacking of the American vote. Who did it? Who gained?


• Science Sushi notes that climate change threats African wild dogs' survival.


• Window on Eurasia notes an Armenian argument that Russia lacks the soft power that the Soviet Union once enjoyed.

[URBAN NOTE] Six links on Toronto, on mass transit and infrastructure generally

• This story of a TTC worker who took a day's fares home with him, where they got confiscated by police, and then compensated by union pressure for having been suspended without pay ... wow.


• Edward Keenan makes the point that cost overruns for city infrastructure need to be taken seriously. The quoted price for a park staircase is just off.


• Daily Xtra notes the sad state of repairs of the rainbow crosswalks of Toronto.


• CBC reports on Twyn Rivers Drive, a Scarborough route some say should be marked as off-limits for heavy vehicles.


• NOW Toronto reports on how Mississauga is starting to outshine Toronto in the department of bike lanes.


• Torontoist's Tricia Wood writes about the almost impressive dysfunction at Metrolinx.

[ISL] Five articles from the Toronto Islands in this time of flood

• blogTO shares Aidan Ferreira's stunning photos of the Toronto Islands flooded out. The damage, especially to the beaches, looks severe.


• CTV News shares remarkable drone footage of the Toronto Islands.


• The Toronto Sun reports on the plight of the water taxi operators, unable to earn their living this summer with trips to the Islands.


• The Toronto Star's Fatima Syed notes that, to stay afloat, the Centreville Amusement Park will be selling its beautiful antique carousel.


• Katharine Laidlaw's interviews in Toronto Life with Toronto Islanders tell the story of a very hard year.

[NEWS] Five links about Canada, from #Canada150 travel to cultural visibilities

• In The Globe and Mail, Ian Brown and Nam Phi Dang's photo essay tracking the adventures of a bus of Chinese tourists who went from Toronto to the Island and back is insightful and amusing.
  
• Alex Ballingall's account in the Toronto Star of his week-long trek along the Trans-Canada Trail from Niagara to Toronto is enlightening. Would I could do this ...


• Mark Milke in MacLean's argues that, regrettable excesses aside, Canadians should be proud of our British heritage.


• The Montreal Gazette's Brendan Kelly wonders why a supposedly Canadian music compilation does not include any French-language songs.


• In the Toronto Star, Emma Teitel points out that visibility, including corporate visibility, is hugely important in Pride.