[CAT] Shakespeare, on his blanket

[CAT] Five cat links: Port Hope, napping, cats vs. rats, Persian leopards, Gornick and Lessing

• The small Ontario town of Port Hope has a cat café now, the Toe Beans Cat Caf○, open six days a week and housing cats looking for new homes. Global News reports.


• This story of a Wisconsin man, a senior citizen, who comes in to a cat shelter to play and nap with the cats, is adorable. Global News reports.


• Sarah Zhang at The Atlantic notes a new study in New York City that has found that city's stray cats seem not to hunt adult rats. The rats are, simply, too big.


• Erica Gies at The Crux describes the struggle to protect the Persian leopard of the Zagros Mountains, in the heart of divided Kurdistan.


• Over at the NYR Daily, Vivian Gornick considers, in the light of the writings of Doris Lessing, her experiences living with cats. What sorts of beings are they? What do they think? How accurately do we observe them?

[PHOTO] Fifteen photos of the Galleria Mall near its end

As the Galleria Mall winds down, many of its smaller independent stores still remaining planning to shut down and perhaps relocate this weekend, I thought I would visit this neighbourhood icon on this busy Saturday afternoon. The massive redevelopment planned may yet eradicate all physical traces of this build with its many arches and its orange-green colour scheme from the 1970s, but our memories of this space both personal and digital may yet survive the Galleria Mall's end.

[URBAN NOTE] Five links for Nuit Blanche Toronto 2018 (#nbto18)

• Rosemary Heather at NOW Toronto identifies ten top shows for Nuit Blanche Toronto this night.


• This Nuit Blanche will extend for the first time into Scarborough, with dozens of exhibits there. Global News reports.


• Toronto Life lists six top sights for this year's Nuit Blanche, here.


• Michael Rancic at NOW Toronto identifies eight Nuit Blanche locations of particular interest to fans of music.


• Trevor Dunn at CBC has recommendations for Nuit Blanche visitors, from things to see to the clothes one should wear.