[PHOTO] Double cherry sakura of Russell Street, University of Toronto

[VIDEO] Falling sakura of Russell Street, University of Toronto

"Falling sakura of Russell Street, University of Toronto" (Watch on YouTube)

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• Architectuul looks at the history of brutalism in late 20th century Turkey.


• Bad Astronomer Phil Plait looks at the evidence for the Milky Way Galaxy having seen a great period of starburst two billion years ago, and notes how crowded the Milky Way Galaxy is in the direction of Sagittarius.


• Centauri Dreams considers if astrometry might start to become useful as a method for detecting planets, and considers what the New Horizons data, to Pluto and to Ultima Thule, will be known for.


• Belle Waring at Crooked Timber considers if talk of forgiveness is, among other things, sound.


• D-Brief considers the possibility that the differing natures of the faces of the Moon can be explained by an ancient dwarf planet impact, and shares images of dust-ringed galaxy NGC 4485.
  
• Dead Things notes the discovery of fossil fungi one billion years old in Nunavut.


• Far Outliers looks at how, over 1990, Russia became increasingly independent from the Soviet Union, and looks at the final day in office of Gorbachev.


• Gizmodo notes the discovery of literally frozen oceans of water beneath the north polar region of Mars, and looks at an unusual supernova, J005311 ten thousand light-years away in Cassiopeia, product of a collision between two white dwarfs.


• JSTOR Daily notes how the colour of navy blue is a direct consequence of slavery and militarism, and observes the historical influence, or lack thereof, of Chinese peasant agriculture on organic farming in the US.


• Language Log considers a Chinese-language text from San Francisco combining elements of Mandarin and Cantonese.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes the terrible environmental consequences of the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia, and Shakezula at Lawyers, Guns and Money takes a look at how, and perhaps why, Sam Harris identifies milkshake-throwing at far-right people as a form of "mock assassination".


• The Map Room Blog shares a personal take on mapmaking on the Moon during the Apollo era.


• Marginal Revolution observes a paper suggesting members of the Chinese communist party are more liberal than the general Chinese population. The blog also notes how Soviet quotas led to a senseless and useless mass slaughter of whales.


• Russell Darnley writes about the complex and tense relationship between Indonesia and Australia, each with their own preoccupations.


• Martin Filler writes at the NYR Daily about I.M. Pei as an architect specializing in an "establishment modernism". The site also takes a look at Orientalism, as a phenomenon, as it exists in the post-9/11 era.


• Personal Reflections' Jim Belshaw reflects on the meaning of Australia's New England.


• The Planetary Society Blog notes how Hayabusa 2 is having problems recovering a marker from asteroid Ryugu.


• Peter Rukavina reports on an outstanding Jane Siberry concert on the Island.


• The Russian Demographics Blog shares a map of homophobia in Europe.


• The Signal looks at how the Library of Congress makes use of wikidata.


• The Speed River Journal's Van Waffle reports, with photos, from his latest walks this spring.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel considers what the Earth looked like when hominids emerged, and explains how amateur astronomers can capture remarkable images.


• Frank Jacobs at Strange Maps shares a controversial map depicting the shift away from CNN towards Fox News across the United States.


• Daniel Little at Understanding Society examines the Boeing 737 MAX disaster as an organizational failure.


• Window on Eurasia looks why Turkey is backing away from supporting the Circassians, and suggests that the use of the Russian Orthodox Church by the Russian state as a tool of its rule might hurt the church badly.


• Arnold Zwicky takes apart, linguistically and otherwise, a comic playing on the trope of Lassie warning about something happening to Timmy. He also
  reports on a far-removed branch of the Zwicky family hailing from Belarus, as the Tsvikis.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links: #DoorsOpenTO, Eglinton Crosstown, Lake Ontario, public art

• Transit Toronto notes that both the Eglinton Crosstown yards and Lower Bay station were open this weekend past for Doors Open. I got to see both!


• Urban Toronto looks at the newly revealed Eglinton Crosstown vehicles.


• blogTO observes the rapid flooding faced not only by the Toronto Islands but by the waterfront generally.


• blogTO reports on the exciting possibility of a ferry connecting Etobicoke, at Humber Bay Shores, to the downtown.


• Building a linear park over the subway trench between Davisville and Eglinton stations in midtown Toronto is an idea that appeals to me. blogTO reports.


• NOW Toronto reports on a slew of original coffee shops around Toronto, including a laundromat hybrid on Dufferin.


• Urban Toronto celebrates the Ron Arad sculpture Safe Hands at One Bloor East.

[URBAN NOTE] Seven cities links: Montréal;, Québec City, Saint John, Moncton, D.C., Dallas, ...

• CBC Montreal reports on how a downsizing Montréal-area convent recently put on a very large yard sale.


• Will the staged construction of a tramway in Québec City lead to the partial completion of that project? CBC examines the issue.


• The New Brunswick city of Saint John recently celebrated its Loyalist heritage. Global News reports.


• The new community garden in Moncton sounds lovely. Global News reports.


• CityLab notes the sad precedent of the privatization of an old Carnegie Library in Washington D.C. into an Apple Store.


• CityLab considers if cycling can make inroads in pro-car Dallas.


• Open Democracy examines the controversy surrounding the contested construction of an Orthodox church in Yekaterinburg.