[PHOTO] Bear, guinea pig of the subway

I did a double-take when I saw this guinea pig resting on a towel in the lap of the subway passenger sitting next to me. Named Bear, the passenger told me, this guinea pig six months old seemed to be handling the strange new environment of the subway car handily enough. A photo seemed necessary.

[BLOG] Some Sunday links

• The Crux looks at the australopiths, not-so-distant ancestors of modern humans.


• Bruce Dorminey notes the interest of NASA in exploring the lunar subsurface, including lava tubes.


• Far Outliers looks at the politicking of mid-19th century European explorers in the Sahel.


• io9 notes that the new Joker film is getting stellar reviews, aided by the performance of Joaquin Phoenix.


• JSTOR Daily explores how, to meet censors' demands, Betty Boop was remade in the 1930s from sex symbol into housewife.


• Language Log reports on an utter failure in bilingual Irish/English signage.


• Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns and Money shows that a history of slavery in the US (Canada too, I would add) must not neglect the enslavement of indigenous peoples.


• Marginal Revolution notes a paper studying San Francisco looking at how rent control did not work.


• The NYR Daily considers growing protest against air travel for its impact on global climate.


• Drew Rowsome reviews the queer romance film Bathroom Stalls & Parking Lots.


• Window on Eurasia notes how the influence of Russia in the former Soviet Union is undone by Russian imperialism.


• Arnold Zwicky considers the striking imagery--originally religious--of "carnal weapons".

[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: Toronto Coach Terminal, food banks, dogs, TTC, parties

• Tanya Mok at blogTO shares a vintage short film from 1970 at the Toronto Coach Terminal, "Depot."


• The shortages of food in Toronto food banks are terrible. CBC Toronto reports.


• Dogs will be free to swim in select City of Toronto swimming pools this weekend. CBC Toronto reports.


• I will have to look for these TTC floor stickers installed at St. George station. blogTO reports.


• Richard Trapunski leads a roundtable discussion at NOW Toronto about the challenges facing party promoters in a gentrifying Toronto.

[URBAN NOTE] Ten city links: Montréal, Lac-Mégantic, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton ...

• Tracey Lindeman writes at CityLab about how Montréal is trying to keep the redevelopment of the Molson-Coors Brewery site from killing the Centre-Sud.


• In the Montréal neighbourhood of Park-Extension, evictions--renovictions, even--are on the rise. Global News reports.


• Lac-Mégantic now has a train depot that bypasses the heart of this traumatized community. CBC Montreal reports.


• Halifax is now celebrating the Mosaic Festival, celebrating its diversity. Global News reports.


• Jill Croteau reports for Global News about Club Carousel, an underground club in Calgary that played a vital role in that city's LGBTQ history.


• This business plan, aiming to bypass long lineups at the Edmonton outpost of the Jollibee chain, is ingenious. Global News reports.


• The Iowa town of Pacific Junction, already staggering, may never recover from a recent bout of devastating flooding. VICE reports.


• Avery Gregurich writes for CityLab about the Illinois town of Atlas, a crossroads seemingly on the verge of disappearing from Google Maps.


• The proposal for Metropica, a new sort of suburb in Florida, certainly looks interesting. VICE reports.


• Guardian Cities shares a cartoon looking affectionately at Lisbon.

[URBAN NOTE] Five notes about cities: trains, climate change, allergies, India, fires, Midwest map

• MTL Blog looks at the proposal for a sleeper train connecting Montréal and New York City. (Can Toronto get one too, please?)


• Lauren Pelley reports for CBC about how climate change leads, through increased pollen production, to worse allergies for residents of cities in Canada.


• Guardian Cities reports that the fires in Alaska, too, outside of Anchorage, are things that dwellers of cities will have to get used to.


• The heat island effect, CityLab warns, will be a major threat to life in the cities of India.


• CityLab does an interesting crowdsourced map, tracing the boundaries of the American Midwest.